The Kinn Pageant summary

The Kinn Pageant

Text by Rolf Losnegård, Torleif Reksten and Janet Wiberg

The Kinn Pageant by Rolf Losnegård has since 1985 been performed on the historic island of Kinn. The main theme is the introduction of the Protestant Reformation by the Danish-Norwegian king in 1537. During the last 30 years about 90000 people have enjoyed this historic pageant. Many of them have not had any knowledge of Norwegian, and they have expressed a wish for a short summary about the play in English.

It is July, 8th – «Seljumannamesse» – the day of St Sunniva and her Holy Men of Selja. The congregation is gathering outside the church after mass. The King’s Bailiff unexpectedly arrives on Kinn with his armed men. The assistant of the Bailiff, Tarve Jonsson, meets Borni, the daughter of the priest on Kinn. They are already acquainted having once been childhood sweethearts. She is very happy to see him, but then she discovers that Tarve has taken the key to the church from the priest and given it to the Bailiff. The Bailiff announces that from this year, 1537, the Catholic epoch in Norway is over. From now on Lutherism must be accepted. Norway no longer is an independent country, she will be a province under Denmark and ruled by the Danish king.

The islanders are uneasy. «Are we going to be Danish?» I am «Stafjording» (the name of an area across the fjord). The congregation protests in anger when listening to the Bailiff’s speech. Tarve, however, begs them to submit to the King’s orders, and he threathens them by pointing at the armed soldiers of the Bailiff.

The priest on Kinn must renounce Catholicism and accept the new teachings, if not he must be replaced by someone who is loyal to the Right Faith. Magrete, who is the mother of his daughter, begs him to agree to the Bailiff’s demands. According to Lutherism they then can marry and thus make an end to sinning because of the Church of the Pope and its requirement of celibacy. Their daughter Borni, however, beseeches her father to keep to the Catholic Faith. «We want to do what we had planned to do when we were interrupted by the Bailiff’s arrival», Borni says. «We want to perform The Pageant about St. Sunniva». But that is now impossible because the costumes and props are inside the church. The church is locked and the key to it, the Bailiff now has in his possession. Borni has ordered the Bailiff and his men to leave the stage. The Bailiff becomes angry and tells his men to take her away. Tarve is able to prevent that. Borni informs the Bailiff that they were about to perform a Pageant when he and his men entered the stage. «Our stage,» the people shout. «A performance we have been looking forward to!» Now Tarve advises the Bailiff to allow them to perform the Pageant. Thus they might be easier to deal with. Besides it is an amusing play with nice songs. Tarve admits that he once took part in it. «You did, indeed, did you,» the Bailiff asks. «He certainly did!» the people shout. And Mikkel with merry gestures shows how Tarve acted the drunk viking king. Borni asks him to do the same role in the play as he had done before, but he hesitates, because he now is the assistant of the Bailiff. But the Bailiff has become curious and wants to watch this performance where Tarve takes part, and he permits Borni to borrow the key, but only during the performance.

The Church Pageant about St. Sunniva.

Ireland in the 900th century. The king is dead and his daughter becomes queen. Heathen vikings from Norway arrive in Ireland. They plunder and besiege Queen Sunniva’s castle. The viking chieftain, Ramn den ville (The wild Raven), offers peace if Sunniva agrees to marry him. Sunniva asks her Council of Wise Men for advice. Is she to give her body and soul to a heathen? Their advice is «Yes» and Sunniva then prays to God for help and his advice. Ramn demands an answer. If she does not agree, he and his men will break into the castle. Sunniva therefore says she will come to him the following night. While Ramn and the vikings drink and dance celebrating this victory, Sunniva and her followers flee from the country as God has advised them to do. Sunniva and her followers have escaped by fleeing out to sea, and Ramn is left behind. He understands that he has been cheated and he is furious. Sunniva orders all sails and oars to be thrown away and they drift away from Ireland. Finally they land on the island of Selja in Norway where she suffers a martyr’s death and later becomes a Catholic saint.

The Pageant has now come to an end, and the Bailiff insists upon the priest making his choice – to convert or not! But the priest is unable to choose, and the Bailiff gives him a time limit of one day and one night to make up his mind. Borni is in despair. Everybody – including Tarve whom she loves – fails her, and driven to desperation she flees onto the mountain. A search for her is carried out everywhere on the island. The priest prays to God for help, but Magrete mocks him, blaming him for their daughter’s disappearance. The priest on the other hand attacks her for thinking more about herself than about her own daughter.

Magrete has it out with God. She has been the mistress of the priest and as such both been spoken ill of and looked down on. A man called Dave comes with Borni’s shawl which he has found on the mountain. She still might be found, but hope fades and Magrete is desperate and beseeches God for help.

The Bailiff and his men return. For the priest this marks the deadline, but he has not decided what to do. The Bailiff declares Tarve the new vicar of Kinn and gives him the key. The islanders are furious. They do not want him as their vicar – Tarve who once was a poor beggar and now has become a traitor serving the Bailiff and the Danish king. But the Bailiff does not pay any attention to these objections. Tarve wants to show them that he is their new vicar, but the people ridicule him and prepare to throw stones at him. The Bailiff’s men advance to attack them. The priest then places himself between them and makes them lay down their weapons. A battle here is sacrilege. The islanders are lamenting the unfruitful years at sea and on land. And in addition they are told that Norway is going to be a Danish province and that their Old Faith shall be abolished. The priest they loved and respected is forced to yield his place to a man they do not respect. There is no longer any hope – all is lost! «No! All is not lost», an old man cries out. «The old church still stands here. It alone survives all storms and all changes of time. The church houses us all and watches over the graves of our ancestors. King or Pope – That does not matter. The old church is what matters, the old church gives strength and consolation to people here on Kinn». They sing a hymn to the old church. This outburst makes the priest choose to remain the father for the people of Kinn even though that means taking the New Faith and convert to Lutherism. He asks for the key to the church. Tarve objects, but has to give up his dream of becoming the vicar of Kinn. He has to return the key to the Bailiff.

The dead body of Borni is carried in. She has taken her life with Tarve’s sword. Tarve leaves the service of the Bailiff, takes his farewell with the dead Borni and departs. A little ragged girl with a beggar’s sack enters and asks for «her father». The people wish to chase her away, but she is insistent. «Are you the father of the Holy Maiden?» she asks the priest. «It was I who found her!» The girl tells them that she found Borni in a cave on the mountain, and that a golden cross hovered in the air above her. She goes on telling them about a special scent so sweet and good. And she had heard voices talking. «This must be a sign – a miracle!» the priest says. «Show me this cross.» She admits that she has lost the cross – it had fallen down behind a boulder. But she promises to find it – if she is allowed to stay with the priest and Magrete. The girl requests the key to the church from the Bailiff. He hesitates. «What will the King say if his Bailiff gives this key to a little child?» «What the Bailiff should say? Is he ignorant? He should only quote Jesus «whosoever shall not receive the kingdom of God as a little child, he shall not enter therein»» .

Everybody sings the Hymn to Kinn – The hymn which is about Kinn – at present and past times.