Christ Legends

Summary

Christ Legends is a book of eleven stories in which the Swedish novelist Selma Lagerlöf retells and invents legends about the life of Jesus, from the night of His birth to the Crucifixion and after. Some come from old Christian tradition, some from folk tales, and some are her own; all are told in a simple, warm voice suited to reading aloud. The book opens with The Holy Night, framed by Lagerlöf's memory of her grandmother, who died when she was five. On a Christmas Day when the household has gone to church, the grandmother tells how a poor man went begging fire to warm his wife and newborn child. A surly shepherd's dogs will not bite him, the thrown staff swerves, and the live coals he carries in his mantle do not burn him. When the shepherd, moved at last, gives a sheepskin for the child, his eyes are opened and he sees angels everywhere. In The Emperor's Vision an old sibyl shows Augustus, about to be honored as a god on the Capitoline Hill, a baby in a stable, and he builds an altar to the Child instead. In The Wise Men's Well a personified Drought tells three strangers how three poor wise men lost the Star through pride and found it again reflected in the well; the strangers are the Magi, who refill it with water from Paradise. Bethlehem's Children follows a Roman soldier who serves Herod and pursues the Holy Family into the desert, but finds he cannot kill the sleeping Child who once did him a kindness. In The Flight into Egypt an ancient palm bows to give the Child its dates. In Nazareth shows the five-year-old Jesus making clay birds beside the boy Judas; when Judas stamps on them, Jesus bids His birds fly. In the Temple sends the twelve-year-old wandering the Temple courts until He sounds a great trumpet no one else can lift. Saint Veronica's Kerchief, the longest story, follows old Faustina from the diseased Emperor Tiberius on Capri to Jerusalem in search of a healer; she arrives on the day of the Crucifixion and brings back a cloth bearing His face, which heals the Emperor. Robin Redbreast explains how a gray bird got its red breast by pulling a thorn from the brow of the Crucified One. Our Lord and Saint Peter tells how Peter's mother, lifted from hell by an angel, falls when she pushes away the souls who cling to her. The Sacred Flame closes the book with Raniero di Raniero, a quarrelsome Florentine crusader gentled by carrying a candle lit at the Holy Sepulchre all the way home. Kristuslegender appeared in Stockholm in 1904. Velma Swanston Howard's English translation, with decorations by Bertha Stuart, was published by Henry Holt in New York in 1908.

Plot or Argument

• The Holy Night

  Lagerlöf remembers her grandmother's death and a story the grandmother told her one Christmas Day while the family was at church: a poor father seeking fire, a cruel shepherd whose dogs, staff and coals cannot harm him, and the shepherd's vision of angels once he shows mercy.

• The Emperor's Vision

  On the darkest, stillest night, Augustus climbs the Capitoline Hill where the Senate wishes to build him a temple; the old sibyl shows him the Child in a stable, and he builds the altar Ara Coeli instead.

• The Wise Men's Well

  The Drought sits on a failing well near Bethlehem and tells three strangers how three scorned wise men from Media followed the Star, despised the poor Child, lost their way, and saw the Star again in the well's water. The strangers, the Magi themselves, refill the well.

• Bethlehem's Children

  A Roman soldier who cares only for war guards Bethlehem's gate, sees a small boy among the lilies and bees, carries out Herod's command against the children, and pursues the fleeing family, but at last lays down his sword beside the sleeping Child and kneels.

• The Flight into Egypt

  An ancient palm tree, alone in the desert for centuries, sees the travelling family pass and bows its crown to the sand at the Child's command so He may gather dates, rises again at His word, and soon afterward withers, its purpose fulfilled.

• In Nazareth

  Jesus, five years old, and Judas make clay cuckoos on neighboring doorsteps; when jealous Judas tramples them, Jesus bids His birds fly, and Mary comforts the weeping Judas.

