Note to ESk Geisl 15VII
[5-6]: Óláfr’s vision of the ladder ascending to heaven is said to have occurred on the eve of the battle of Stiklestad (see Chase 2005, 30-4, where there is a discussion of the typological significance of the ladder as a means of entry to heaven). On the parallel between Christ’s Cross and a ladder, see also Anon Líkn 34 and Note. Óláfr’s vision is not found in the early vernacular accounts of his miracles, and is likely to have been a learned borrowing rather than a popular addition to the legend.
References
- Bibliography
- Chase, Martin, ed. 2005. Einarr Skúlason’s Geisli. A Critical Edition. Toronto Old Norse and Icelandic Studies 1. Toronto, Buffalo and London: Toronto University Press.
- Internal references
- George S. Tate (ed.) 2007, ‘Anonymous Poems, Líknarbraut 34’ in Margaret Clunies Ross (ed.), Poetry on Christian Subjects. Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages 7. Turnhout: Brepols, pp. 266-8.