ABSTRACT
First inhabited in the late ninth century, Iceland formally became Christian in about the year 1000 AD. The island’s holy wells are almost categorically associated with the thirteenth-century bishop, Guðmundr Arason of Hólar (1203–1237), known today through fourteenth-century sagas written about him. The healing power of the wells that he blessed throughout Iceland was one of the proofs of his sanctity. However, such blessings were not justified by liturgical texts, and thus roused opposition and scorn in some circles. This essay considers the distinction between Guðmundr’s holy water (of the sort any priest routinely produced) and his holy wells, which became the paradigm for holy wells in Iceland. While some medieval ecclesiastics were uncomfortable with Guðmundr’s creation of such wells, a fourteenth-century Icelandic author used traditional teachings about the River Jordan to create a justification for his blessings.
