Dominican Resonances in Medieval Iceland explores the life and legacy of Jón Halldórsson, Bishop of Skálholt (1322–39), a Dominican who had studied the liberal arts in Paris and canon law in Bologna. Combining different disciplinary approaches (literary and intellectual history, manuscript studies, musicology), this book aims to examine the conditions under which literate culture thrived in 14th-century Scandinavia. The studies included in this volume consider Jón Halldórsson’s educational background and his contributions as a storyteller to Old Norse literature, focusing especially upon legendary sagas such as Clári saga and examining their link to the Dominican tradition of exempla. The volume also includes critical studies of manuscripts that contain tales and adventures, secular law and canon law, administrative writings, as well as music and liturgy from the province of Nidaros. Combining these various analytical perspectives results in rich insights with broad implications for our understanding of medieval Nordic culture.


Contributors are Astrid Marner, Christian Etheridge, Embla Aae, Gisela Attinger, Gottskálk Jensson, Gunnar Harðarson, Hjalti Snær Ægisson, Karl G. Johansson, Stefan Drechsler, Védís Ragnheiðardóttir, and Viðar Pálsson