Þar var tvennt fyrer at þar var elldr brenna⟨n⟩di at banna manni hveriom
at⟨gøngo paradisar⟩ enn englar at veria øllom dioflom oc øndom syndogra
manna.3
(There were two things before me: there was burning fire to deny any man any
entrance to Paradise and angels to guard it against all devils and the souls of sin-
ful men.)
The very same description of the gates of Paradise is in fact extant in Peter
Comestor’s Historia scholastica, chapter 25. After quoting Genesis 3:24, relat-
ing the expulsion of Adam and Eve from the Garden of Eden and the placement
of cherubims as guards of the gates of Paradise in order to protect the tree of
life,4 Comestor further specifies that God purposely deployed an angel or a
rank of angels (“angelus,” “ministero angelorum” / “englir”) to guard (“arcer-
et” / “veria”) the threshold of Paradise against the advances of (the) devil(s)
(“diabolum” / “øllom dioflom”), whereas fire (“ignis” / “elldr”) would deny
(“intercluderet” / “banna”) entrance (“ingressum” / “hveriom atgøngo”) to men
(“hominem” / “øndom synðroga manna”).5
Et collocauit ante paradisum uoluptatis cherubim, flammeum gladium atque uer-
satilem, ut angelus arceret diabolum, ignis hominem. Vel ministerio angelo-
rum posuit ignem ibi, qui intercluderet paradisi ingressum, qui nomine gladii
non cuiuslibet, sed uersatilis dicitur, id est utrobique secantis, quia pena fuit ho-
mini in utraque parte sui puniri.6
(And He placed before the Paradise of pleasure cherubims, and a flaming sword,
turning every way, so that an angel would defend it against the Devil, and fire
against men. He also placed a ministry of angels and fire, which obstructed the
entrance to Paradise. The name of the sword does not exist, but it is said to be
turning every way, that is, cutting on both sides, wherefore it was a punishment
to man, who is to be punished on both sides.)
72 Niðrstigningar saga
Peter Comestor (†1178) wrote his Historia in Paris around the year 1170,
roughly the same year he retired from teaching to the Abbey of Saint Victor. He
intended it as a biblical compendium and explanatory gloss for the students of
theology at the cathedral school of Notre-Dame.7 The Historia soon circulated
widely throughout Europe, not least in Norway and Iceland, where, along with
Vincent of Beauvais’s Speculum historiale (compiled between 1244 and 1259),
it was repeatedly employed for its interpretation and amplification of devo-
tional literature, most notably in the redactions of the first extensive Old Norse
biblical compilation known as Stjórn.8
As a matter of fact, the very same commentary on Genesis 3:24 figures in the
section concerning the expulsion of Adam and Eve from the Garden of Eden in
Stjórn I, the youngest of the three biblical compilations, written in Norway at
the beginning of the fourteenth century, roughly a century after Niðrstigningar
saga.9
genesis Ok sem guð hafði adam oc eua m b ro tt rekit or p ar adiso þa skipaði h an n
þ ar f yrer til v er ndar .ij. lutí. at eingi mętti lifs trenu namunda koma. Cherubín ein n
engill af þui engla f ẏ lkí er cherub i m heit er. settí h an n motí fiandans a laupum en n
elldin n móti man n inu m hu er n er mo ẏ ses nefn er elldligt su erð ok snuanlegt eðr brott tękiligt. af þui s ua at þ en na sama elld let guð beði f ra snuaz þan n tíma s em
enoch uar numin n i f yrr nefnda ok sua þa er helyas var numín n. Ef nǫkkur spẏr
huat sa elldr hafi ser t il nęringar þa má þi vel þartil suara at nǫkkur elldzens mẏnd
er su er æ igi þarf nǫkkut efni ser t il nęring ar sem sa er lesit er af i sǫgu heilags
nícholai af hu er ium er maðren n kenner hita ef h an n rett er sína hǫnd at h onu m
en n bren n r þo æ igi. En n þ ers hꜳttar elldr brenn er andana ept er þi s em i skiluísum bokum fin nz skrifat.10
(Genesis. And after God had expelled Adam and Eve from Paradise, He placed there
two things for protection, so that no one could come near the tree of life: a cherub,
who is an angel from that rank of angels called cherubim, whom He set against the
leaps of the Devil, and fire against man. It is mentioned by Moses as a fiery and flex-
ible sword or as removable, because God let that same fire turn sideways at that time
when Enoch was taken up into the aforementioned [Heaven] and also when Elias
was taken up. If anyone asks what this fire has for nourishment, it may be answered
what is read in the history of Saint Nicolas [ Nikuláss saga erkibiskups], that one
feels the heat if one stretches his hand towards it and yet does not burn. In this way,
the fire burns the souls, as it is found written in trustworthy books.)
