[5-8]: The cult of the Virgin was extremely popular in Iceland as elsewhere, and is attested by the existence of numerous mss containing versions of her life and miracles (Widding 1961; Widding, Bekker-Nielsen and Shook 1963, 321-4), by a large number of skaldic poems in her honour, as well as by her patronage of twice as many churches as any other saint (Cormack 1994, 126-9). It is worth noting, in the context of her veneration, that each of sts 1-10 mentions the name ‘Mary’ at least once.