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Paper short abstract:

The presentation will explore narrative strategies by which the legend of St. Sunniva is used to re-story the refurbished pilgrimage route to Selja. It will be analysed to what degree the contemporary use of the narratives documents a trend towards a heritagisation of religion.

Paper long abstract:

According to legend, the Irish princess Sunniva became a martyr at the island of Selja on the West coast of Norway. Following her enshrinement in the 12th century, she became central for the medieval pilgrimage to the island. Today, Sunniva is re-framed and represented as a symbol that can be, and indeed is, filled with a variety of meaning for different actors in the field. The pilgrimage route to Selja is one example of the "caminoisation" of pre-reformation pilgrimage routes and destinations in the Nordic countries. Practice and places connected to pilgrimage that were discredited with the Protestant Reformation in the 16th century are now to an increasing extent filled with new and re-interpreted meaning as part of networks of new and re-introduced national and transnational pilgrim destinations. An important part of these processes has been to create meaningful narratives about the saints that the medieval pilgrimage routes and destinations were connected to. In other words, the contemporary routes are framed through narratives about its historical roots. The presentation examines the legend of St. Sunniva and different contemporary adaptions of the saint's legendary traditions, with emphasis on the slogan of The Foundation St. Sunniva, Selja and Stad: "The Light, the Legend, Life and the Landscape". The narrative frameworks, with the people, places and practice the stories refers to, will be read as multi-layered heritage, connected to a variety of ambitions, means and strategies that evoke both local identities and European narrative cultures.