Crossing the Bridge: Insular Eschatological Imagery in the Eiríks Saga Viðfǫrla

The Eiríks Saga Viðfǫrla (ESV) or Saga of Eiríkr the Far-Traveller is a short, anonymous saga dated around 1300 relating the quest for the Ódáinsakr, the meadow of the undead, by the Norwegian prince Eiríkr. This paper discusses the cosmology and eschatology of the ESV, by showing its marked Insular brand. In particular, it will be argued that the ESV can be interpreted as a distinctively Scandinavian elaboration on the elusive concept of interim paradise and its function, amongst others, as temporary abode of the corporally assumed. Beliefs about the interim paradise thrived in the early medieval Insular world, eventually contributing to the momentous transition from late antique and early medieval cosmology to the late medieval one and the birth of purgatory. The evidence afforded by the ESV shows that Scandinavia, far from being peripheral to this historic shift, participated in it, offering stimulating insights into that network of exchanges of men and books whichseems to have crisscrossed the North Sea in the early Middle Ages.