Magnus

This chapter considers the ways in which Brown adapts, develops, and treats the cult of St Magnus in literary terms. It examines Brown’s creative use of history, hagiography, and the cult of St Magnus as first seen in the Icelandic Sagas. It discusses Brown’s complex fusion of hagiographic, apocryphal, biblical and saga writings in his novel Magnus (1973) and in other devotional poetry. The chapter contends that Brown resituates a largely forgotten Norse saint within a Scottish and Scandinavian hagiographical context, while simultaneously reintroducing St Magnus into twentieth century Scottish literature.