ABSTRACT

This chapter explores perceptions of historical saintly travel and discusses whether travelling was to convey a precise ideology or to provide an interpretation of a historical situation, highlighting social and communal aspects of travel. It focuses on the groups of saints in terms of their being members of the laity or missionaries, these aspects were shown to have had a bearing only on the type of journey the saint undertook. The chapter aims to explore perceptions of travel in the past and its association with holiness by studying accounts of travel in the hagiographical texts that were composed for a selection of Danish and Swedish saints. Studying sources written for the cults of early local saints in Scandinavia can provide insights into previously neglected aspects of medieval history in the area. Several of the local Scandinavian lay saints are described as having undertaken important journeys during their lifetimes.