The Saints and Their Miracles

Norman Christianity developed its own character, blending Norse pragmatism with Frankish piety and never quite forgetting older ways. Norman saints often seem more like Viking warriors who happened to carry crosses instead of axes.

Saint Michael and Mont-Saint-Michel

The archangel Michael, warrior of God, resonated deeply with Norman sensibilities. His shrine at Mont-Saint-Michel, built on a tidal island that transforms from hill to island with each tide, became one of medieval Europe's great pilgrimage sites.

But the Mount has older associations. Before Michael, it was Mont Tombe, possibly sacred to Belenus, a Celtic sun god. Some versions of the founding legend explicitly state that Bishop Aubert built Michael's church to supplant pagan worship that wouldn't die.

The Mount generates its own legends: - Quicksands around the island that swallow the impious but become solid for true pilgrims - The forest of Scissy, submerged by the same wave that created the Mount, where church bells still ring beneath the water - Tombelaine, the smaller island nearby, connected to Mont-Saint-Michel by a subterranean passage used by fairy folk

During extreme low tides, tree stumps emerge from the sand—remnants of the drowned forest. Locals say these are not dead wood but sleeping ents, waiting for the day when the sea retreats permanently and the forest can reclaim its territory.

Saint Clair and the Holy Wells

Normandy's numerous healing springs often bear dedications to Saint Clair (Clear), who restored sight to the blind. But water worship predates Christianity here by millennia. The Vikings, too, honored sacred springs, throwing offerings to the spirits within.

At Saint-Clair-sur-Epte, where the treaty creating Normandy was signed, the spring's rituals blend traditions: - Pilgrims must approach barefoot (Christian humility or pagan respect?) - Silver coins thrown in the water (offerings to the saint or the spring-spirit?) - Water must be drunk from cupped hands, never a vessel (primitive practice or spiritual metaphor?) - The cured must leave a token—usually a ribbon tied to nearby trees (eerily similar to Norse practice at sacred groves)

Those who mock the rituals risk the "Clear Sight"—the ability to see things as they truly are, including the fairy folk, ghosts, and demons usually hidden from mortal eyes. This "gift" invariably drives the recipient mad within a year.