Magnus (novel)

Magnus is a novel by the Orcadian author George Mackay Brown. His second novel, it was published in 1973. it is a fictional account of the life and execution of the twelfth century Saint, Magnus Erlendsson, Earl of Orkney.

Easily Mackay Brown's most religious novel - written after he was received into the Roman Catholic Church - it is seen principally from the perspective of outsiders (peasants, mercenaries, schoolfriends, tinkers) which Mackay Brown interleaves with the Christian tradition of the seamless robe of Jesus.

The narrative implies that Magnus's life is a preordained quest for the garment as a manifested object. It moves swiftly from Magnus's conception to his boyhood at the monastery on Birsay, his non-violent participation at the Battle of Menai Strait (depicted in the Orkneyinga Saga) to the political manoeuvring and outright conflict between Magnus and his cousin Earl Hakon Paulsson.

The narrative also reflects on the damage this inflicted on the inhabitants of the islands. At the pivotal moment of Magnus's execution by Hakon, the narrative switches to Flossenbürg concentration camp during World War II . Magnus's unwitting executioner Lifolf becomes a cook at the camp, co-opted into the hanging of the theologian Dietrich Bonhoeffer by the camp's drunk Nazi commanding officers.

The story returns to twelfth century Orkney, and concludes with the tinkers, Jock and Mary (present since the outset of the tale). Jock prays to the tomb of the (as yet uncanonised) 'Saint' Magnus, but is reprimanded by Brother Colomb, Magnus's former teacher. However, not long after, Mary, hitherto blinded by cataracts, suddenly has her sight restored.

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