''Rauðúlfs þáttr'' is a short allegorical story preserved in

Iceland Iceland is a Nordic countries, Nordic island country between the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic and Arctic Oceans, on the Mid-Atlantic Ridge between North America and Europe. It is culturally and politically linked with Europe and is the regi ...

in a number of medieval

manuscript A manuscript (abbreviated MS for singular and MSS for plural) was, traditionally, any document written by hand or typewritten, as opposed to mechanically printed or reproduced in some indirect or automated way. More recently, the term has ...

s. The author is unknown but was apparently a 12th–13th century ecclesiastical person. The story is about Saint Olav's ( Olav Haraldsson II king of

Norway Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and the archipelago of Svalbard also form part of the Kingdom of ...

995–1030) visit to a wise man named Rauðúlfr (also called Rauðr and Úlfr), their entertainment in the evening, the staying overnight in a round, rotating and richly decorated house and a vision the king had in his dream that night. The story is sometimes incorporated in the '' Separate Saga of St. Olaf''.

The visit

The story relates King Olav's trip with his retinue, including the queen and bishop, to “Eystridalir” (now

Østerdalen Østerdalen () is a valley and Districts of Norway, traditional district in Innlandet county, in Eastern Norway. This area typically is described as the large Glåma river valley as well as all its tributary valleys. Østerdalen is often subdivide ...

) a then rather remote part of Norway, bordering on Sweden. He visits Rauðúlfr and his family who have been accused of cattle theft. Rauðúlfr and his two sons, Dagr and Sigurðr, turn out to be wise men, skilled in astronomy, time reckoning and

physiognomy Physiognomy () or face reading is the practice of assessing a person's character or personality from their outer appearance—especially the face. The term can also refer to the general appearance of a person, object, or terrain without referenc ...

among other things. There is a feast in the evening where the king asks the bishop and six noblemen together with their host to relate about their skills, which they do one by one. After that the king and his retinue are led to a new house in the yard to spend the night.

The rotating house

The geometry and ornaments of the house are described in detail. The house was round, with four doors placed equidistantly. The roof had a dome, supported by twenty pillars. The house was divided into four quarters (presumably by corridors leading from the doors to the centre). The house was also divided in three concentric parts: a round central platform with steps and two outer parts divided by a fence. The central platform had a large bed where king Olav was to sleep. The bedposts had large spheres of gilded copper and projecting iron bars, each supporting a tripartite candle. The king's retinue was ordered by rank as follows. The queen was in the quarter on his left side with her ladies in waiting. The bishop was in the quarter on his right with the clerics. Three noblemen were in the quarter above the king's head, but three others in the opposite quarter. Twenty people slept in each quarter in the inner ring, but forty in the outer ring, 200 people altogether. As the king lay in the bed, he observed that the ceiling was all decorated with scenes depicting the entire creation. The apex of the dome had the godhead in a

mandorla A mandorla is an almond-shaped aureola, i.e. a frame that surrounds the totality of an iconographic figure. It is usually synonymous with '' vesica'', a lens shape. Mandorlas often surround the figures of Jesus Christ and the Virgin Mary in tra ...

surrounded by the orders of

angel An angel is a spiritual (without a physical body), heavenly, or supernatural being, usually humanoid with bird-like wings, often depicted as a messenger or intermediary between God (the transcendent) and humanity (the profane) in variou ...

s. Out from there were the planets then the clouds and winds, then terrestrial plants and animals, and finally the sea and sea creatures. The outer ceiling, outside the pillars, had stories depicted of ancient deeds. Just before the king fell asleep, he noticed that the house was rotating.

The dream

King Olav then had a most peculiar dream. When he woke up the next morning, he went to see Rauðúlfr and asked him to decipher it. Rauðúlfr knew the dream without being told, described it to Olav (and the reader), and expounded its meaning. King Olav had seen a huge

crucifix A crucifix (from the Latin meaning '(one) fixed to a cross') is a cross with an image of Jesus on it, as distinct from a bare cross. The representation of Jesus himself on the cross is referred to in English as the (Latin for 'body'). The cru ...

, a green cross with a human figure. This figure was made of metals and other materials with a more or less decreasing value from head to feet. The head was made of red gold (Icelandic: rautt gull) which glowed like ‘lýsigull’ (bright gold) and had long and golden hair, the neck was of copper, surrounded by

Greek fire Greek fire was an incendiary weapon system used by the Byzantine Empire from the seventh to the fourteenth centuries. The recipe for Greek fire was a closely-guarded state secret; historians have variously speculated that it was based on saltp ...

, and the breast and arms were of pure silver engraved with the paths and figures of the heavenly bodies. The uppermost part of the belly was made of polished iron decorated with the deeds of some ancient heroes like

Sigurðr Fáfnisbani Sigurd ( ) or Siegfried (Middle High German: ''Sîvrit'') is a legendary hero of Germanic heroic legend, who killed a dragon — known in Nordic tradition as Fafnir () — and who was later murdered. In the Nordic countries, he is referred t ...

, Haraldur hilditönn and

Harald fairhair Harald Fairhair (; – ) was a Norwegian king. According to traditions current in Norway and Iceland in the eleventh and twelfth centuries, he reigned from 872 to 930 and was the first Monarchy of Norway, King of Norway. Supposedly, two ...

