Miraculously Cured: On Physical, Sensory, and Mental Difference in the <i>Biskupa sögur</i>

Scholars have only recently begun to examine constructions of impairment and disability in medieval literature and history, utilizing interdisciplinary approaches to deepen our understanding of attitudes toward visible and invisible difference in the Middle Ages. One of the most important contributions to this emerging field of study remains Irina Metzler's Disability in Medieval Europe.1 Metzler's study provided the theoretical foundation for later studies and inspired readings of a variety of medieval Latin and vernacular texts through the lens of Critical Disability Studies, an approach that “rejects the traditional bio-medical understanding of disability as an individual deficit” and instead sees disability “as a social phenomenon embedded in social arrangements and cultural conventions.”2 In the field of Old Norse-Icelandic literature and medieval Icelandic history, a number of works have appeared that discuss physical, sensory, and mental difference3 in medieval Iceland.4 The most recent research within this area has been undertaken as part of the interdisciplinary project “Fötlun fyrir tíma fötlunar” (Disability Before Disability), which focused on “the hidden lives of disabled people in Iceland before the concept of disability existed culturally, socially, and administratively.”5This important previous research on physical, sensory, and mental difference in Old Norse society has concentrated almost exclusively on what can be gleaned from the Sagas and Tales of Icelanders (Íslendinga sögur and þættir), narratives based on events that took place in Iceland during the Icelandic Commonwealth Period (930–1262). However, very little work has been done to examine the lives of disabled people in Iceland as depicted in Old Norse-Icelandic hagiography. Hagiographic texts are important sources for understanding disability in medieval Icelandic society because they tend to reflect the ideals and values of the societies that produced them. As Karen Winstead writes, One of the achievements of late twentieth-century criticism was to recognize that saints’ lives are “about” not just piety and spirituality but also politics, economics, social control, gender, and sexuality, and that what their compilers have to say on these topics is intended to be relevant to, and sometimes critical of, contemporary life. Their saints’ careers are available to suggest, or to criticize, contemporary courses of action.6Accordingly, saints’ lives can be interpreted as mirrors of society, and as such, they can provide important insight into both the expectations for and experiences of the societies that produced them, including with regard to understandings and treatments of disability.In addition to providing a more complete view of disability in medieval Icelandic society, an examination of physical, sensory, and mental difference in hagiographic literature may help to provide a better understanding of portrayals of disability in the secular sagas. As Siân Grønlie recently argued, “sagas engaged creatively with saints’ lives over the medieval period” and adopted, challenged, and interfered with hagiographic motifs, character types, and narrative structures.7 Indeed, the sagas of saints and bishops were produced in the same scriptoria and sometimes by the same scribes as the Sagas of Icelanders, and probably for overlapping audiences.8 It is therefore possible that these works provided models for the construction of disability and difference in the Íslendinga sögur, and as such they are worth considering more closely so that they may be brought into conversation with the “secular” sagas.This article builds upon and extends the boundaries of previous studies on disability in medieval Iceland by focusing more closely on examples from the corpus of Old Norse-Icelandic hagiography. Specifically, it highlights and explores examples of physical, sensory, and mental difference from the bishops’ sagas—native Icelandic hagiographies that contain a number of examples of miracles and miraculous events surrounding individuals who were cured of a variety of forms of visible and invisible difference. It concentrates on examples from the lives of Iceland's three saintly bishops, Þorlákr Þórhallsson (1133–93), Jón Ǫgmundarson (1052–1121), and Guðmundr Arason inn góði (1161–1237), as well as poems in praise of Guðmundr, and in doing so illustrates that miracles performed by these holy individuals are important sources for understanding how disability and difference were labeled, experienced, and treated in medieval Iceland.Miracles, which Margaret Cormack defines as “exceptional, unexpected events, usually providing a solution to some basic human problem,” serve the purpose of demonstrating the saintly quality of an individual, often as part of the canonization process; they also, as Cormack points out, “serve to advertise the power accessible at a particular shrine.”9 Accordingly, saints’ lives contain the necessary accounts of miracles performed both during the life of the respective individual and after their death, sometimes much later, often at a place where they were buried or where one of their relics was housed, though in rural areas like Iceland this was the exception rather than the rule. As Jenni Kuuliala argues with regard to Continental examples, miracle testimonies used for canonization processes are important sources for views of the disabled body. She notes that healing miracles, which within a Christian context are found first in the Bible, “were a fundamental miracle type from Late Antiquity onwards” and “played an essential role not only in the interaction with saints, but also in the creation of sainthood.”10 The