The following very curious story is from the _Eyrbyggja Saga_, one of the
oldest and noblest of the Icelandic histories. As it results in an action
unique in its way,--a lawsuit brought against a party of ghosts who
haunted a house,--it well merits attention from all lovers of curiosities.
In the summer of 1000, the year in which Christianity was established in
Iceland, a vessel came off the coast near Snæfellness, full of Irish and
natives of the Hebrides, with a few Norsemen among them; the ship came
from Dublin, and lay alongside of Rif, waiting a breeze which might waft
her into the firth to Dögvertharness. Some people went off in boats from
the ness to trade with the vessel. They found on board a Hebridean woman
called Thorgunna, who, hinted the sailors, had treasures of female attire
in her possession the like of which had never been seen in Iceland. Now
when Thurida, the housewife at Frod river, heard this, she was all
excitement to get a glimpse of these treasures, for she was a dashing,
showy sort of a woman. She rowed out to the ship, and on meeting
Thorgunna, asked her if she had really some first-rate ladies’ dresses? Of
course she had, was the answer; but she was not going to part with them to
any one. Then might she see them? humbly asked Thurida. Yes, she might see
them. So the boxes were opened, and the Iceland lady examined the foreign
apparel. It was good, but not so very remarkable as she had anticipated;
on the whole she was a bit disappointed, still she would like to purchase,
and she made a bid. Thorgunna at once refused to sell. Thurida then
invited the Hebridean lady home on a visit, and the stranger, only too
glad to leave the vessel, accepted the invitation with alacrity.
On the arrival of the lady with her boxes at the farm, she asked to see
her bed, and was shown a convenient closet in the lower part of the hall.
There she unlocked her largest trunk, and drew forth a suit of bed-clothes
of the most exquisite workmanship, and she spread over the bed English
linen sheets and a silken coverlet. From the box she also extracted
tapestry hangings and curtains to surround the couch; and the like of all
these things had never been seen in the island before.
Thurida opened her eyes very wide, and asked her guest to share
bed-clothes with her.
“Not for all the world,” replied the strange lady, with sharpness; “I’m
not going to pig it in the rushes, for _you_, ma’am!”
An answer which, the Saga writer assures us, did not particularly gratify
the good woman of the house.
Thorgunna was stout and tall, disposed to become fat, with black eyebrows,
a head of thick bushy brown hair, and soft eyes. She was not much of a
talker, not very merry, and it was her wont to go to church every day
before beginning her daily task. Many people took her to be about sixty
years old. She worked at the loom every day except in haymaking time, and
then she went forth into the fields and stacked the hay she had made. The
summer that year was wet, and the hay had not been carried on account of
the rain, so that at Frod river farm, by autumn, the crop was only half
cut, and the rest was still standing.
One day appeared bright and cloudless, and the farmer, Thorodd, ordered
the house to turn out for a general haymaking. The strange lady worked
along with the rest, tossing hay till the hour of nones, when a black
cloud crossed the sky from the north, and by the time that prayers had
been said such a darkness had come on that it was almost impossible to
see. The haymakers, at Thorodd’s command, raked their hay together into
cocks, but Thorgunna, for no assignable reason, left hers spread. It now
became so dark that there was no seeing a hand held up before the face,
and down came the rain in torrents. It did not last many minutes, and then
the sky cleared, and the evening was as bright as had been the morning.
It was observed by the haymakers on their return to their work that it had
rained blood, for all the grass was stained. They spread it, and it soon
dried up; but Thorgunna tried in vain to dry hers, it had been so
thoroughly saturated that the sun went down leaving it dripping blood, and
all her clothes were discoloured. Thurida asked what could be the meaning
of the portent, and Thorgunna answered that it boded ill to the house and
its inmates. In the evening, late, the strange woman returned home, and
went to her closet and stripped the stained clothes off her. She then lay
down in her bed and began to sigh. It was soon ascertained that she was
ill, and when food was brought her she would not swallow it.
Next morning the bonder came to her bedside to inquire how she felt, and
to learn what turn the sickness was likely to take. The poor lady told him
that she feared her end was approaching, and she earnestly besought him to
attend to her directions as to the disposal of her property, not changing
any particular, as such a change would entail misery on the family.