. The middle part of the abdomen was made of impure gold and was decorated with trees, herbs, and terrestrial animals. The lowest part of the belly was made of undecorated impure silver. The thighs had skin or flesh colour and the legs below the knees were made of wood. Rauðúlfr interpreted the dream vision as the successive reigns of kings of Norway down from the reign of Olav, who represented the golden head and the glory of Heaven, to about 1155 when the reign had been divided (the legs). By a series of ingenious puns Rauðúlfr linked the character of each of King Olav's successors (or their reign) with the material or decoration of the corresponding part of the crucifix. Rauðúlfr further explained that the house was rotating in harmony with the sun. Before the king departed Rauðúlfr demonstrated the use of a (legendary)

sunstone Sunstone is a microcline or oligoclase feldspar, which when viewed from certain directions exhibits a aventurescence, spangled appearance. It has been found in Southern Norway, Sweden, various United States localities and on some beaches along ...

to locate the sun in an overcast sky. Finally, Rauðúlfr and his family were proven innocent of the cattle thefts. On the king's departure Rauðúlfr's two sons joined his retinue.

Research

Early researchers noted the debt ''Rauðúlfs þáttr'' owed to the dream of

Nebuchadnezzar Nebuchadnezzar II, also Nebuchadrezzar II, meaning "Nabu, watch over my heir", was the second king of the Neo-Babylonian Empire, ruling from the death of his father Nabopolassar in 605 BC to his own death in 562 BC. Often titled Nebuchadnezzar ...

in the Old Testament. His dream was of a huge image made of various materials (gold, copper, iron, etc.). The prophet Daniel interpreted it to stand for the rise and fall of world powers (Chapter 2). The likeness of events at the feast with a similar but much exaggerated narration in the French ''

chanson de geste The , from 'deeds, actions accomplished') is a medieval narrative, a type of epic poetry, epic poem that appears at the dawn of French literature. The earliest known poems of this genre date from the late 11th and early 12th centuries, shortly ...

'' '' Voyage de Charlemagne à Jérusalem et à Constantinople'' was also noted. Both stories also feature a round and rotating house. The round house in the French song has been compared with “abodes of the Sun” in Greek medieval romances. Later studies indicate that ''Rauðúlfs þáttr'' is an

allegory As a List of narrative techniques, literary device or artistic form, an allegory is a wikt:narrative, narrative or visual representation in which a character, place, or event can be interpreted to represent a meaning with moral or political signi ...

that uses a host of symbolic imagery of cosmological nature to manifest the holiness of King Olav (=Saint Olav). The round house can be seen as a prefiguration of the Church and an image or model of the universe. The crucifix is a reflection of the house in the same way as man was seen as a microcosmos, or mirror image, of the universe. The central platform corresponds to the head, the decorations of the ceiling correspond to the body parts further away from the head. The author places King Olav in the central position of the house, in a bed surrounded by symbols of the

New Jerusalem In the Book of Ezekiel in the Hebrew Bible, New Jerusalem (, ''YHWH šāmmā'', YHWH sthere") is Ezekiel's prophetic vision of a city centered on the rebuilt Holy Temple, to be established in Jerusalem, which would be the capital of the ...

(4x3 lights), the symbolic seat of

Christ Jesus ( AD 30 or 33), also referred to as Jesus Christ, Jesus of Nazareth, and many other names and titles, was a 1st-century Jewish preacher and religious leader. He is the Jesus in Christianity, central figure of Christianity, the M ...

. The effect is a glorification or

apotheosis Apotheosis (, ), also called divinization or deification (), is the glorification of a subject to divine levels and, commonly, the treatment of a human being, any other living thing, or an abstract idea in the likeness of a deity. The origina ...

of King Olav. As an image of the universe the house can also be envisaged as a symbolic man composed of a four-divided, earthly body and a heavenly, central and undivided soul (the central platform). As such this allegorical house might well have served as a tool for

meditation Meditation is a practice in which an individual uses a technique to train attention and awareness and detach from reflexive, "discursive thinking", achieving a mentally clear and emotionally calm and stable state, while not judging the meditat ...

. The symbolic imagery of ''Rauðúlfs þáttr'' is close to that used in the cosmological visions of

Hildegard of Bingen Hildegard of Bingen Benedictines, OSB (, ; ; 17 September 1179), also known as the Sibyl of the Rhine, was a German Benedictines, Benedictine abbess and polymath active as a writer, composer, philosopher, Christian mysticism, mystic, visiona ...

, both works represent a widespread tradition of cosmological imagery within the medieval church. Other examples of such imagery appear in church architecture, medieval architectural allegories in the literature, the cave of love in

Tristan Tristan (Latin/ Brythonic: ''Drustanus''; ; ), also known as Tristran or Tristram and similar names, is the folk hero of the legend of Tristan and Iseult. While escorting the Irish princess Iseult to wed Tristan's uncle, King Mark of ...

and Isolde by

Gottfried von Strassburg Gottfried von Strassburg (died c. 1210) is the author of the Middle High German courtly romance ''Tristan'', an adaptation of the 12th-century ''Tristan and Iseult'' legend. Gottfried's work is regarded, alongside the '' Nibelungenlied'' and Wol ...

, and as a

cosmogram A cosmogram depicts a cosmology in a flat geometric form. They are used for various purposes: Meditation, meditational, inspirational and to depict structure – real or imagined – of the earth or universe. Often, cosmograms feature a circle ...

in Byrhtferth's Enchiridion.Einarsson, Árni. 1997. ''Saint Olaf’s dream house. A medieval cosmological allegory.'' Skáldskaparmál 4: 179–209, Stafaholt, Reykjavík.

The crucifix and the kings of Norway, a table

Notes

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Raudulfs Thattr Þættir