Page 26 - LOTN Advent issue 57

FAITH AND CULTURE

Most notably: when the Lord wishes to encourage the No more will he know the streams of oil, or the torrents of
Israelites enslaved in Egypt, or subsequently wandering in honey and cream (Jb 20:17).
the desert, he speaks of Canaan, the Promised Land, as a On the other hand, there are always dangers in excess. So
land flowing with milk and honey (Ex 3:8 etc.) We Christians the Book of Proverbs insists:
of course take this as an image of heaven, the desired Eat to your satisfaction what honey you may find, but not
destination of our earthly pilgrimage, and our only true to excess, or you will bring it up again (Prov 25:16; see also
homeland. In the ancient Church, the newly baptised were 25:27; 27:7).
sometimes invited to take both milk and honey, as a symbol To end on a high point: according to several early Greek
of their entry into the Kingdom of God, or as a foretaste of New Testament Manuscripts, the Risen Lord himself, on
the delights of heaven to come. the very Day of Easter, ate some honeycomb. That variant
In the Song of Songs, the Bridegroom searches for reading is followed in the Latin Vulgate Bible; also in the
adequate images with which to praise his adored Beloved: Authorised (King James) version. This occurred during the
Your lips, my promised Bride, distil wild honey. Honey and Lord’s appearance to the assembled disciples, according
milk are under your tongue, and the scent of your garments to St Luke (Lk 24:42). Our modern versions, including the
is like the scent of Lebanon (Song of Songs 4:11; cf. also 5:1). Nova Vulgata, tend to speak here only of dried or grilled
Or, by contrast, in the Book of Job, Zophar the Naamathite fish. How much nicer that would have been though, with a
reflects on the inevitable come-uppance of the wicked: little honey on top!

Oot an Aboot

with Ron Smith

The enchanted been there at that time. Eventually, Haakon turned up with no
St Magnus Church with its unusual Irish style round tower

less that eight ships full of heavily armed men. They anchored
Island of Egilsay in a small bay overnight, then landed and captured Magnus.
Magnus proposed that he would go on a pilgrimage to Rome
and the Holy Land, or go to prison in Scotland, or suffer
maiming and imprisonment, so that Haakon would not have
n the last edition of the Light of the North I wrote about murder on his conscience for the rest of his life. However, the
St Magnus Cathedral in Kirkwall, Orkney. In that Ting decided that he would have to be killed, and Haakon’s
article I mentioned briefly the island of Egilsay where standard bearer, Ofeig, was ordered to execute him. He refused.
ISt Magnus met his death. I'd like to share with you a Eventually, Haakon’s cook Lifolf, was forced to hit Magnus over
little more of the history of this lovely small island which is the head with an axe, and killed him.
well worth a visit. His body was taken to Christchurch at Birsay (ancient capital
Magnus Erlendsson and his cousin Haakon Paulsson, were of Orkney) on Mainland island, and eventually to Kirkwall.
joint Earls of Orkney. This must have been difficult; decisions Magnus’ death did not go down well with the islanders.
had to be made in consultation with each other, and had to be Haakon, in penance, went on pilgrimage to Rome and
applied to all the islands. Not surprisingly this led to friction
between the two cousins, and between the rival henchmen who Jerusalem. The Bishop of the islands, Bishop William the Old
wanted power. Eventually, matters came to a head. Haakon sent (Bishop from 1102 to 1168) was one of the men who promoted
a message to Magnus, saying that they must have a meeting the case for Magnus’ beatification. He was reported to be living
(a “Ting” in Norse) to sort matters out. The meeting would on Egilsay at the time, and prayed at a small church there. It
take place on the small island of Egilsay, which is roughly in was decided to build a bigger church on the site of the old
the centre of the Orkney archipelago. The date was set for one, dedicated to St Magnus. Work started on it around 1136.
Good Friday 16th April. Historians are sure of the date, but Amazingly, it is still there today! It sits on the highest point of
not the year, but let’s say 1117. It had been agreed that each the island, 35 metres (115feet), above sea level, and due to the
cousin would go there with just two boats of their own people, lack of trees or bushes, can be seen from any point on the island
unarmed. Magnus duly arrived, but Haakon was late. Magnus (which is approximately five kilometers (three miles) long and
said prayers, probably at a small church that is believed to have two kilometers wide (one and a half miles) and about the same
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