Baring-Gould’s sources: Danish Martyrology published by Olaus Romerus in 1705, on Dec. 23; he died on that day. But in Iceland his chief festival was observed on June 29, the day of his election to the bishopric of Skalholt. His canonization and the appointment of his festivals were made by popular suffrage at the Althing, or parliament of Iceland, in 1198. Authorities: — (1) The elder ThorlAks Saga, written probably in 1198, when he was canonized. It is referred to by the PAlssaga, written 1216-20. See Biskupa Sogur, formfdi, xxxiiL-iv. (2) The younger Thorlaks Saga in 1325. There are also two books of miracles by S. ThorUc; the first is that produced by Bishop Paul at the canonization of S. Thorlac, in 1 198, collected and written down by him, and read to the Althing; with additions added by him and read to the Althing in 1199. The second was collected after 1200; mention is made in it of Abbot Thorsteinn Turvason, who died in 1224, and J6n Ljdtsson, who died in 1224. An appendix to this gives miracles wrought after 1300. (3) Latin fragments of Lives of S. Thorlac used in the lessons for his festival in the Church of Skalholt, in that of Vallanes, in Fljotsdalr, in the Nidaros Breviary, Ac. All these Lives and Miracles are printed in Biskupa tions on their dates, see the Formdli.] S. Thorlac, the most popular of Icelandic saints, was the son of Thorhallr and Halla, and bom in 1133. He was educated by Eyjolf the Priest, son of Saemund the Wise, at Odda. He ever after held his old master in the highest respect, and was wont to quote him as an authority on whom he could rely when making a statement which might be called in question. Thorlac was ordained deacon by Bishop Magnus before he was fifteen.1 He was ordained priest by Bishop Bjorn of Holum,3 when about seventeen or eighteen, and then went to study in Paris and at Lincoln. At the latter place he no doubt made the acquaintance of S. Hugh, who then occupied the see, and the sanctity of that great bishop 1 Magnus Einar—on died in 1148. * BjOrn Gilaaon, xi 47-69. must have had its influence on the character and after life of the Icelander. He remained six years abroad, and then returned to his native land, filled with that home-sickness which makes the Icelander, however far he may wander, sing,, “ Iceland is the fairest land on which the sun e’er shines,”1 and not find exaggeration in the sentiment. His contemporary biographer says that he felt also a great longing to see his mother and sisters. On reaching Iceland, “ his mother clung to him, and followed him wherever he went, and he showed the tenderest love to his sisters, Ragneid, the mother of Paul, who succeeded Thorlac as bishop, and Eyvor.” His relations wanted him to take a farm, marry, and settle; and he was also disposed to do this, for indeed, in Iceland, priests and bishops were all married. But in the night an old man appeared to him as he slept, and said, “You are meditating taking to you a wife here, but I have another bride in store for you.” We may suspect that Thorlac in a dream saw Hugh of Lincoln, and that the impression he had received in England of clerical celibacy, from the teaching and example of that saint, asserted itself in sleep. Thorlac abandoned his design, and went to a learned priest named Bjamhedinn,* at Kirkjubae, and spent six years with him. A rich farmer at Thykkubse, named Thorkell, was old, and had no relations, so he left his land “ to Christ as his heir,” and appointed Thorlac to convert his house into a monastery. Thorlac went thither in 1168, and was “ consecrated abbot by Bishop Klaengi.” Many placed themselves under his direction, and he imposed on them canonical rule. His mother Halla went to Thykkubse with her son, and looked after the monks as her children, cooked their victuals, and mended their clothes.

Bishop Klaengi of Sksdholt was ill, and obtained perraisOrdained priest 1143, died 1173. sion to have his successor chosen and appointed before his death, to look after the temporal affairs of the see. Three candidates were presented before the Althing, or general parliament of the island, of whom Thorlac was one, and he was chosen in 1174; and went at once to Skalholt. Klaengi lingered on till 1176, confined to his bed. As soon as he was dead, in the summer of 1177, Thorlac sailed to Norway, and was consecrated by Archbishop Eysteinn of Nidaros on July 1, 1178. He returned to Iceland directly after his consecration, and established himself in his see. His ordination had been impeded by Earl Erlingr, who was hostile to the Icelanders.