However, the two passages show no evidence of direct textual filiation and
seem to have been translated independently from the same Latin source.
The Textual Interpolations of Niðrstigningar saga 73
Accordingly, the first interpolation in Niðrstigningar saga might represent one
of the earliest examples of the employment of Comestor’s Historia in Iceland.
The year 1170 may, therefore, be considered a terminus post quem for the
compilation of the Icelandic translation, or at least for the editorial interven-
tions with which it has been transmitted up to the present.
Seven-Headed Satan
A second source for the interpolated passages was the text of Revelation as
transmitted in the Bible (Vulgate) per se, which provided extensive details for
the depictions of the figures of Christ and Satan. Except for the epithets, mostly
concerning the role of Satan as the undisputed sovereign of Hell,11 the Majority
Text omits any detailed physical description of the Old Enemy. Nevertheless,
when Satan is finally overcome by Christ and Hell addresses him with the
name Beelzebub – “princeps perditionis et dux exterminationis Beelzebub”12
(“Prince of perdition and Ruler of destruction Beelzebub”) – the source T adds
the adjective “tricabite”13 (“three-headed”).
The Icelandic compiler anticipates this reading and employs it when he first
introduces the character of Satan; however, he also mentions the adjective
“seven-headed,” a reading extracted from Revelation 12:3, in which Satan is
described as a terrifying seven-headed dragon:
Satan iotunn helvitis høfðingi er stundom er meþ VII høfðom enn stundom
meþ III enn stundom i drekalike þess er omorlegr er oc ogorlegr oc illilegr a allar
lunder.14
(The giant Satan, the Prince of Hell, who sometimes has seven heads and some-
times three, and sometimes is in the shape of a dragon, which is horrible, terrible,
and awful in all respects.)
et visum est aliud signum in caelo et ecce draco magnus rufus habens capita
septem et cornua decem et in capitibus suis septem diademata.15
(And there was seen another sign in Heaven: and behold a great dragon, having
seven heads, and ten horns, and on his head seven diadems.)
By including the above, the compiler informs the reader of the existence of
both variants and implicitly alludes to the disagreement of the sources he is
consulting.
74 Niðrstigningar saga
> Christ as Warrior-King
Revelation is again the source for what has been, up to now, considered the first
textual interpolation of Niðrstigningar saga.16 With an eloquent speech occu-
pying the entire chapter XX.2, Hell anxiously attempts to warn Satan of the
potential danger of Christ’s divine powers, which, as he rightly fears, are de-
ceivingly hidden in his human appearance: “Vissom ⟨ver⟩ þat þa sem nu at inn
Almakti Guþ er i manni þeim innan oc mun comenn til þess hingat i heim at
leysa menn af syndom oc leyþa til lifs guþdoms sins”17 (“As for now, we know
that the Almighty God is within that man and will have to come here into the
world to release men from sins and bring them to the life of His divinity”).