• In the Temple

  On the family's visit to Jerusalem the twelve-year-old boy, bored by splendors, is drawn to Righteousness' Gate, Paradise Bridge and the great trumpet called the Voice of the Prince of this World, and is found by His parents among the teachers.

• Saint Veronica's Kerchief

  In nine sections, the faithful old Faustina leaves the ailing Tiberius on Capri, travels to Judaea seeking a prophet who can heal him, witnesses the road to Golgotha, and returns with a cloth bearing His face. Tiberius is healed by compassion, and Faustina is baptized Veronica.

• Robin Redbreast

  The Creator names a little gray bird Robin Redbreast; the bird grieves that it has no red feathers until, at the Crucifixion, it pulls a thorn from the sufferer's brow and a drop of blood colors its breast forever.

• Our Lord and Saint Peter

  In Paradise Saint Peter grieves to see his mother in hell; our Lord sends an angel to lift her, but she kicks away every soul that clings to her, and the angel can no longer hold her.

• The Sacred Flame

  In five sections, the fierce Florentine Raniero di Raniero vows at Jerusalem to carry a candle lit at the Holy Sepulchre home to Florence; guarding the flame through wind, robbers and crowds who call him a madman teaches him gentleness, and a burning bird helps him light the Madonna's altar.

Characters

• The grandmother, storyteller in The Holy Night

  Lagerlöf's beloved grandmother, who tells the Christmas legend shortly before her death.

• The shepherd, hard-hearted man

  Cruel herdsman whose eyes are opened to the angels when he gives a sheepskin to the newborn Child.

• Augustus, Roman emperor

  Emperor who is shown the Child in a vision and builds the altar of Ara Coeli.

• The Drought, personified villain

  Gaunt figure who delights in watching wells die and tells the story of the wise men.

• The Roman soldier, pursuer

  Warrior at Bethlehem's gate who hunts the Holy Family and is overcome by the Child's kindness.

• Judas, childhood neighbor

  Bruised, quarrelsome boy in Nazareth who both loves and envies the young Jesus.

• Faustina, heroine of Saint Veronica's Kerchief

  Old and faithful servant of Tiberius who seeks a healer in Judaea and is baptized Veronica.

• Tiberius, Roman emperor

  Embittered emperor on Capri, struck by a disfiguring disease and healed through the kerchief.

• Robin Redbreast, bird

  Small gray bird who earns his red breast by an act of pity at the cross.

• Saint Peter, apostle in Paradise

  Disciple who pleads for his selfish mother's rescue from hell.

• Raniero di Raniero, crusader

  Strong, quarrelsome Florentine armorer's son transformed by guarding a sacred flame.

Lessons

• Eyes that can see

  In The Holy Night the shepherd cannot see the angels until he does one merciful thing. The grandmother teaches that seeing God's glory is not a matter of lamps or candles but of a softened heart.

  • What strange things happen when the poor man asks for fire?
  • What does the shepherd finally give, and what does he see afterward?
  • Why do you think kindness opened his eyes?

• Pride hides the Star

  The wise men of The Wise Men's Well lose the Star when they scorn a poor Child in a cave, and find it again only when they are humbled. Augustus, too, learns that the true God is the baby in the stable, not the emperor on the hill.

  • Why did the wise men turn away from the cave the first time?
  • Where did they see the Star again?
  • How is Augustus like the wise men?

• Small creatures, great love

  A little bird, an old palm tree and clay cuckoos all serve the Child in these stories. Robin Redbreast, shy and weak, still does what he can for the suffering Lord, and is marked forever by that love.

  • Why was Robin Redbreast sad about his gray feathers?
  • What brave thing does he do at the cross?
  • What small thing could you do for someone who is hurting?

• Saving yourself alone

  In Our Lord and Saint Peter, Peter's mother could have been lifted to Paradise with others clinging to her, but she pushes them all away and falls. The legend teaches that a selfish heart cannot rise.

  • What does Peter's mother do to the souls who hold on to her?
  • Why does the angel let her fall?
  • What would have happened if she had let the others come too?

