16 Fredrik B. Wallem. [No. 13 



tongue off, and gouged out both his eyes.^) The representation 

 shows the priest deprived of his arms and one of his legs, hut this 

 I regard as an addition made only to enlarge the miracle performed 

 by St. Olav. Liberties of that kind with the legendary tales are 

 frequent in Mediæval art, and are of no consequence for the inter- 

 pretation of the scenes depicted. 



No illustration of the above legend has until now been pointed 

 out. I believe, and I think I can prove, that the scene is shown 

 also on another monument, viz : one of the panels of the diptych 

 called : The travelling- altar of Christian the First, now at the National 

 Museum of Copenhagen. The panel, of which an illustration is 

 given here (fig. 2), shows St. Olav standing before a tonsured man 

 whose eye and leg the king is touching with his hands — thus 

 correctly illustrating the phrase of the legend: T^vi næst strouc 

 hann liendi sinni um augu homim oe leggir) The hand appearing 

 in the backg^^ound is the Manus Dei, signifying the mercy of God. 

 This panel has formerly been explained as king Olav curing a blind 

 man. But then why does the king touch the blind man's leg? 

 This gesture is quite without any meaning unless he simultaneously 

 heals the man's leg and eye. The man'& tonsure proves him to be 

 a priest, and the connection of this scene with the legend seeras 

 to me to be evident: The panel does illustrate St. Olav healing 

 Richard. 



Finaily I shall try to determine the subject of the lower 

 panel on the right side of the Frontal, though this panel is the 

 most injured, and the drawing, in its present state, has scarcely 

 one clear feature. Trying to connect the broken lines, I make out 

 a shield in the middle with a long lance or spear, held in an 

 oblique position behind it. vSome curves on both sides of the shield 

 seem to form parts of two wings. The open place under the shield 

 being large enough to admit a rather large figui-f, I am inclined 

 to believe that the subject treated is St. Michael piercing the 

 Dragon. 



This interpretation is supported to a certain degree by St. 

 Michael being one of the best known saints in Norway. The other 



^) Pa gripu Pæir prest uvaranda oe hrntu bada fotleggl d lionum, styfåu 

 af hmgunni oe stungo hæde aougun or haufdi homim. Gammel norsk Homilie- 

 bog p. 155. 



2) Ibid. p. 155—156. 