impaired body is central in these miracles of healing, and, as Kuuliala points out, it is an “integral element” of how the laity in particular understood the power of the saint.11Within both the translated legends of saints and the locally produced bishops’ sagas, there are a number of miracle accounts that allow scholars to gain an understanding of how difference was labeled, experienced, and treated in medieval Iceland.12 Indeed, as Diana Whaley remarks, while based on foreign models, many of the miracles in the sagas of bishops “have a strongly vernacular flavour,” and “their domestic dramas played against the background of Iceland's landscape and culture.”13 Echoing the fundamental Biblical miracles performed by Jesus, holy men and women channeled the power of God to “cure” the blind, deaf, leprous, physically impaired, and mentally troubled. Such examples, whose primary purpose is to demonstrate the sanctity of a saint, local or not, lend important incidental (if limited) insight into the lives and experiences of individuals with visible and invisible impairments. Equally illuminating is viewing the material from the perspective of why people call upon the aid of saints. As they depict maladies to be cured, these miracles sometimes show the great love and care given to such individuals with mental, physical, or sensory difference.14 Such examples therefore provide a rare kind of window into how visible and invisible differences were labeled, experienced, and treated in medieval Iceland, and how intricately linked this was to Biblical paradigms and Christian thought.Diana Whaley has counted a total of 331 “practical” miracles—that is, miracles “in which a saint's intervention in a human or natural situation materially affects the course of events”— to Iceland's saintly bishops, with to to and to The of these miracles is and the of a situation or intervention of the and of the the 331 total miracles, are healing miracles, with to to and to number of the of healing miracles, which Whaley by cured, can be as examples of individuals in particular and However, as Whaley such miracles show traditional or of are in the sagas and miracle of the Icelandic and in there is an of such examples are worth more as they provide insight into the and in some the experiences of individuals who are as or mentally and more to our understanding of how disability was in medieval is often to disability from in the miracle in of and sensory difference. is the with of or and which with some in this corpus of bishops’ sagas. The field of Critical Disability Studies, which the understanding of disability and sees it instead as a social is to these and their and Disability is and often in with physical, or sensory and and that have and as is a or while impairment is a or mental that may from a disability on the to the society and individuals with impairments. social and to can the of may in an individual may also an individual to to in society to a of physical, sensory, or mental difference. in the sagas of bishops, an or an individual to the of of an who and such and that a and not after upon a who was and such in that was to In a an in that to However, to the number of examples that have to be into the were in this such are not in the this to of or article instead on examples of and not to or which have an individual to in of the examples of individuals with physical, sensory, and mental difference in the sagas of bishops from the of and the miracle of Þorlákr Iceland's this is of the number of miracles to of the three holy bishops as by who more miracles to Þorlákr than to Guðmundr and Jón The of of the of and the that can be cured is in at fyrir their the their the are the are the the and are in the they call upon The the power of and of and and there is of or by or by that God not healing and help on of the of as as is on the available to the Icelandic these miracles, that the the the and the and they the God of and have on the because they with three and have not what to and not they in the that the not only performed miracles that individuals of their but also that which it for to Þorlákr at at at Þorlákr often and that was a great because was and for but the were so and well that what in the into the of who to that are in and the in and are miracles at the it the miracles of Þorlákr at the for the first a and a who were by their and and out, such as and are most in hagiographic is in the locally produced hagiographies of Iceland's saintly bishops, and is the of a number of the healing miracles to The miracles surrounding in that also cured a as to such an that at inn fyrir was one who was so that not better than to and been this for a on the holy Þorlákr for and at in the of miracles to of a who was so that was to to Þorlákr and, and also that a a to and at at that was to a and was well for work at most the same that Þorlákr a after on the found in the miracles of Þorlákr are that to a that and as can be used in a However, as the has a in both and and the Old Norse-Icelandic forms of the to a variety of that a that during the of a and a are as and or though the of their is not a miracle in which a from in the and was cured after on some of relics and an of a who was in and in and who in that to be by who were not and there was how they care for The a to and the was to The miracle of a whose been and who was after the of the holy relics of Þorlákr at there is difference that is to be in of but is in that a who was cured during the of In a from great such that were and was not to for a total of the aid of and with The miracle in the and in of a who that was and was to and was cured through of a Jón whose was and who to with a the relics of Þorlákr and the the and was The same also that an and for with a