Saint Magnus and Saint Rögnvald

Early Life and Rule

“Then in the light of the new day, 16 April 1117, there was a blinding flash of metal in the sun.” – George Mackay Brown

The story of Magnus Erlendsson, also known as Saint Magnus of Orkney, begins in 1098, during a period when the earldom of Orkney was shared between two brothers, Earls Paul and Erlend. Magnus was the eldest son of Earl Erlend, and his cousin Hakon was the son of Earl Paul.

In 1098, Norwegian King Magnus “Barelegs” unexpectedly arrived in Orkney, removed both earls from power, and installed his illegitimate son, Sigurd, as the overlord of the islands. Earls Paul and Erlend were summoned to Norway, where they both died before winter’s end. With Sigurd acting as “king” of Orkney, King Magnus embarked on a raiding expedition, taking both Hakon and the 18-year-old Magnus with him.

The Anglesey Raid

According to the sagas, young Magnus refused to fight during the raids. When the Vikings attacked the Welsh rulers of Anglesey, Magnus stayed on the ship, singing psalms. This Christian behaviour angered the Norwegian King, who already viewed Magnus as a coward.

Historians suggest multiple interpretations for this episode. It is possible that the story was later added to the sagas to emphasize Magnus’s piety. The absence of Magnus from other historical accounts of the raid suggests that his involvement might be fictional. If Magnus had participated in the raiding party, his refusal to fight might have been politically motivated rather than purely spiritual. Historian William Thomson notes Magnus’s frequent involvement in Welsh affairs.

The Orkneyinga saga recounts that Magnus eventually escaped from the king’s ship, swam to the Scottish shore, and vanished until King Magnus died in Ireland in 1102. Details of his time in hiding remain unclear.

Magnus’s Rise to Power

“St Magnus, Earl of Orkney, was a man of extraordinary distinction, tall, with a fine, intelligent look about him. He was a man of strict virtue, successful in war, wise, eloquent, generous and magnanimous, open-handed with money, sound with advice and altogether the most popular of men.”
– The Orkneyinga Saga, Chapter 45

By the time Magnus reappears in the Orkneyinga saga, Sigurd Magnusson had returned to Norway to rule jointly, leaving Hakon as the earl of Orkney. After making representations to the Norwegian throne, Magnus was granted a share of the earldom. Initially, Magnus and Hakon governed amicably from 1105 until 1114, a period often described as a “Golden Age.”

Conflict Between the Earls

The Orkneyinga saga does not specify why Magnus and Hakon turned against each other, only that men of “evil disposition” sowed discord. Hakon, jealous of Magnus’s popularity, was more inclined to listen to these troublemakers. This enmity led the cousins to prepare for battle at a “thing” (assembly) on Orkney Mainland.

A battle was averted by neutral parties who persuaded the earls to make peace.

A meeting was arranged on Egilsay at Easter, with each earl to bring only two ships and an equal number of men. Magnus set out with the agreed number of men, but as his ship approached the island, a great wave struck it, which he took as an omen of his death.

Betrayal on Egilsay

Magnus was the first to arrive on Egilsay, where he awaited Hakon’s arrival.

In poet George Mackay Brown’s work “Magnus”, which some consider to be his masterwork, he tells a story that Magnus was warned of Hakon’s treachery the night before and urged to flee. Searching for divine guidance, Magnus goes to Mass and realises that Jesus could also have fled Jerusalem on Maundy Thursday night and saved himself, but didn’t, because if there’d been no Cross there would have been no Resurrection, no triumph of Life over Death. So, like Jesus, Magnus stays. (Like Jesus, Magnus even forgives his executioners before they despatch him.)

When eight warships appeared, it became clear that Hakon had planned treachery. Hakon and his men ransacked the church and then sought out Magnus, who was hiding on the island. Magnus was captured and brought before local chieftains, where he expressed concern for Hakon’s soul.

Magnus proposed three alternatives to avoid his execution: he would go on a pilgrimage and never return, he would be exiled to Scotland and imprisoned, or he would be mutilated or blinded. Hakon found the last suggestion acceptable, but the chieftains insisted that one of the earls had to die. Hakon declared that he preferred ruling and was not ready to die, so Magnus was condemned to death.

The Martyrdom of Earl Magnus

With Magnus’s fate sealed, Hakon ordered his standard-bearer, Ofeig, to execute Magnus, but Ofeig refused. Hakon then turned to his cook, Lifolf, who wept as he prepared to kill Magnus. Magnus comforted Lifolf, forgiving him for the act he was compelled to perform:

“Be not afraid, for you do this against your will and he who forces you sins more than you do.”

