[3] The fragmentary oldest Life was recast in the 9th century by two monks of Reichenau, enlarged in 816–824 by Wettinus,[4] and about 833–884 by Walafrid Strabo, who also revised a book of the miracles of the saint.

The Irish origin of the historical Gallus was called into question by Hilty (2001), who proposed it as more likely that he was from the Vosges or Alsace region.

He remained in Alemannia, where, with several companions, he led the life of a hermit in the forests southwest of Lake Constance, near the source of the river Steinach.

Fridiburga was the betrothed of Sigebert II, King of the Franks, who had granted an estate at Arbon (which belonged to the royal treasury) to Gall so that he might found a monastery there.

[8] Another popular story has it that as Gall was travelling in the woods of what is now Switzerland he was sitting one evening warming his hands at a fire.

[7] When Columbanus, Gall and their companions left Ireland for mainland Europe, they took with them learning and the written word.

[2] As many as 53 monks joined the order under St. Otmar and the community grew to acquire land in Thurgau, the region of Zurich and Alemannia, up to the River Neckar.

After an extended conflict with the see of Constance, the Abbey of St. Gallen regained its independence in the 9th century when Emperor Louis the Pious made it a royal monastery.

[16] The Abbey's monastery and especially its celebrated scriptorium (evidenced from 760 onwards) played an illustrious part in Catholic and intellectual history until it was secularised in 1798.

In the final scene of the novel where David Staunton is celebrating Christmas with Lizelloti Fitziputli, Magnus Eisengrim, and Dunstan Ramsay he is given a gingerbread bear.

Ramsay explains that Gall made a pact of peace with a bear who was terrorizing the citizens of the nearby village.