Lögberg-Heimskringla - 15.01.2008, Page 10

10 • Lögberg-Heimskringla • 15 January 2008
Dealing with the Icelandic devil: Kölski
Icelandic folktales have many stories about the devil. He is often called Kölski. Kölski
is not considered dangerous be-
cause most of the time you can
play tricks on him — he always
keeps his word and he always
finishes his obligations.
There are not many descrip-
tions of the devil’s whole body,
only parts of his body are de-
scribed in the folktales - such as
a hairy hand coming out from
the wall or up from the ocean. He
has hooves, has red hair like the
pagan god Þór, is one-eyed like
the pagan god Óðinn and wears
dark clothes. What is most dan-
gerous about him is that most of
the time he looks like any other
ordinary person; but you can be
aware of the danger, because he
offers you help and in return he
wants things that money can’t
buy, such as your life, the child
you carry under your belt or
somebody that is close to your
heart.
Túnið á Tindum
The Hayfield in Tindar
A long time ago, a farmer
called Árni Þorleifsson lived at
the farm Tindar in Svínavatns-
hreppur in Húnavatnssýsla. Árni
was a good farmer and he was
considered to be very skilled in
magical arts.
One summer the grass didn’t
grow as well as usual because of
cold weather and pack ice. Árni
didn’t cut his fields so the grass
could grow more, but every-
body else cut their fields at the
same time as usual. When the
other farmers had gotten the hay
home, Árni still hadn’t started to
cut his field.
A couple of days later Árni
asked Kölski to cut his hayfield
in one night. Kölski asked what
his payment would be. Árni said
that he could ask for whatever
he wanted. Kölski said that he
wanted Árni as his payment.
Árni agreed to that, but only if
Kölski were finished cutting the
grass before Árni woke up in the
morning.
The hayfield in Tindar was
very rocky and it was hard to cut
it fast and in one particular place
called Gníputóft there where a lot
off rocks all over that place, and
in ancient times, it was believed,
there had been convent. Later
that evening, Árni tied together a
few scythes and he also asked his
people not to go outside or move
away from their beds.
Everybody obeyed except for
one old woman; she wanted to
see what was going on outside.
When she looked out, there she
saw many little devils standing
on the tussocks — after looking
she lost her eyesight and went
insane.
Next morning when Árni
went outside he saw that Kölski
had cut all the hayfield except
for the part where Gníputóft is
located. There Kölski was still
working away and his scythe
was not cutting too well. Árni
heard Kölski singing away.
Grjót er nóg í Gníputóft
Glymur járn í steinum
þó túnið sé á Tindum mjótt
tefur það fyrir einum.
There is enough rock in
Gníputóft
You can hear the rocks when
they hit the iron
Even though the hayfield is nar-
row in Tindar
It delays one to work on it.
Then he had cut every-
thing except for two tussocks in
Gniputóft. A Bible lay on one off
them and the Psalms of David on
the other, because Árni had put
them there.
Árni said that Kölski would
not get paid and that he didn’t
want to see him again. Gníputóft
can still been seen below the
hayfield in Tindar and there is a
bog located below Gníputóft. It
is also visible where the hay field
used to be around Gníputóft.
References:
Íslenskar þjóðsögur og ævintýri
II, Jón Árnason 20-21,
1961.
Björk Bjarnadóttir is an
Icelandic ethnologist living in
Hollow Water, MB. She is also
a storyteller and gives talks in
schools and community centres.
Visit us on the web at http://www.lh-inc.ca
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Björk Bjarnadóttir
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