When first Thorlac woke, he sang aloud the “ Credo,” the “ Paternoster, ” and the hymn, “ Jesu nostra redemptio.” (Then he meditated a little on the Incarnation and the Redemption. Whilst dressing, he sang the “ Prayer of S. Gregory,w and after that the 1st Psalm. When clothed, he went to church, and there he sang first the “Gloria Patri,” in honour of the Holy Trinity; after that “he praised with song those holy men to whom the church was dedicated in which he then was, and who were the patrons.” After that he read the Little Office of Our Lady, and then he prostrated himself before the altar, and prayed for all Christian people; and every day he sang a third of the Psalter. If he were in any perplexity, he sang, “Mitte mihi Domine auxilium de sancto,” and when he left the table after a meal, he sang, “ Benedicam Dominum in omni tempore.” When he went to bed, he sang the Psalm, “ Lord, who shall dwell in Thy habitation.”

S. Thorlac introduced into the Icelandic Church the observance of the festivals of S. Ambrose [bishop of Milan (d. 397)], S. Cecilia, and S. Agnes, and the vigils before the festivals of the apostles. He was the first bishop to exercise excommunication in the island, at the instigation of Archbishop Eysteinn. He also it * •S'. Thorlac.

forbade the marriage of priests. But it does not appear that this command was obeyed, for the priests continued to marry till long after his time. He forbade also lay presentation to churches, and lay impropriation of ecclesiastical property.

Sigurd Ormsson, a wealthy man, built and adorned a church at Svinafell, and asked the bishop to consecrate it. Thorlac refused, unless he endowed it with a farm, and entirely abandoned every claim to presentation to it. Sigurd refused, and was excommunicated dll he submitted. John Loptsson, nephew of King Magnus Barefeet, one of the most powerful men in Iceland, one also in deacon’s orders, had the right of patronage to a church at Hofdabreckja. The church was destroyed by a storm, and he rebuilt it in the most sumptuous manner. Bishop Thorlac would not reconsecrate it till John Loptsson had abandoned his right of presentation. John Loptsson had as his concubine Ragneid, the sister of S. Thorlac.1 John refused to surrender his right. The church had been endowed and founded by his forefathers, and they had always exercised their right of presentation; and he was backed up by all the people of position in the island. John charged the bishop with the exercise of arbitrary authority and the dealing forth of unjust excommunications, to carry out a freak of Archbishop Eysteinn. An angry altercation ensued, but Thorlac was obliged to give way, and abandon his crusade against lay patronage. Indeed, Eysteinn caused such hostility to arise against him from the same attempt in Norway, that he was obliged to leave Nidaros. 1 " John was a deacon by consecration, and a man of great authority in the Church His wife was Halldora Brand’s daughter. Their son was Saemund. He was a great woman-lover, and he had many other sons by other women. Paul, afterwards bishop, and Orm were his sons by Ragneid, sister of Bishop Thorlac. She and John loved one another from childhood. But she had children by many men/' — Thorl&k Saga hinn yngn.

Thorlac, angry at his defeat, excommunicated John Loptsson for adultery. John beset the doors of a church into which the bishop wanted to enter, with armed men. “Why do you impede my entrance ?” asked Thorlac. “ Because you have forbidden my entrance into the church,” answered Loptsson. “ You have excluded yourself by your crimes,” answered the bishop. “ And I am not likely to be brought to repentance by your violence and maliciousness. For God’s sake, not constrained by you, I will dismiss your sister.”1 He sent her away.

A priest named Hogni, rich, but of low extraction, had two daughters bom in wedlock, one of whom was married, the other, named Snaelaug, was unwed and at home. She gave birth to a daughter, who was called Gunnlaug, and it was generally understood that a workman of her father’s called Gunnar “ Cattletyke ” was the father. “ Hogni, her father, was not angry with her for this, nor did he hold her in lower esteem than before this affair. It happened that Snaelaug was staying at Saurbae, and there a priest named Thord, son of Bodvar, fell in love with her; his mind was set on the woman, and he and his father went to Bae and asked for her to be the wife of Thord. An agreement was struck, and Thord took to him Snaelaug, and they loved one another much, and had a son together. Now, it fell out that a man named Hreinn had been foster-son to Hogni when Snaelaug had her bastard. He went abroad after that, and now the news came that he was dead in Norway. And when the tidings reached Hogni and Snaelaug, she admitted that he had been the father of her daughter Gunnlaug. When this was known, the bishop Thorlac forbade all inter1 S. Paul of Skalholt was aged forty when consecrated in 1195, so that the connection with Ragneid must hare been of long standing. Thorlac not only paid no attention to this scandal, but he actually feasted in the house of John Loptsson. where his sister was kept as a mistress, till the personal quarrel broke out between him and Loptsson, when he took advantage of it to excommunicate die adulterer. 5*. Thor lac.