Magnus knelt before Lifolf and asked to be struck on the head rather than beheaded like a common criminal:

“Stand thou before me, and hew on my head a great wound, for it is not seemly to behead chiefs like thieves. Take heart, poor wretch, for I have prayed to God for thee, that He be merciful unto thee.”

Lifolf struck the blow, cleaving Magnus’s skull in two.

The Orkneyinga Saga claims this act took place “1,091 winters after the birth of Christ,” but this date is incorrect. Magnus was killed on April 16, in either 1115, 1116, 1117, or 1118. Initially, Hakon denied Magnus a Christian burial, and he was buried where he fell.

A church on the site of Magnus’s Martyrdom

A church was built on the supposed site where Magnus fell. The ruin today is, after St Magnus Cathedral in Kirkwall, the finest surviving Norse church in Scotland, testimony to the wealth and authority of Orkney’s Norse rulers. It stands remarkably complete in three parts:

• a chancel to the east
• a central nave
• the distinctive round tower to the west

The tower was originally at least 4m taller than it is today and comprised five floors. Its design has architectural parallels in north Germany and around the North Sea, demonstrating the far-flung contacts of the Orkney earldom.

The church’s chancel housed the altar. Above the altar was a room that probably served as a treasury and sacristy. The nave, where islanders and pilgrims stood or knelt during services, was covered by a high-pitched roof.

Miracles and Sainthood

Shortly after Magnus’s death, miracles began to occur. The site of his murder was transformed into a green field. Magnus’s mother, Thora, pleaded with Hakon for a Christian burial, and Magnus’s body was moved to Christchurch at Birsay. Christchurch is likely to have been on the site of the current Saint Magnus Church in Birsay.

From the day of his burial, a bright, heavenly light and a “heavenly fragrance” were said to emanate from Magnus’s grave. Miraculous healings were reported, leading to the growth of the cult of Magnus.

Initially, Bishop William the Old of Orkney tried to suppress the cult, but he became convinced of Magnus’s holiness after being struck blind and then miraculously cured at Magnus’s grave.

Historians suggest that political motives might have influenced Bishop William’s change of heart, as his promotion of the cult coincided with a visit to Norway, possibly meeting the future Earl Rögnvald, Magnus’ nephew. Rögnvald had come to Orkney to claim his uncle’s Earldom. To gain support for his claim, Rögnvald promised the people of Orkney, on advice from his father Kol, that he would:

“build a stone minster at Kirkwall more magnificent than any in Orkney, that you’ll have it dedicated to your uncle the holy Earl Magnus and provide it with all the funds it will need to flourish. In addition, his holy relics and the episcopal seat must be moved there”

Twenty-one years after Magnus’s burial (around 1135), Bishop William had his remains exhumed, washed, and tested in consecrated fire. Declared holy, Magnus was proclaimed a saint, and his remains were enshrined at Birsay kirk’s altar. Magnus’s relics remained in Birsay until he appeared in a dream to a man named Gunni, instructing him to tell Bishop William that Magnus wished to be moved to Kirkjuvágr, modern-day Kirkwall. The relics were moved to Saint Olaf’s Church, on what is today Saint Olaf’s Wynd, while awaiting the completion of the new cathedral.

Rögnvald was as good as his word. In around 1150 the relics of the new saint were brought to Kirkwall’s new cathedral and entombed in a magnificent shrine. We don’t know for certain what sort of shrine Magnus would have had, but it would probably have been richly decorated with precious metals, gems, and beautiful craftsmanship, as befitting the tomb of a noble and a saint. The cathedral was built as a site of pilgrimage and proved to be very popular. In about 1230 the building was extended eastwards, and the shrine of Magnus was relocated to the far east end of the church.

A fifteenth-century papal indulgence describes pilgrims flocking to the shrine from all parts of the kingdom of Norway. Orkney’s many islands also hosted a profusion of minor chapels: every Norse settler of note built one, and the chapels of the more important landowners in time became parish kirks. From the perspective of Rome, the islands may have been remote, but no Orcadian lived far from a sacred church for celebrating Mass.

Economic and cultural links to now-Lutheran Scandinavia aroused little enthusiasm for change among Orkney’s merchants in the mid-sixteenth century. In 1560, Scotland became a Protestant country, and the shrine of Magnus was dismantled. The bones of the saint disappeared, presumed destroyed. Early the following year, The Presbyterian Bishop Bothwell came to a meeting in Kirkwall of the traditional Norse folk and urged the islanders to “be content of mutation of religion”. It caused a commotion, and the bishop had to hide in his palace while rioters brought in chaplains to say Mass and celebrate sacraments. Over time, change was imposed and accepted as ministers were installed from mainland Scotland.

