In a virtuous life

On the relationship between exempla and saints' lives

Abstract

Medieval exempla are closely related to saints’ lives and the two genres had indefinite boundaries for European authors until the 12th century. Old Norse ævintýri from the mid-14th century include numerous tales of miracles and martyrdoms, common themes of hagiographical works the likes of which had their heyday in Icelandic literature during the same period. The article discusses a number of translated ævintýri with hagiography as the main point of the comparison. The ævintýri that approach the lives of saints tend to focus on selected moments, mainly the hour of death, rather than attempting to sketch the life story as a whole. Martyrdom in translated ævintýri is traditionally framed as a logical conclusion of a thrilling narrative, rather than a self-contained report to be applied as a component in the worship of a saint.