Marvellous and Miraculous

During the Middle Ages, many crosses and crucifixes were believed to be miraculous; they were sites of pilgrimage and subject to veneration that exceeded the ordinary liturgy. After the Reformation, the understanding of crosses and crucifixes as miraculous continued, and so did the religious practices connected to them. This chapter introduces the surviving crosses and crucifixes from medieval Norway that were referred to as either miraculous or sites of pilgrimage: the cross from Borre and the crucifixes from Røldal and Fana.