whose were so that they were in was after to miracles surrounding Þorlákr also contain examples of individuals mental and or in and that such examples are as in hagiographic and to the of Þorlákr a who to in the of a of The to which the is in and a from at at fyrir tíma at were in and was by such great and that very much to life and in a that was a from the but with such complete that from that one the same into the field and by it to the found in and and a to and three of and was The to on the saint's and what to who were as of the is in this is that the the rather than the and that which may a more understanding of mental or a given to a therefore visible and is in in which an individual and is cured of the from the but not the The that there was a at in who in first in and later with The so that on the to She to but because of and the of the a the before was after and a into the and to and a to their the is from the which As with the of the is not of mental but rather of the by and mental are for a to which was during the of The that at at very so that was very and sometimes She also a great and was Þorlákr appeared to the first but in the The appeared to in and was is also the that an at to from great of and and that was the of and of upon the aid of after which a in which there were many in one of was inn at to be in a with many and an and and very this who However, Þorlákr that one was in Þorlákr this and after which in and God and the As Siân Grønlie as a what is on the is an and the that are are as is to that of is to the of which was a in which such a was in the Middle Ages. As and and for were not and the of was often to Indeed, little is and in hagiographic and that as was the with of and more of were of and be with The of that were or by the with which this was is to out, that while and mental may be overlapping they are not Indeed, medieval Icelanders were of the of to into their of the as to forms of or The of illustrates one in which such can be found in which a of a miracle in which Þorlákr a Þorlákr was by the but men into which Þorlákr well at forms of mental that an are in in miracles to a from the who men fyrir inn also a at the same an which at of men the Þorlákr for and at In a and in the on people they found death, and a to and for and after a and was As in the of and the of the miracle is the rather than the of mental that the individual to it upon miracles to Jón though than to Þorlákr is with miracle for the saintly also provide insight into and treatments of difference in medieval is type of that to be more with than of the holy an surrounding these of miracles in the literature on is that there is a on of with and and a miracle a whose are as and who is as a of at at fyrir inn Jón at at inn fyrir inn Jón that a was very so that was because and were and were a for to the to the and on that to to the at and a In that the for an as many as was was that they the and that very the in the and from on by by was so cured as from the who the and and cured, God and the from the same in both the and is that of a and whose are as fyrir at at such that both of were so that was to like in the previous a to and later, the was cured of a who and was cured after a to inn Jón at fyrir inn Jón was to the Jón that relics and and and the was cured, God and the holy of cured through saintly intervention is in and the and aid of both Jón and was a Guðmundr, who at so in both that a to Þorlákr for and to Jón for and before their after relics been miracle the and aid of both Jón and Þorlákr is for a who was and whose in an to care of and many Þorlákr to in a in which and to and Guðmundr Arason to of what Jón to aid on the on to miracles to Jón not examples of to the of mental has to with the of and of individuals The and of of a who is as been of who to be as a fyrir at at fyrir inn Jón was a and was the more because it was of so that to be that a was for to the holy and at God and the holy this the is of mental to the was an from the and is that of a who at at and to be One of a to Jón on and that a of a who was and Jón that for an life and for to before The to more and in the and how to for which the also the holy the and with and of what the of has an and of The in the is that a of this from the and of where a in the is to have after been by the and a who the of a at at at at at was so by the that almost the Christian and the of life that are to It in this that on of a which appeared to to be an so that have to with in a and to was brought to Jón at to where and was cured of of mental As with the of there was a of of and of in this to the and of the were miracles to Guðmundr Arason of physical, sensory, and mental difference are than to Þorlákr and to there are more miracles to Guðmundr than to of these are miracles with physical, sensory, and mental difference. Guðmundr is to have and treated some individuals with physical, sensory, and mental difference during often healing and of miracles as a in praise of Guðmundr to the to individuals of a variety of forms of difference. by which was in in the of the from of the of Iceland who praise Guðmundr, the blind, deaf, they who healing of both or also of and and are cured, the are brought to one can a more the of available to medieval Icelandic that of in the It is in of the same where that that through the at the and the Biblical is found in in praise of Guðmundr Arason by was in which to how Guðmundr used to a variety of forms of the of that the are the are the are are is and also in that and of both body and performed more miracles for men during than can be for people in a little of a miracle of a more a who was and was cured by the a body the to a great the the of later from the through the of is in in by who the with a an was and