Context

Lagerlöf, a Lutheran by upbringing, wrote these stories after travelling to Egypt and Palestine in 1899–1900, a journey that also produced her novel Jerusalem. She drew on the Gospels, on apocryphal infancy stories such as the clay birds that come to life, on medieval legends such as the Ara Coeli vision and Veronica's veil, on European folk tales like the robin's red breast and Saint Peter's mother, and on the Florentine Easter custom of the Holy Fire.

Composition

Kristuslegender was published in Stockholm in 1904. The stories mix retold tradition and invention; The Holy Night uses a frame from Lagerlöf's own childhood at Mårbacka. Velma Swanston Howard, a Swedish-born American translator of many of Lagerlöf's books, published this English version with Henry Holt in 1908.

Reception

The legends became favorite Christmas and Easter reading in Scandinavia and, in translation, in English-speaking homes and schools. The Holy Night and Robin Redbreast have been widely anthologized, and the book helped shape Lagerlöf's international reputation in the years before her Nobel Prize in 1909.

Comparisons

• the-bible

  The infancy narratives of Matthew 2 and Luke 2 (the shepherds, the Magi, the flight into Egypt, the boy in the Temple) and the Passion accounts are the scriptural ground that Lagerlöf's legends adorn and expand.

• golden-legend-popular-saints

  Jacobus de Voragine's medieval collection carries versions of traditions Lagerlöf retells, such as the sibyl's vision to the emperor and the Veronica image; comparing them shows how she turns brief legends into full stories.

• the-brothers-karamazov

  Grushenka's fable of the onion, in which a selfish woman is nearly pulled from the lake of fire but kicks away the others clinging to her, is a close cousin of Our Lord and Saint Peter.

• a-christmas-carol

  Like the shepherd in The Holy Night, Scrooge is a hard man whose eyes are opened by Christmas visions, though Dickens's story is set in Victorian London rather than Bethlehem.

• andersen-fairy-tales

  Andersen, another Scandinavian, also gives voices to trees, birds and toys and closes several tales with Christian hope, as in The Fir Tree and The Little Match Girl.

Quotes

For Students

A reading companion for classical Christian high school students. See the student guide.

Reading Guide

Watch for

• The grandmother's lesson at the end of The Holy Night about eyes that can see God's glory.
• Animals and plants that help or honor the Child: the dogs and sheep, the palm tree, the bees and lilies, the robin.
• Proud or hard-hearted people who are softened: the shepherd, Augustus, the wise men, the Roman soldier, Raniero.
• How In Nazareth and In the Temple imagine Jesus as a real boy who plays, gets bored and is lost by His parents.
• The candle Raniero must keep alight all the way from Jerusalem to Florence in The Sacred Flame.

Key terms and names

Legend

A story handed down about holy people or events, not found in the Bible, told to teach and delight; Lagerlöf both retells old legends and invents new ones.

Sibyl

The old prophetess on the Capitoline Hill who shows Augustus the vision of the Child in The Emperor's Vision.

Ara Coeli

Latin for Altar of Heaven, the sanctuary Augustus builds to the Child; a church of that name still stands on the Capitoline Hill in Rome.

Magi

The wise men from the East who follow the Star; in The Wise Men's Well they are poor, scorned men who become kings.

Veronica

The name given at baptism to old Faustina, whose kerchief bears the face of Jesus.

Holy Sepulchre

The church in Jerusalem built over the tomb of Christ, where Raniero lights his candle.

Seminar Questions

1. Comprehension In The Holy Night, how did the poor man carry the hot coals without a shovel, and why didn't they burn him?
2. Comprehension How did the robin get his red breast?
3. Comprehension What did Jesus do when Judas stamped on the clay birds?
4. Interpretation Why could the shepherd see the angels only after he gave the sheepskin?
5. Interpretation Why did the Roman soldier put down his sword and kneel when he found the Child asleep?
6. Interpretation Why did Peter's mother fall, even though the angel was carrying her to Paradise?
7. Big Question These stories are not in the Bible. Can a made-up story still help us understand something true about Jesus?