Thorodd declared his readiness to carry out her wishes to the minutest
detail.
“This, then,” said she, “is my last request. I desire my body to be taken
to Skalholt, if I die of this disease, for I have a presentiment that that
place will shortly become the most sacred in the island, and that clerks
will be there who will chant over me; and do you reimburse yourself from
my chattels for any outlay in carrying this into effect. Let your wife
Thurida have my scarlet gown, lest she be put out at the further
distribution of my effects, which I propose. My gold ring I bequeath to
the Church; but my bed, with its curtains, tapestry, coverlet, and sheets,
I desire to have burned, so that they go into nobody’s possession. This I
desire, not because I grudge the use of these handsome articles to
anybody, but because I foresee that the possession of them would be the
cause of innumerable quarrels and heart-burnings.”
Thorodd promised solemnly to fulfil every particular to the letter.
The complaint now rapidly gained ground, and before many days Thorgunna
was dead. The farmer put her corpse into a coffin; then took all the
bed-furniture into the open air, and, raising a pile of wood, flung the
clothes on top of it, and was about to fire the pile, when, with a face
pale with dismay, forth rushed Thurida to know what in the name of wonder
her husband was about to do with those treasures of needlework, the
coverlet, sheets, and curtains of the strange lady’s bed.
“Burn them! according to her dying request,” replied Thorodd.
“Burn them?” echoed Thurida, casting up her hands and eyes; “what
nonsense! Thorgunna only desired this to be done because she was full of
envy lest others should enjoy these incomparable treasures.”
“But she threatened all kinds of misfortunes unless I strictly obeyed her
injunctions; and I promised to do what she bid,” expostulated the worthy
man.
“Oh, that is all fancy!” exclaimed the wife; “what misfortune can these
articles possibly bring upon us?”
Thorodd still stood out; but in his house, as in many another, the gray
mare was the better horse, and what with entreaties, embraces, and tears,
he was forced to effect a compromise, and relinquish to his wife the
hangings and the coverlet in order that he might secure immunity for
burning the pillow and the sheets. Yet neither party was satisfied, says
the historian.
Next day preparations were made for flitting the corpse to Skalholt, and
trustworthy men were appointed to accompany it. The body was swathed in
linen, but not stitched up; it was then put into the coffin and placed on
horseback. So they started with it over the moor, and nothing particular
happened till they reached Valbjarnar plain, where there are many pools
and morasses, and the corpse had repeated falls into the mire. Well, after
a bit they crossed the North river at Eyar ford, but the water was very
deep, for there had been heavy rains.
At nightfall they reached Stafholt, and asked the farmer to take them in.
He declined peremptorily, probably disliking the notion of housing a
corpse, and he shut the door in their faces. They could go no farther that
night, as the White river was before them, which was very deep and broad
and could only be traversed in safety by day; so they took the coffin
into an outhouse, and after some trouble persuaded the farmer to let them
sleep in his hall; but he would not give them any food, so they went
supperless to bed. Scarcely, however, was all quiet in the house before a
strange clatter was heard in the shed serving as larder. One of the farm
servants, thinking that thieves were breaking in, stole to the door, and
on looking in, beheld a tall naked woman, with thick brown hair, busily
engaged in preparing food. The poor fellow was so frightened that he fled
back to his bed, quaking like an aspen leaf. In another moment the nude
figure stalked into the hall, bearing victuals in both hands, and these
she placed on the table. By the dim light the bearers recognised
Thorgunna, and they understood now that she resented the churlishness of
the host, and had left her coffin to provide food for them. The farmer and
his wife were now speedily brought to terms, and leaving their beds they
displayed the utmost alacrity in supplying the necessities of their
guests. A fire was lighted; the wet clothes were taken off the travellers;
curd and beer, and a stew of Iceland-moss were set before them.
Hist!--a little noise in the outhouse! It is only Thorgunna stepping back
into her coffin.
Nothing transpired of any moment during the rest of the journey. The
bearers had but to narrate the story of the preceding night’s events, and
they were sure of a ready welcome wherever they halted.
At Skalholt all went well; the clerks accepted the gold ring, and chanted
over the body: they buried her deep, and put green turf over her. So,
their errand accomplished, the servants of Thorodd returned home.