course between Thord and Snaelaug.1 But because they loved one another dearly, they paid little attention to what he said. After that he again forbade them, and excommunicated them. The bishop went himself at the Althing to the Lawhill, and pronounced the divorce of Thord and Snaelaug, and their child a bastard bom in incest. The reason of this was, that Thord the priest and the deceased Hreinn were related in the fourth degree, within which marriage was prohibited without special dispensation.2 At the same time, S. Thorlac deposed Hogni for having allowed such a union to take place. Eyjolf, the other son-in-law of Hogni, also incurred his displeasure. He had become possessed of a property which had been held by Steinn, a priest. Steinn was dead, having left two daughters, who had inherited his lands, and they had either sold it or come to some arrangement with Eyjolf as tenant Thorlac claimed the farm for the Church, on what plea does not transpire, probably because the priest had died intestate, and therefore the Church, not his daughters, should inherit. Eyjolf, who was excommunicated by S. Thorlac as guilty of sacrilege in seizing on ecclesiastical property, summoned his servants, armed them, waylaid the bishop, and demanded compensation for two of his maids who had been seduced by two of S. Thorlac’s clergy. A certain Thorleif Beiskald interfered and patched up a reconciliation. Each priest was to pay five hundred ells of brown vadmal for the seduction.

Thord and his wife tried by all means in their power to induce the bishop to relax his inhibition of their open union, but in vain. They therefore resolved to obtain restoration ‘ See also Sturlunga Saga. lib. iii. 3.

permitted within much nearer degrees. The current Almanach de Gotha gives instances of noble Roman Catholic families in which uncles have married nieces, with dispensation hum the Pope.

to communion by converting it into a clandestine union. Thord, it was ananged before the bishop, should remain at his cure of Gard, and Snaelaug should return to her father at Bae. However, they visited each other as often as possible, and she bore him three sons.

Hogni, the father of Snaelaug, had also a difference with S. Thorlac. He had been to Norway, and had brought home a shipload of timber. He set to work, built at Bae a handsome church, furnished it with all its necessary equip ments, and then asked the bishop to consecrate it. But Thorlac refused, unless the presentation to it were made over into his hands and those of his successors in the see of Skalholt [a bishop’s “see” is his diocese, named from his seat (Latin sedes)] Hogni would not allow this, and the church remained unconsecrated.

Rather than yield his rights of patron, Hogni declared he would use his church as a stable. Hogni awaited an occasion when the bishop was on his way from Reykholt to Saurbae, when he and Eyjolf waylaid him as he was passing a ford in the Grimsi, and insisted on his going at once to Bae. There the bishop found all the chief men of Reykholtsdale assembled, prepared to support the rights of the patron, and Thorlac was obliged sulkily to give way, consecrate the church, and say mass in it. After that he was dismissed with rich presents, and with mutual but insincere professions of amity.

When old, Thorlac was desirous of resigning his bishopric and retiring to the monastery of Thykkubae; but before he could carry his project into execution, he fell mortally ill on his visitation tour through the valleys opening into the Borgarfjord. Feeling that his end was approaching, he bade his friends farewell, and gave his ring to Paul, the bastard of his sister by John Loptsson. After he had received extreme unction he renewed and confirmed all the excommunications he had pronounced, lest in the last agony the Thorlac.

solicitation of his friends, or a milder spirit of forgiveness, should overcome his failing resolution. He died in his sixtieth year, after having been bishop fifteen years, on In 1198 he was canonized by vote of the senate of the island, and the days of his election and death appointed as festivals to be observed in his honour perpetually. His relics [the bodily remains of a saint, or objects they used, kept with honor] received veneration throughout the Middle Ages till the Reformation, when they were buried, except the skull, which is still shown in Skalholt cathedral The skull, however, proves, on examination, to be a cocoa-nut.