that was and was after Guðmundr with for and relics over a miracle is a at whose were at was in so that or three of were The that the to while was in it to the was very and into the of the that were and in and it a later to and that was and who to also this miracle in also of a from who was at that was from the and who was after Guðmundr this a to with a miracle from the same a at in was at and with so that Guðmundr during the after and over and holy over the after which the was cured of Guðmundr also cured a whose was such that to at brought to Guðmundr, who to the and the to care for The Guðmundr brought to where on and of also a miracle in which Guðmundr is to have used holy to a from mental on to the at at after an in that a and to be were to many for but that not with and much was it but it to One was to over the and one the appeared to in a the why they were so in their the it was possible for to be cured of The that they many and who appeared to that it is the of God to they and the that Guðmundr was the at and that by the The that the and and just as the the holy by Guðmundr was at the was at is from the examples is that the bishops’ sagas and on Iceland's saintly bishops are sources for our understanding of how physical, sensory, and mental difference was labeled, and in medieval The of in these narratives that the for upon Biblical paradigms to demonstrate the power of and Guðmundr to individuals of a variety of through the power of as was first done by to the most examples are with which is with the number of miracles with Iceland's to the was upon to aid individuals who were that from to of which there were as in miracles surrounding individuals with physical, sensory, and mental difference are to Jón than to but the that are and show a on with forms of and provide insight into the love and care with which these were miracles contain the examples of of physical, sensory, and mental difference in the bishops’ sagas, but the and that was upon to individuals with of and that often so which is of more lives serve as cultural mirrors for the societies that them, and by the examples in the difference in medieval Iceland to have been understood as a that to be as there is a on the that is brought by saintly Such an understanding is very much in with the understanding of which sees physical, mental, and sensory difference as a to an individual, and one that to be treated or is most in examples in which the or a holy for a of It is also in the many examples in which an difference is only within the context of the and on or their is are that at one the holy cured an individual who from a is also not considering the of the texts in the examples of difference are in the miracle accounts for the purpose of demonstrating the sanctity of the holy and with and the of the individual who is cured is incidental to the The of difference as a that to be was not the with mental where often the that a was not the but rather the sometimes brought as a As this the of the of of mental which are not so cured, by saintly this may also be to a for a visible and was also in that it was often depicted as the of the as with in or with from and there was a for the of mental it was often through a course of that was by the difference was understood as a to be in these the insight these examples into of the lives and experiences of the individuals who are as or mentally is However, can be In some of the examples, are the of a particular on an individual and their to within the context of life in medieval Christian Iceland, which more to the of forms of difference on a very In a number of the examples, is of how an difference their to work or to care for their However, in some examples are given more on individual this in the of of the of an of or for or on of them. in to be by and there was how they be to care of to their In the of Jón in a kind of aid is a which was used Jón was through Þorlákr is to have upon from God in to to in to was a and the in the of a kind of rather than a to and to such as were sometimes used for individuals mental that they were as a to or In of the examples, individuals mental were over by a of as was the with the on in examples of physical, sensory, and mental difference from the bishops’ sagas not only to our understanding of how forms of physical, sensory, and mental difference were understood and they also that disability is not a and that individuals in the difference in a variety of just as they of the Christian perspective from which they were they also how hagiographic texts provide insight into of the for and the of individuals with physical, sensory, and mental difference. The Christian of healing miracles, to Biblical disability as a in the miracle the is on the they provide incidental insight into and with forms of difference are not incidental to the but are and linked to the power of the miracle and by the the of complete within these rather than social or insight into contemporary examples therefore help to and serve as an important of for the of difference and disability in the “secular” sagas. the of and care for individuals with mental in the bishops’ sagas, as well as the in these texts that mental may be to can be the of from who from mental and to be for by The in which an individual is cured of their mental, physical, or sensory difference help to as to the healing narrative the in who is cured of by God just for to on Accordingly, it is important for scholars both to work and examples of physical, sensory, and mental difference from Old Norse-Icelandic translated and vernacular hagiographic literature and forms of literature and also to of impairment and disability in “secular” literature within this

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