Traces of the longer legend of Saint Erik

Bengtsson, H. & Lovell, C., 2012. Spar as' den langre Erikslegenden. (Traces of the longer legend of Saint Erik). Fornvannen 107. Stockholm. The legend of Uppsala Cathedral's principal saint, the 12th century Swedish king Erik Jedvardsson, is preserved in a version used for reading at services. It was written at the end of the 13th century. The legend states that more on his life and on the transferral of his body to a casket can be read elsewhere, implying the existence of a longer and older text. Certain isth century depictions of the saint's life include scenes that appear to have been taken from this longer legend. They include an outdoor mass, an elderly duke in the king's company, a miracle during a crusade, and the king's last battle and execution shown as separate events. Several of them lack parallels in other saints' legends, which increases their source value and the likelihood that the longer legend was written early.