Faith Connections

• Luke 2:8-20 (Scripture)

  The shepherds keeping watch and the angels' song lie behind The Holy Night, where Lagerlöf imagines one shepherd who almost missed the glory.

• Matthew 2:1-18 (Scripture)

  The Magi, the Star, Herod's anger against the children of Bethlehem and the flight into Egypt are the Gospel events behind three of these legends.

• Luke 2:41-52 (Scripture)

  The boy Jesus lost by His parents and found among the teachers in the Temple is the Gospel story that In the Temple expands.

• Jacobus de Voragine, The Golden Legend, The Nativity of Our Lord (Great Conversation)

  The medieval collection records the tradition of the sibyl's vision to the emperor and the altar on the Capitoline, which Lagerlöf turns into The Emperor's Vision.

Logic and Rhetoric

Central argument: God's glory is present in humble things, a stable, a well, a gray bird, a poor child; the proud cannot see it, but those who show mercy or humble themselves are given eyes to see; therefore mercy and humility are the way to see God.

Rhetorical device: personification. In The Wise Men's Well the Drought sits on the well-curb like a storyteller and the Well itself sighs and speaks.

Debate: Resolved: that the Roman soldier in Bethlehem's Children deserves forgiveness for sparing the Child at the end.

Memory Work

It is not revealed by the light of lamps or candles, and it does not depend upon sun and moon; but that which is needful is, that we have such eyes as can see God’s glory.

Even if I am little and weak, I can still do something for this poor tortured one,

Writing Prompts

Essay: Choose two legends in which a proud or hard person changes, and explain what changes them.

Comparison with A Christmas Carol: Compare the shepherd in The Holy Night with Ebenezer Scrooge: how is each hard-hearted man changed at Christmas?

Medical Lens

The legends are devotional, but two touch the history of disease as a literary motif. In The Wise Men's Well one of the three poor sages is shunned for leprosy and is made whole by the Child, following the Gospel pattern of healing the leper. In Saint Veronica's Kerchief Tiberius suffers a disfiguring disease, said to come from the East, that changes his features and voice and rots his fingers and toes; the description resembles leprosy, though the story does not name it. Lagerlöf has the illness rooted in the Emperor's contempt for mankind and lifted when he feels compassion, a moral and spiritual account of healing rather than a medical one.

• The Wise Men's Well

  The three wise men of Gebas, one old, one leprous and one scorned as a foreigner, are healed and renewed by the Child.

  Leprosy
• Saint Veronica's Kerchief, sections III–IV and IX

  The Emperor's disfiguring illness, the despair of his physicians and court, and his healing on seeing the kerchief.

  Leprosy Mind Body

Creative Prompts

• Classroom

  Read The Holy Night aloud on a winter evening, then have children draw the shepherd before and after his eyes were opened, with the angels he could not see at first.

• Fiction

  Write your own pourquoi legend, like Robin Redbreast, explaining how some animal or flower got its color or shape through an act of kindness.

• Dialogue

  Act out the scene from In Nazareth with three readers: Jesus, Judas and Mary. Talk afterward about how Judas felt.

• Essay

  Compare the Roman soldier in Bethlehem's Children and Raniero in The Sacred Flame: two fighting men changed by something small and gentle.

Further Reading

• The Wonderful Adventures of Nils, Selma Lagerlöf

  Lagerlöf's geography book for Swedish children, about a boy who travels on the back of a goose.

• Jerusalem, Selma Lagerlöf

  Her novel of Swedish peasants who emigrate to the Holy Land, written after the same journey.

• Mårbacka, Selma Lagerlöf

  Her memoir of the family estate where she grew up and heard her grandmother's stories.

• The Golden Legend, Jacobus de Voragine

  The medieval collection of saints' lives and feasts that preserves many of the traditions behind these legends.