Saint Olaf in Tanum Church

 

Today is the feast of Saint Olaf, one of the most important saints' feasts in medieval Norway, and indeed in medieval Scandinavia. Killed at the Battle of Stiklestad in 1030 and declared a saint the next year, King Olaf Haraldsson of Norway became widely venerated from Iceland to the Baltics, and depictions of him are found in numerous medieval churches. For this year's feast, I bring you this short post featuring one such depiction of Saint Olaf, which is kept at the Oslo Museum of Cultural History. Originally from Tanum Church in Vestfold - a Romanesque stone church from the first half of the twelfth century - this thirteenth-century wooden statue represents the saint-king is shown enthroned with gesturing hands while threading underfoot a man who appears to be in chainmail. The robes, the cape and the crown - perhaps even the beard - all serve to emphasise the royalty of the saint. The absence of his attribute, the axe by which he was wounded in battle, is notable, but for this I have no explanation at present.

Perhaps the most notable feature is the figure lying below the saint's feet. As far as I have been able to ascertain, this figure entered into the Saint Olaf iconography in the thirteenth century, and took different forms throughout the Middle Ages. In this case, we might interpret the figure as a soldier on account of the chainmail, perhaps representing his vanquished enemies, or indeed the pagans he fought against during his reign. Other interpretations are also possible. Most importantly, however, it appears that the meaning of this figure depends very much on how the figure is depicted. Several other thirteenth-century exemplars show a man, while others - some already in the thirteenth century as well - depict a dragon, sometimes with the head of a man and sometimes not. The meaning of this iconography has plagued medievalists for generations, and so far I believe the most satisfying conclusion is that there is no one single interpretation, but several possibilities depending on the figure, the time, and the place of its making.