Despite Hell’s persistence, Satan is only convinced of Christ’s power when,
in the beginning of chapter XXI.1, a great voice from above orders Hell to open
his large gates and allow Christ to enter. These commanding verses, known by
their incipit as Tollite portas, are borrowed from the triumphal words of Psalm
24(23):7–9, a Davidic praise to God emphasizing his sovereignty as a glorious
warrior-king.18 Psalm 24(23):7–9 plays an essential role within the narrative
frame of the original Evangelium Nicodemi and is already transmitted in the
oldest Latin redaction (represented by the Codex Vindobonensis) and in the
Greek translation. Being emphatically repeated three times throughout the text,
once by Christ himself19 and twice by the patriarchs,20 Christ’s military king-
ship is impressed upon the reader. Its inclusion and repetition in the Evangelium
Nicodemi seems to derive from an oral recitation of the Tollite portas verses
within a liturgical ceremony or procession representing the Passion and Resur-
rection of Christ.21 At the utterance of this verse, Hell promptly casts Satan out
from his realms and dismissively encourages him to confront Christ alone: “far
a braut nu or sætum v⸌or⸍arom ef þu mat þa berstu nu hart viþ Dyrðar
Konong⸌en⸍”22 (“Depart now from our seats, if you may, and fight hard with the
King of Glory”).
Before Satan is cast out of Hell and before the acclamation of Psalm
24(23):7–9, the original plot of the apocryphon is augmented with a detailed
description of Christ arriving in Hell as a triumphant warrior-king in a similar
manner, yet in this version, he is riding a white horse and leading a host of
angels as reported in Revelation 19:11–17. This warlike imagery of Christ
might have at least partially arisen during the process of interpretation and
translation of the Latin apocryphon in combination with the repetition in the
text of Psalm 24(23):7–10, which depicts the fearsome God of the Old Testa-
ment with powerful military imagery.23 The Icelandic compiler may have made
a typological connection between the historical Harrowing of Hell (which took
place between Good Friday and Easter Sunday) and Christ’s ultimate dealing
The Textual Interpolations of Niðrstigningar saga 75
with Satan during his Second Coming. This shifting of the narrative time-
line from the first century AD to the Last Days renders the Icelandic transla-
tion more topical and confers on it a more liturgical character: the Christian
audience is compelled to consider the future prophetic implications of the
story, hence becoming all the more engrossed in the narrative action of the
pseudo gospel.24
To mark the beginning of a new narrative section, the Icelandic compiler
explicitly reveals himself in the first person, interrupting the dialogue between
Satan and Hell and presenting the interpolated passage with this introductory
clause: “Þar hverf ec nu fra fyrst er þeir Satan røddoz viþ. Enn ec tec fra þvi at
segia er þa gørþisc enn fleira til stormerkia”25 (“Now I shall turn away from
when Satan and Hell talked first and begin to relate the most wondrous events
that occurred next”).
Þat var mioc i þat mund døgra er himenenn opnaþisc. Þa com fyrst hestr hvitr
enn hofðinge sa reiþ hesti þeim er morgom hlutom er gofgari enn gørvaster
aller aþrer. Augo hans uoro se⟨m⟩ elldz logi. Hann hafði corono a høfþi þa
er morg sigrsmerki matte of syna. Hann hafði cleþi þat umb aunnor uta⟨n⟩ er
bloþstocet var a cleþi hans yfer mioþmenni voro orþ þessi riten Rex regum
et Dominus dominantium. Hann var solo biartare. Hann leidde eptir ser her
mikinn oc aller þeir er honom fylgþo riþo hestom hvitom oc voro aller cleddir
silki hvito oc voro lioser mioc.26
(It was at that point of the day that Heaven opened, and there came forth first a
white horse, and the Prince who rode that horse was in many respects more noble
than the most accomplished of all others. His eyes were like blazing fire. He had
a crown on His head where many tokens of victory could be seen. He had a vest-
ment above the others that was spattered with blood. On His vestment, around the
waist, these words were written: King of kings and Lord of lords. He was brighter
than the sun. He led a great army, and all those who followed Him rode white
horses, and all were dressed in white silk and were very bright.)