At Frod river there was a large hall, with a closed bedroom at one end of
it. On each side of the hall were closets; in one of these closets dried
fish were stacked up, and flour was kept in the other. Every evening,
about meal-time, a great fire was lighted in the hall, and men used to sit
before it ere they adjourned to supper. The same night that the funeral
party returned the men were sitting chatting round the fire, when suddenly
they perceived a phosphorescent half-moon grow into brilliancy on the wall
of the apartment, and travel slowly round the hall against the sun. The
appearance continued all the while the men sat by the fire, and was
visible every evening after. Thorodd asked Thorir Stumpleg, his bailiff,
what this portended; and the man replied that it boded death to some one,
but to whom he could not say.
One day a shepherd came in, gloomy, and muttering to himself in a strange
manner. When addressed, he answered wildly, and they thought he must have
lost his wits. The man remained in this state for some little while. One
night he went to bed as usual, but in the morning when the men came to
wake him, they found him lying dead in his place.
He was buried in the church.
A few nights after, strange sounds were heard outside the house; and one
night when Thorir Stumpleg went outside the door, he saw the shepherd
stride past him. Thorir attempted to slip indoors again, but the shepherd
grasped him, and after a short tussle cast him in, so that he fell upon
the hall floor bruised and severely injured. He succeeded in crawling to
his bed, but he never rose from it again. His body was purple and swollen.
After a few days he died, and was buried in the churchyard. Immediately
after, his spectre was seen to walk in company with that of the shepherd.
A servant of Thorir now sickened, and after three days’ illness died.
Within a few days five more died. The fast preceding Christmas approached,
though in those days the fashion of fasting was not introduced. In the
closet containing dried fish, the stack was so big that the door could not
be closed, and when fish were wanted, a ladder was placed against the pile
and the top fish were taken away for use. In the evening, as men sat over
the fire, the stack of dried fish was suddenly upset, and when people went
to examine it, they could discover no cause. Just before Yule, also,
Thorodd, the bonder, went out in a long boat with seven men to Ness, after
some fish, and they were out all night. The same evening, the fires having
been kindled in the hall at Frod river, a seal’s head was seen to rise out
of the floor of the apartment. A servant girl, who first saw it, rushed
to the door, and catching up a bludgeon which lay beside it, struck at the
seal’s head. The blow made the head rise higher out of the floor, and it
turned its eyes towards the bed-curtains of Thorgunna. A house-churl now
took the stick and beat at the apparition, but he fared no better, for the
head rose higher at each stroke till its forefins appeared, and the fellow
was so frightened that he fainted away. Then up came Kiartan, the bonder’s
son, a lad of twelve, and snatching up a large iron mallet for beating the
fish, he brought it down with a crash on the seal’s head. He struck again
and again, till he drove it into the floor, much as one might drive a
pile; he then beat down the earth over it.
It was noticed by all that on every occasion the lad Kiartan was the only
one who had any power over the apparitions.
Next morning it was ascertained that Thorodd and his men had been lost,
for the boat was driven ashore near Enni; but the bodies were never
recovered.
Thurida, and her son Kiartan, immediately invited all their kindred and
neighbours to a funeral feast. They had brewed for Yule, and now they kept
the banquet in commemoration of the dead. When all the company had
arrived, and had taken their places--the seats of the dead men being, as
customary, left vacant--the hall door was darkened, and the guests beheld
Thorodd and his servants enter, dripping with water. All were gratified,
for at that time it was considered a token of favourable acceptance with
the goddess Ran if the dead men came to the wake; “and,” says the Saga
writer, “though we are Christian men, and baptized, we have faith in the
same token still.” The spectres walked through the hall without greeting
any one, and sat down before the fire. The servants fled in all
directions, and the dead men sat silently round the flames till the fire
died out, then they left the house as they had entered it. This happened
every evening as long as the feast continued, and some deemed that at the
conclusion of the festivities the apparition would cease. The wake
terminated, and the visitors dispersed. The fire was lighted as usual
towards dusk, and in, as before, came Thorodd and his retinue, dripping
with water; they sat down before the hearth, and began to wring out their
clothes. Next came in the spectres of Thorir Stumpleg and the six who had
died in bed after him, and had been buried; they were covered with mould,
and they proceeded to shake the mould off their clothes upon Thorodd and
his men.
