Subscribe now for full access and no adverts
A nalysis of a reliquary box long believed to house the remains of Magnus Erlendsson, Earl of Orkney in 1106-1117, has confirmed that the container is contemporary with the saint.
The story of Magnus’ execution (following a power struggle with his cousin and co-ruler Haakon Paulsson) is told in three Norse sagas: Orkneyinga saga, Magnús saga skemmri, and Magnús saga lengri. He was initially buried where he died, and his body was later relocated to a church on Birsay. After Bishop William of Orkney’s canonisation of Magnus, a cathedral was founded in his name in Kirkwall in 1137, and his remains were transferred to a new resting place within its walls. In 1919, renovation works within the cathedral revealed a wooden box inside one of its pillars; this was found to contain human remains, including a skull with clear signs of injury. Since Magnus had reportedly died from an axe-blow to the head, the remains were interpreted as those of the saint, but questions remained about whether the box and its contents might represent a later addition to the cathedral, or even a false relic created to attract pilgrims.
The reliquary has now been radiocarbon dated by Jenny Murray, a PhD candidate at the University of Highlands and Islands (UHI), who has been exploring the materiality of the veneration of saints, using St Magnus as a key case-study. During her research (with funding from Orkney Archaeology Society), Jenny established that the Scots pine tree from which the box had been crafted had been felled sometime between AD 1034 and AD 1168. This means that the box is indeed contemporary with St Magnus’ life and death, and makes it one of Scotland’s oldest surviving reliquaries.
Jenny, who is also a curator at the Shetland Museum and Archives, explained that the new dating could have interesting implications for the significance of the cathedral building as a whole. ‘It shows that the box was most likely associated with St Magnus’ martyrdom between 1137 and 1150. If he was placed within the column, perhaps during the extension of the cathedral in the first decades of the 1200s, we can look at the whole building being his reliquary.’
Jenny added that the new date supports her working hypothesis that St Magnus’ nephew Earl Rögnvald (who later became a saint himself) and Bishop William of Orkney had a hand in building three towered churches in Shetland. These were constructed in the 12th century, using red sandstone imported from Orkney, and Jenny believes that the stone itself may have had symbolic value, making the churches a beacon in the landscape for pilgrims searching for sites associated with the healing powers of the saints.
Analysis of the reliquary represents just part of Jenny’s research, and she intends to continue examining other sites connected with St Magnus.
‘I hope to do more radiocarbon dating on two wooden beams within the tower of St Magnus Church in Egilsay, Orkney,’ Jenny explained. ‘There have been various thoughts on the date of the towered church there, and its association with the martyrdom of St Magnus. Radiocarbon dating would add another layer of interpretation for both Orkney and Shetland’s churches.’
Text: Rebecca Preedy
