Sacred Space and Creating a Saint in Medieval Iceland

Trine University’s Humanities Symposia continues as Melissa Mayus, Ph.D., associate professor in the Department of Humanities and Communication, discusses “Sacred Space and Creating a Saint in Medieval Iceland.” Mayus will offer a presentation on Hrafns Saga Sveinbjarnarsonar, a medieval saga that tells of the life of a real 13th-century Icelandic chieftain and physician named Hrafn. Hrafn was a pious and generous man who nonetheless ended up dying in a violent blood feud. The talk will examine the way Hrafn and his home are described in the saga in order to argue that the author was trying to make Hrafn into a saint and portrayed his death as martyrdom. Those who attend can expect to hear about medieval medical practices, blood feuds and sacred spaces, both Christian and pagan, in 13th-century Iceland.