[1][2][3][4] The Gadle Samuel hagiography, written in the fifteenth century and with both long and short versions, states that he was born in Aksum and had a brother.

He walked through water without his book getting wet and Saint Michael flew him through the air to visit Jerusalem.

[4] He was an extreme ascetic; for instance, standing in a pit praying for months, wearing sackcloth, and not eating for forty days.

as shown by this image of him riding a lion in the British Library Oriental manuscript 590.

Osvaldo Raineri, “Samuele di Waldebba”, in J. N. Cañellas – S. Virgulin – G. Guaita (eds.