Bernlef

Bernlef
A man with a black tunic and a halo reaches down astride a horse to touch the eyes of a barefoot man in red robes holding a harp and a walking stick
An early 20th-century painting of Saint Ludger on a horse, healing Bernlef of his blindness
Died809

Bernlef (Latin: Bernlevus; d. 809) was a Frisian bard and convert to Christianity. During his life, he traveled through the coastal regions of Frisia, singing epics about Frisian kings and heroes. According to tradition, he was healed of his blindness by Saint Ludger who then taught him to play the Psalms on his harp instead. When Ludger was forced to leave by the Saxons during their persecution of Christians, he called on Bernlef to evangelize to the Frisian people and baptize infants who were likely to die shortly.