et vidi caelum apertum et ecce equus albus et qui sedebat super eum vocaba-
tur Fidelis et Verax vocatur et iustitia iudicat et pugnat oculi autem eius sicut
flamma ignis et in capite eius diademata multa habens nomen scriptum quod
nemo novit nisi ipse et vestitus erat vestem aspersam sanguine et vocatur no-
mine eius Verbum Dei et exercitus qui sunt in caelo sequebantur eum in equis
albis vestiti byssinum album mundum […] et habet in vestimento et in femore
suo scriptum rex regum et Dominus dominantium et vidi unum angelum stan-
tem in sole.27
76 Niðrstigningar saga
(And I saw Heaven opened, and behold a white horse; and He that sat upon him
was called faithful and true, and with justice doth He judge and fight. And His
eyes were as a flame of fire, and on His head were many diadems, and He had
a name written, which no man knoweth but Himself. And He was clothed with
a garment sprinkled with blood; and His name is called, The Word of God. And
the armies that are in Heaven followed Him on white horses, clothed in fine linen,
white and clean […] And He hath on His garment, on His thigh, written: King of
kings, and Lord of lords. And I saw an angel standing in the sun.)
The translator anticipates Revelation 19:16 but altogether omits Revelation
19:15, a prominent passage that preserves a metaphorical image of a sharp
sword coming out of Christ’s mouth and symbolizes Christ’s future penetrating
evaluation of the sins of mankind.28 This figurative description of Christ im-
plies his final judgment of the souls on Doomsday and does not involve any
physical description of his person or the heavenly army preparing to destroy
Hell. It might, therefore, have been of little use to the compiler of Niðrstigningar
saga intent on a coherent elaboration of the plot at this point of the narrative.
The Capture of Satan on the Cross
The following interpolated section can undoubtedly be considered one of the
high points of the narrative, as it describes the rapid succession of events
after
Satan has been cast out of Hell. First, taking the shape of a gigantic dragon,
Satan threatens the world, and at the news of Christ’s crucifixion, he travels to
Jerusalem, convinced that he is capable of slaying Christ. Just as he is about to
swallow the soul of Christ, he belatedly and bitterly realizes that he has instead
been entrapped on the cross, much like a fish caught on a fishhook, a mouse in
a mousetrap, or a fox in a snare.
Þa bra hann ser i drecalike oc gørdiz þa sva mikill at hann þottesc liggia mundo
umb heimenn allan utan. Hann sa þau tiþende ⟨er gørdoz⟩ at Iorsolom at Iesus
Christus var þa i andlati oc for ⟨hann⟩ þangat þegar oc ætlaþi at slita ondina
þegar fra honom. Enn er hann com þar oc hugþez gløpa mundo hann oc hafa meþ
ser þa beit øngullinn goddomens hann enn crossmarkit fell a hann ovann oc varþ
hann þa sva veiddr se⟨m⟩ fiscr a øngle eþa mus under treketti eþa sem melracki
i gilldro eptir þvi sem fyrer var spat. Þa for til Dominus Noster oc bat hann.29
(Then he transformed himself into the shape of a dragon and grew to such a stat-
ure that it seemed he could lie around the whole world. He saw those events that
The Textual Interpolations of Niðrstigningar saga 77
occurred in Jerusalem, that Jesus Christ was breathing His last, and immediately
travelled there and intended to tear away His soul at once from Him. But when he
came there, and thought he could swallow Him and carry Him away, the hook of
divinity bit him, and the sign of the cross fell down on him, and he was caught like
a fish on a fishhook, a mouse in a mousetrap, or an arctic fox in a snare, according
to what was previously prophesied. Then Our Lord went to him and bound him.)
Previous studies have interpreted this passage in various ways. One theory
posits that it is derived from the famous passage in Job 41,30 where Yahweh
warns Job of the absurdity of any attempt to catch the Leviathan (the mytho-
logical monster of chaos) and ironically asks his interlocutor whether he is able
to simply catch the beast and pierce it with a fishhook:
an extrahere poteris Leviathan hamo et fune ligabis linguam eius numquid pones
circulum in naribus eius et armilla perforabis maxillam eius numquid multipli-
cabit ad te preces aut loquetur tibi mollia numquid feriet tecum pactum et accipies
Niorstigningar Saga Page 13