Jeremias of Gyruum, born Dagfinnr, was a Danish jarl who claimed to be Bishop of Jarrow during the early 10th century AD. He was nicknamed "the Mad Bishop" after he was made lord of the ruined Christian monastery at Jarrow by his former lord Ragnar Ragnarsson following an insane outburst by Dagfinnr. Jeremias became an enemy of his lord Uhtred of Bebbanburg in 918, as he sided with his enemies Wihtgar of Bebbanburg and Domnall with the hope that either of them would help him rebuild the monastery at Lindisfarne.
Biography[]
Jeremias was born in Denmark, but he later came to Northumbria as a Viking. He originally served as a house warrior of Ragnar Ragnarsson, but, one morning, he appeared naked at Dunholm's great hall and claimed to be the son of the Christian God and asked for Ragnar to convert to Christianity. Rather than follow Brida's advice to execute Jeremias, Ragnar - mindful of Jeremias' loyal service, gave him the ruined monastery of Jarrow. Jeremias became the ruler of Jarrow and the surrounding lands, finding a hoarde of silver there; he came to rule over several brigands and adventurers who gathered at teh monastery.
After Ragnar's death and Brida's accession to the leadership of Dunholm, she left Jeremias alone, and Jeremias repaired the church and proclaimed himself Bishop of Jarrow. He was nicknamed "the Mad Bishop", as he wore a bishop's clothing, yet failed to remember the "Holy Spirit" part of the blessing of the Trinity. He was a tenant of the Northumbrian nobleman Uhtred of Bebbanburg, and he insulted Uhtred by urinating on a bag of coins before giving them to him as rent.
In 918 AD, he scouted out the East Anglian port of Dunwich for the Viking raider Einar Egilsson, and he came across a disguised Uhtred (who was pretending to be a senile beggar) while having people kiss a supposed shroud of Mary (which was probably just a rag which Jeremias had found). Jeremias grew suspicious of the old man after looking into his eyes and convinced Lord Aethelhelm to search the huts along the pier for Uhtred, but Uhtred was successfully hidden from Aethelhelm's men. Shortly after, while Uhtred was travelling to Grimsby by ship, he found Jeremias' ship emerging from the River Waverley to join Einar's fleet, and he realized that Jeremias was not an ally of Aethelhelm, but a scout for Einar.
Uhtred and his men ambushed Jeremias on the beach of Jarrow after luring him out by promising to give him a piece of John the Baptist's robe, killing three of his men and capturing Jeremias. Uhtred asked Jeremias for information, and he burned all of his treasured "relics", including those purpoted to be Jacob's spoon, a lock of hair from Elisha's beard, a piece of straw from Jesus' crib, the fig leaf from Eve's clothing, the stick which Saint Patrick used to catch the last snake in Ireland, and the ear of the High Priest's servant (cut off by Saint Peter; it was really a pig's ear). When Jeremias refused to answer Uhtred's question about his ties to Archbishop Hrothweard of York, Uhtred pretended to come from Hrotheward to test him, and the insane Jeremias trusted him. Uhtred learned that his cousin Wihtgar of Bebbanburg had promised to give the island of Lindisfarne to Jeremias in exchange for his help in providing food to the besieged city. Uhtred then persuaded Jeremias to help him in exchange for giving him Lindisfarne once he became Lord of Bebbanburg, and he left him at the cathedral of Jarrow as he set out to take Bebbanburg.