Gripla - 01.01.1984, Page 88

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GRIPLA
SUMMARY
1. In 1690 an action for sorcery against a man named Klemus Bjarnason was
sent from the hérað thing at Strandasýsla to the Althing. Klemus was condemned
to death but through the intercession of the Amtmaður (superior magistrate),
Christian Miiller, the execution was stayed and the case sent on appeal to the king.
By order of the king’s letter, dated May 5, 1691, Klemus was spared, but banished
from Iceland for life; Klemus died in Copenhagen in the winter 1691-92. Accord-
ing to Jón Halldórsson from Hítardalur, the Landfógeti, Christoffer Heidemann,
stood behind Amtmaður Miiller’s decision to postpone the death sentence. The
judgment of 1690 was the last death sentence for sorcery passed in Iceland.
2. The case of Klemus was investigated at the local hérað thing of 1689 and
1690. The transcript from the hérað court is preserved in the Þjóðskjalasafn Is-
lands (the National Archives). The second part of the article describes the investi-
gation at the liérað court. From the records we see that Klemus was accused of
having caused the sickness of Guðrún Árnadóttir, the wife of Kolbeinn Jónsson,
and Ólöf Jónsdóttir, the wife of Jón Bjarnason. At the second hérað thing in 1690
the accusations against Klemus were expanded to include the further charge that
Jón Bjarnason’s child had been tormented by an unclean spirit during the winter
of 1689-1690, and that this was caused by Klemus. Further, Klemus was charged
with threatening that if he should survive these accusations he would take the life
of the man who was most active against him. It was attested that Klemus had Iong
been held in ill repute, and was suspected of sorcery. From the records it seems
that the enmity found its source in a dispute over driftwood which Klemus was
accused of having secretly taken. Klemus was required to swear an oath of denial,
but men could not be found to affirm his oath. In this state, the case was sent to
the Althing.
3. Among the new charges which were added at the Althing in 1690 was the
acknowledged use by Klemus of a verse called Tóuvers, a prayer which he admit-
ted having learned and recited over his sheep. The Althing judgement does not
quote Tóuvers, but the prayer has been preserved among the case documents which
were sent to Copenhagen. The verse is printed in the third part of this article, to-
gether with a contemporaneous Danish translation. The verse is also preserved in
another source, a manuscript from the East Fjords dating from around 1839. In
this nineteenth century manuscript it is said that the purpose of the verse is to
ensure a successful roundup of sheep from the summer pastures. The verse was
most likely meant to be read in the spring when the sheep are turned loose in the
mountains. In the article I argue that the verse is of foreign origin. In support of
this position are the words of the spell (sœringarorðin) which are directed clearly
against the wolf, an animal which is not found in Iceland where foxes were the
major threat to sheep. In the article I compare Swedish and Norwegian prayers
which appear to be related to the Icelandic one.
The Icelandic verse is divided into three parts: The first is in direct discourse.
Here the farmer or the person who himself goes with the sheep delivers the prayer.
What is said may indicate an accompanying action or a ritual in order to strengthen