Anonymous, Ambrósíuss saga biskups [Saga of Bishop Ambrose]

Davide Salmoiraghi (University of Cambridge)

Ed. by Ármann Jakobsson, University of Iceland
The Literary Encyclopedia. Volume 1.3.4: Icelandic Writing and Culture.
Vol. editors: Ármann Jakobsson (University of Iceland), Kjerstin Moody (Gustavus Adolphus College), Sven Hakon Rossel (Universitat Wien), Herbert Rowland (Purdue University), Jakob Stougaard-Nielsen (University College London)

Dates

First circulation or publication c. 1250

Places

Iceland (Country of Origin)

Genres and Modes

Prose Fiction Narrative

Resources

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The Old Norse-Icelandic saga of St Ambrose of Milan (374–97),

Ambrósíuss saga biskups

(lit. “Saga of Bishop Ambrose”), belongs to the genre of Saints’ Sagas (

heilagra manna sögur

, lit. “sagas of holy men”), which comprises prose legends of male and female saints translated and adapted from foreign sources into Old Norse in medieval Iceland and Norway (see Wolf 2021). The saga is ultimately based on the most popular hagiographical account of the saint’s life,

Vita Ambrosii

(BHL 377), which was written by the bishop’s last secretary, the deacon Paulinus, in 422. Aurelius Ambrosius had had a successful career as a prefect and governor, when on 7 December 374 he was elected to the archbishopric of Milan, then capital of the Western Roman Empire. His firm defence of…

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2117 words

Citation: Salmoiraghi, Davide. "Ambrósíuss saga biskups". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 25 January 2023 [https://www.litencyc.com/php/sworks.php?rec=true&UID=41084, accessed 20 April 2024.]

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