Lögberg-Heimskringla - 15.03.2007, Blaðsíða 10

10 • Lögberg-Heimskringla • 15 March 2007
Visit us on the web at http://www.lh-inc.ca
In this issue I will introduce you to a phenomena called galdur in Icelandic — in
English it means “magic.” In
the 17th century in Iceland, 22
people were executed for mag-
ic, and only one of these people
was a woman.
The punishment for prac-
ticing magic in Iceland was to
be whipped with tree branches
or burned at the stake. One can
only imagine the suffering and
the horrible pain these people
went through.
Examples of the so-called
“magic” that people were ac-
cused of were making people
sick, killing other people’s live-
stock, communicating with the
devil, raising the dead, writing
magic letters, and owning books
in which magic letters and their
translations were written.
Very few such books still
exist today, because most of
them were burned. Those that
remain can tell us what these
letters were used for, and how,
where and when one should
draw them.
Over the last three summers
I have been working at Gal-
drasýning á Ströndum, or the
Museum of Sorcery and Witch-
craft, in Hólmavík, located in
the region Strandir in the west
part of Iceland (www.galdra-
syning.is). The museum itself
was fi rst opened the year 2000
in Hólmavík, Strandir, and it is
the fi rst out of four sections. The
museum covers the history of
the witch hunts in Iceland and
folklore of Icelandic magic.
The second section was
opened in 2005 in Bjar-
narfjörður in Strandir. That mu-
seum is called Kotbýli kuklar-
nas or “The Sorcerer’s Cottage.”
There people can go back to the
past to see and experience the
dwelling place of the sorcerer
and his wife.
The third section is planned
to be in Trékyllisvík in Strandir.
That was where a famous case
occurred.
The last and the fourth sec-
tion will be located next to the
fi rst section in Hólmavík, and
will cover the European history
of magic and witch hunts.
The main idea behind the
museum is to promote cultural
tourism, where history of the
region is displayed in various
areas in Strandir and where vis-
itors can travel and learn at the
same time about this dark but
interesting history and folklore.
The purpose is also to get peo-
ple living in Strandir involved
with the project.
On February 23 this year,
the project won the Eyrarrós,
which is Iceland’s most im-
portant recognition for cultural
tourism projects. The award
was founded three years ago
and was given to the board
members of Strandagaldur at
Bessastaðir by Iceland’s First
Lady Dorrit Moussaieff. Stran-
dagaldur, a non-profi t organiza-
tion in Iceland, owns the Muse-
um of Sorcery and Witchcraft.
Galdur is the opposite of
religion. Those who are reli-
gious bend their will under the
divine power. But a sorcerer
tries to control the powers of
ghosts, weather, or people
(dead or alive); or make himself
invisible. He also uses magic
to get money or food. People’s
basic needs or wishes haven’t
changed much, but we use dif-
ferent methods to acquire mon-
ey or food.
The Tilberi
The magic that I’m going
to share with you is related
to a creature called tilberi. It
is linked to a category called
“benefi t magic.”
Accusing women of having
a tilberi was one of the charges
that people made in the witch
hunts in Iceland. Only women
could make a tilberi.
Late at night, a woman
would go to a cemetery and
there she would steal a rib from
a man. She would wrap that rib
in wool that she had also stolen
from somebody. Then she put
that wool-wrapped bone be-
tween her breasts.
For three Sundays in a row
she would go to church and af-
ter she had had the communion
wine she would let few drops of
it drip down on to the wrapped
bone that was still between her
breasts. After these three trips
to the church, the tilberi came
alive.
Then the woman could send
the tilberi all over to steal milk
from cows and sheep. When the
tilberi was getting the milk from
the cows he would grow very
long and hang himself over the
back of the cow; then he could
suck the milk with both of his
ends. When the tilberi was full
of milk he would roll home to
his mother and there he would
throw up all the milk into con-
tainers. His mother would then
make butter out of the stolen
milk.
This kind of butter was
called tilbera butter. Many peo-
ple where afraid of eating it,
and the only way to know if it
was tilbera butter was to make
the mark of the cross over it. If
it were tilbera butter it would
melt down and look something
like cottage cheese.
After the tilberi started to
go all over the place his mother
couldn’t have him on her breast
any longer. So she would cut a
wound inside of her thigh and
there she would make a kind
of a nipple where he would stay
when he was not going all over
the countryside to steal milk
from the neighbours.
They say that the tilberi
was so fast when he rolled on
the ground that a man on a fast
riding horse couldn’t catch him.
The folktales say that if people
saw a tilberi going under the
skirt of his mother, they would
take the mother of the tilberi
and tie a rope around her skirt;
then she was burned or was
punished in some other way.
When the mother didn’t
want the tilberi anymore, be-
cause she was getting too old,
she would send him to the
mountains and tell him to gath-
er all the sheep dung he could
see. And because all tilberi
are very loyal and hard-work-
ing they would do that for their
mother. But this kind of work
kills them in a rather miserable
way: they explode.
And proof of that is that
many people have seen dead til-
beri in the hills in Iceland. What
you see is the rib of a man with
wool and lots of sheep dung.
There is an another way to
kill a tilberi — shoot him with
a silver bullet and that kills him
instantly. Silver is considered to
be the purest metal in the folk
tradition, and which is why it is
said to protect people from all
evil things.
Brent Stefanson, C.A.
IN GIMLI IN WINNIPEG
775-8975
1151 Portage Avenue
642-5577
Centre St. & 5th Avenue
Open 1st & 3rd Thursday of every month
Björk Bjarnadóttir
Hollow Water, MB
Íslenskur galdur:
Icelandic magic
PHOTO COURTESY OF GALDRASÝNING Á STRÖNDUM
A sculpture of a tilberi at the Museum of Sorcery and Witchcraft in Hólmavík.
1-866-314-4423 or 780-481-3502
Store in Edmonton
e-mail: snorri@icelandic-goods.com
Check out our imported products online
www.icelandic-goods.com
VISIT US AT THE INL CONVENTION!
APRIL 27th to 29th
Joint venture between
Icelandic Goods by Brendan
& Icelandic Canadian Frón
THE FINEST WOOLEN PRODUCTS
IN THE WORLD, ICELANDIC
PÖNNUKÖKUR PANS, JEWELLRY,
MODEL VIKING SHIPS, VIKING
FIGURINES,
SOUVENIRS
...AND SO
MUCH
MORE
Harðfiskur & Skyr
Direct and intelligent,
Lilllian Vilborg’s
editorials for the
Lögberg-Heimskringla
illustrate her passion for
her Icelandic heritage.
Engaged with current
events, relating stories of
Icelandic culture or of the
early days of Icelandic
settlement in North
America, her writing
refl ects her broad range of
interests, her compassion
and her commitment
to family, friends and
Icelanders around
the world.
only $24.95
1-866-564-2374
www.lh-inc.ca