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The Ghost From the Mounds of Finnbogastaðir


Buried within the mounds of the Icelandic panorama, a murdered shepherd got here again from the lifeless as a Draugr or maybe a Haugbúi ghost to hang-out the individuals residing at Finnbogastaðir farm.

The ghost story was printed within the e book Icelandic Folktales and Adventures (1862) and supposedly all of it occurred 40 years previous to publishing. 

Learn extra: Try all ghost tales from Iceland

The creator had heard point out of assorted ridges and lumps right here within the district the place individuals say that one thing “unclean” or haunted lingered in them, and it was thought to point out itself most of all within the farm mound at Finnbogastaðir about forty years in the past (the mound on which the farm stands). 

Finnbogastaðir is a farm in Árneshreppur, Westfjords, a distant place of rugged shoreline, dramatic mountains, and picturesque bays. Finnbogastaðir is a farm of appreciable historic significance that traces itself again to the primary settlement of Iceland in the course of the Viking Age.

A farmer named Halldór as soon as lived at Finnbogastaðir, however later moved his family to Reykjarfjörður. Whereas he lived at Finnbogastaðir, in a match of anger he as soon as killed a shepherd boy who was with him, and buried him within the farm mound. Few tales went round about how the boy had died, since individuals didn’t press a lot after such small issues in these days. 

The Nordic Draugr Ghosts and the Haugbúi (mound-dweller)

The Draugr of Icelandic folklore is likely one of the most feared undead beings in Norse custom, usually described as a malevolent ghost or revenant that adheres to its burial mound or roams the residing world with violent intent. In contrast to the pale, ethereal spirits of later European folklore, the Draugr is corporeal—corpse-like, bloated, and sometimes imbued with supernatural power. Legends inform of Draugar (plural) crushing their victims, shapeshifting into monstrous animals, or spreading dying by way of pestilence and insanity. They had been thought to protect treasures buried with them, punishing grave-robbers with terrifying drive. Some tales even describe them as rising bigger with each breath, an unstoppable presence embodying the concern of stressed dying and the corruption of the grave. Their origins lie within the perception that those that had been grasping, merciless, or unwilling to go away the mortal world may rise once more to torment the residing.

Intently associated, although usually portrayed as much less aggressive, is the Haugbúi, or “mound-dweller,” a kind of ghost certain to its burial website, usually mounds within the wild. In contrast to the roaming Draugr, the Haugbúi sometimes stays inside or close to its grave, rising solely to protect its resting place and treasures. These beings had been usually seen because the lingering spirits of chieftains or warriors, certain to their burial mounds by way of sturdy ties of delight, greed, or unfinished responsibility. Farmers and villagers prevented disturbing such mounds for concern of awakening the spirit inside, which may strike with sudden, spectral fury. The Haugbúi embodies the deep Norse respect for the land of the lifeless—the place burial mounds weren’t merely graves however thresholds between worlds. Collectively, the Draugr and the Haugbúi reveal a haunting side of Norse perception: that dying was not at all times a peaceable passage, and that the stressed lifeless may stay tethered to the residing, their presence a chilling reminder of mortality and vengeance past the grave.

The Killed Shepherd Comes Bach to Hang-out

A few years later, Magnús Guðmundsson, the district officer who died 4 years earlier than the publishing of the gathering of ghost tales this legend featured in, lived at Finnbogastaðir. Magnús was the son of Guðmundur Bjarnason and didn’t initially consider in magic and ghost tales however modified his thoughts after his experiences. 

He constructed a smithy shut by the farm and reduce out some sods from that mound wherein the boy had been buried. His mom, who was with him then, outdated and really feeble, was tremendously alarmed when she heard of those actions of her son, and mentioned that some evil would come of it, for nowhere may he have reduce sods in a worse place.

The very subsequent evening a ghost got here to Magnús the place he lay in his mattress, and it seized so firmly on his toes that he was harm by it and was half-ill the following day. The next evening the ghost got here once more to Magnús and was then nonetheless stronger; it seized him by the thighs and elsewhere in order that Magnús fell sick afterward. The evening after that the ghost got here as soon as extra to Magnús, seized him by the throat, and was practically completed strangling him the place he lay in mattress above his spouse. He lay lengthy sick after this and was by no means the identical in voice once more, for when he spoke it at all times sounded as if somebody had been urgent flippantly on his throat.

When these three nights had been previous and Magnús had fallen sick with concern and dread, individuals started to assume badly of it. However luckily there was a person within the family named Jón, who was considerably expert based on everybody’s report. He was then requested to drive this apparition away, and he was very keen to attempt it, although he mentioned it will be most troublesome. He had the home closed, each door signed with a cross, and deliberate to grab the ghost and press him in order that he would go away the farmer in peace. However the ghost was so fast that Jón may in no way seize him. Then Jón took the plan of opening a window within the living-room and was capable of drive the ghost out by way of it, then ran exterior after him and meant to assault him there. However by then the ghost had develop into so afraid of Jón that he fled earlier than him, and Jón chased him out previous the land boundaries of the farm, and there they parted. The ghost has not since been seen at Finnbogastaðir.

However as for the ghost, it went straight to Reykjarfjörður, the place the descendants of outdated Halldór had been then residing, and that very evening went into the cowshed there and killed a cow. After that he has carried out no nice hurt, however till just lately he has adopted individuals of that household.

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References:

Íslenzkar þjóðsögur og æfintýri/Draugasögur/Draugurinn á Finnbogastöðum – Wikiheimild

Household of Magnús GUÐMUNDSSON and Guðrún JÓNSDÓTTIR 

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