While Irish Franciscans evangelised in the Western Isles and Outer Hebrides, no strong missionary effort was noted in Orkney. A Lazarist working in the northern Highlands wrote in 1657 to St Vincent de Paul about his activities: “I even went to the Orkney Islands.” But this was to no significant effect. Despite the lack of Catholics, Presbyterian ministers reported worry about the behaviour of many Orcadians. They observed a range of old-fashioned, “superstitious” customs and rituals: charms involving snippets of Latin prayer; reluctance to work on feast days of saints to whom kirks were dedicated; the lighting of midsummer “Johnsmas” bonfires. (Indeed, the lighting of the Beltane Fires also make its way into the modern Orkney Anthem – “Tae the gleams that break in the midnight wake, Tae the blaze o’ the Beltane fires” – a nod to the Irish Catholic missionaries who settled Orkney and brought with them their traditions). The ministers complained about habits of pilgrimage to ruined chapels, undertaken to restore health, such as the healing loch of Saint Tredwell in Papa Westray, or to the Brough of Deerness. Noteworthy that coins from the 17th-20th centuries have been found in Loch Tredwell and other coins found at the Brough of Deerness.

On 11 July 1898 Saint Magnus’ sainthood received cultus confirmation from Pope Leo XIII.

The Relics of St. Magnus

In March 1919, during renovations of St Magnus Cathedral, a wooden box containing a skull and bones was found. The skull bore clear signs of injury, believed to be the death wound of Saint Magnus. Experts who examined the remains in 1925 confirmed the identification.

“Those acquainted with the circumstances of the murder of St Magnus could have little hesitation in believing that the skull bore the veritable mark of his death wound and that these were the relics of the saint.” – Dr. George Walker

The bones were re-interred in St Magnus Cathedral, where they remain today.

Saint Rögnvald

Magnus’s nephew, Rögnvald Kali Kolsson, played a pivotal role in perpetuating his legacy. Born in Agder, Norway, around 1100AD, Rögnvald was the son of Kol and Gunhild, the sister of Saint Magnus. He changed his name from Kali Kolsson in honour of Earl Rögnvald Brusison – the earl of Orkney from around 1037 until his murder in 1045. It was Earl Rögnvald Brusison who founded the little Saint Olaf’s church on Saint Olaf’s Wynd in Kirkwall and dedicated it to his foster-father, King Olaf Haraldson of Norway.

In 1151, Earl Rögnvald Kali Kolsson set out on a pilgrimage to the Holy Land along with Bishop William the Old. William the Old was a devout believer in St Magnus, being a direct witness to some posthumous miraculous activity of Magnus. During Rögnvald’s time abroad, King David I of Scotland awarded half of Caithness to Erlend Haraldsson, Harald Maddadsson’s cousin. However, Erlend was later ousted by Earl Harald and killed in 1156. Earl Rögnvald returned, and in August 1158, he and eight of his men were attacked and slain by Thorbjorn Klerk, a former ally of Harald who had been declared an outlaw by Rögnvald for a murder in Kirkwall. Rögnvald’s remains were transported to Kirkwall and interred in St. Magnus Cathedral, where reports of miracles at his burial site and the place of his death emerged.

One notable miracle attributed to Earl Rögnvald Kali Kolsson involves a local woman who was gravely ill and near death. Desperate for relief, her family prayed at the altar of St. Magnus Cathedral, invoking Rögnvald’s intercession. According to tradition, as they prayed, a radiant light filled the church, and the woman suddenly felt a surge of warmth and strength. She awoke, completely healed, declaring that she had seen Rögnvald in a vision, who assured her of her recovery. This miraculous healing spread throughout the community, reinforcing the belief in Rögnvald’s holiness and drawing many pilgrims to the cathedral seeking his blessings.

Another miracle attributed to Earl Rögnvald Kali Kolsson recounts the story of a fisherman caught in a violent storm at sea. As the waves crashed around him and hope faded, he fervently called upon Rögnvald for help. Suddenly, a calming presence enveloped him, and the storm began to subside. Miraculously, a path opened through the turbulent waters, guiding him safely back to shore. Once ashore, the fisherman shared his experience, claiming that Rögnvald had appeared to him, assuring him of protection. This event further solidified Rögnvald’s reputation as a guardian of those in peril, inspiring countless others to seek his intercession in times of trouble.

He was canonised in 1192 by Pope Celestine III, although some question the authenticity of his sainthood due to the absence of corroborating records.