The inmates of the house deserted the room, and remained without light and
heat in another apartment. Next day the fire was not lighted in the hall
but in the other room; the farm-people reckoning upon the ghosts keeping
to the hall. But no! in came the spectral train, and upon the living men
vacating their seats, the ghosts occupied them, and sat looking grimly
into the red fire till it died out, whilst the terrified servants spent
the evening in the hall.
On the third day two fires were kindled--one in the hall for the ghosts,
and another in the small chamber for the living men; and so it had to be
done throughout the whole of Yule.
Fresh disturbances now began in the fish closet, and it seemed as though a
bull were among the fish, tossing them about; and this went on night and
day. A man set the ladder against the stack and climbed to the top. He
observed emerging from the pile of stockfish a tail like that of a cow
which had been singed, but soft and covered with hair like that of a seal.
The fellow caught the tail and pulled at it, calling lustily for help. Up
ran men and women, and all dragged at the tail, but none of them could
pull it out; it seemed stiff and dead, yet suddenly it was whisked out of
their hands, and rasped the skin off their palms. The stack was now taken
down, but no traces of the tail could be found, only it was discovered
that the skin had been peeled off the fish, and at the bottom of the stack
not a bit of flesh was left upon them.
Thorgrima, the widow of Thorir Stumpleg, fell ill shortly after this; on
the evening of her burial she was seen in company with Thorir and his
party. All those who had seen the tail were now attacked, and died--men
and women. In the autumn there had been thirty household servants at Frod
river, of these now eighteen were dead, the ghosts had frightened five
away, and at the beginning of the month of May there remained but seven.
Things had come to such a pass as to render ruin imminent, unless some
decisive measure were pursued to rid the house of the spectres that
haunted it. Kiartan, accordingly, determined on consulting Snorri, the
Lawman, his mother’s brother, and one of the shrewdest men Iceland ever
produced. Kiartan reached his uncle’s house at Helgafell at the same time
that a priest arrived from Gizor White, the apostle of Iceland. Snorri
advised Kiartan to take the priest with him to Frod river, to burn all the
bed-furniture of Thorgunna, to hold a court at his door, and bring a
formal action at law against the spectres, and then to get the priest to
sprinkle the house with holy water, and to shrive the survivors on the
farm. Along with him Snorri sent his son Thord Kausi, with six men, that
he might summons Kiartan’s father, considering that there might be a
little delicacy in the son bringing an action against the ghost of his own
father.
So it was settled, and Kiartan rode home. On his way he called at
neighbours’ houses and asked help: so that by the time he reached Frod
river his party was considerably swelled. It was Candlemas day, and they
drew up at the farm door just after the fires had been lighted and the
ghosts had assumed their customary places. Kiartan found his mother in
bed, with all the premonitory symptoms of the same complaint which had
carried off so many others in the house. The lad passed the spectres, and
going up to the bed of Thorgunna, removed the quilt and curtains and every
article which had belonged to her. Then he pushed boldly up to the fire
past the ghosts, and took a brand from it.
In a few minutes he had made a pile of brushwood, and had thrown the
bed-furniture on the top. The flames roared up around the luckless
articles and consumed them. A court was next constituted at the door,
according to proper legal forms, and Kiartan summoned Thorir Stumpleg,
whilst Thord Kausi summoned Thorodd for entering a gentleman’s house
without permission, and bringing mischief and death among his retainers.
Every spectre there present was summoned by name in due and legal form.
The plaintiffs argued their case, and witnesses were called and examined.
The defendants were asked what exceptions they had to plead, and upon
their remaining silent, sentence was pronounced. Each case was taken
separately, and the court sat long. The first action disposed of was that
against Thorir. He was ordered to leave the house forthwith. Upon hearing
this decree of the court, Stumpleg rose from his chair and said--
“I sat whilst sit I might,” and hobbled out of the hall by the door
opposite to that before which the court was held.
The case of the shepherd was next disposed of. On hearing the sentence he
rose,--
“I go; better had I been dismissed before,” he vanished through the door.