Lögberg-Heimskringla - 01.10.2018, Page 14

VISIT OUR WEBSITE LH-INC.CA
14 • Lögberg-Heimskringla • October 1 2018
There was once a boy
so courageous and
spirited that his relations
despaired of ever frightening
him into obedience to their will,
so they took him to the parish
priest to be brought up. But the
priest could not subdue him, in
the least, though the boy never
showed either obstinacy or ill
temper towards him.
Once in the winter, three
dead bodies were brought to
be buried, but as it was late
in the afternoon they were
put into the church till next
day, when the priest would
be able to bury them. In those
days it was the custom to bury
people without coffins, and
only wrapped up in grave-
clothes. The priest ordered
these three bodies to be laid a
little distance apart, across the
middle of the church.
After nightfall the priest
said to the boy, “Run into the
church and fetch me the book
which I left on the altar.”
With his usual willingness,
he ran into the church, which
was quite dark, and, half-way
to the altar, stumbled against
something which lay on the
floor and fell down on his
face. Not in the least alarmed,
he got up again, and, after
groping about, found that he
had stumbled over one of the
corpses, which he took in
his arms and pushed into the
side-benches out of his way.
He tumbled over the other
two and disposed of them in
like manner. Then, taking the
book from the altar, he left the
church, shut the door behind
him, and gave the volume to
the priest, who asked him if
he had encountered anything
extraordinary in the church.
“Not that I can remember,”
said the boy.
The priest asked again,
“Did you not find three corpses
lying across your passage?”
“Oh yes,” he replied, “but
what about them?”
“Did they not lie in your
way?”
“Yes, but they did not
hinder me.”
The priest asked, “How did
you get to the altar?”
The boy replied, “I stuck
the good folk into the side-
benches, where they lie quietly
enough.”
The priest shook his head,
but said nothing more that
night.
Next morning, he said to
the boy, “You must leave me;
I can not longer keep near me
one who is shameless enough
to break the repose of the
dead.”
The boy bade farewell to
the priest and his family and
wandered about for a time
without a home.
Once, he came to a cottage,
where he slept the night, and
there the people told him that
the Bishop of Skálholt had just
died. So the next day he went
off to Skálholt and, arriving
there in the evening, begged a
night’s lodging.
The people said to him,
“You are welcome to have
it, but you must take care of
yourself.”
“Why take care of myself?”
asked the lad.
They told him that, after
the death of the bishop, no
one could stay in the house
after nightfall, as some ghost
or goblin walked about there,
and that on this account every
one had to leave the place after
twilight.
The boy answered, “Well
and good; that will just suit
me.”
At twilight, the people all
left the place, taking leave of
the boy, whom they did not
expect to see again alive.
When they had all gone, the
boy lit a candle and examined
every room in the house till
he came to the kitchen, where
he found large quantities of
smoked mutton hung up to the
rafters. So, as he had not tasted
meat for some time, and had a
capital appetite, he cut some of
the dried mutton off with his
knife and, placing a pot on the
fire, which was still burning,
he cooked it.
When he had finished
cutting up the meat and had
put the lid on the pot, he heard
a voice from the top of the
chimney, which said, “May I
come down?”
The lad answered, “Yes,
why not?”
Then there fell down on to
the floor of the kitchen half a
giant – head, arms, hands, and
body, as far as the waist, and
lay there motionless.
After this he heard another
voice from the chimney,
saying, “May I come down?”
“If you like,” said the boy;
“why not”
Accordingly, down came
another part of the giant, from
the waist to the thighs, and lay
on the floor motionless.
Then he heard a third voice
from the same direction, which
said, “May I come down?”
“Of course,” he replied;
“you must have something to
stand upon.”
So a huge pair of legs and
feet came down and lay by the
rest of the body, motionless.
After a bit, the boy, finding
this want of movement rather
tedious, said, “Since you have
contrived to get yourself all in,
you had better get up and go
away.”
Upon hearing this, the
pieces crept together, and the
giant rose on his feet from the
floor, and, without uttering
a word, stalked out of the
kitchen. The lad followed him,
till they came to a large hall, in
which stood a wooden chest.
This chest the goblin opened,
and the lad saw that it was full
of money. Then the goblin took
the money out in handfuls, and
poured it like water over his
head, till the floor was covered
Mail Cheque or Money Order to: Lögberg-Heimskringla Inc.
835 Marion Street, Winnipeg MB, R2J 0K6
Tel: (204) 284-5686 Fax: (204) 284-7099 Toll-free: 1-866-564-2374 (1-866-LOGBERG)
or subscribe online www.lh-inc.ca
MC VISA
Card Number
Expiration Date Phone
Authorized Cardholder
Subscribe now to L-H
the perfect investment in your Icelandic heritage
Name
Address
City/Town Prov/State
E-mail Post/ZIP Code
Phone Fax
Cheque Money Order (payable to Lögberg-Heimskringla, Inc.)
Donation in addition to subscription $
(Charitable Reg. # 10337 3635 RR001)
Canada $60 Online subscription
$45 CAD
USA $60 US An online subscription is available
FREE to all print subscribers.
Call or e-mail for details.
International $70 US
HEIMSKRINGLA
LÖGBERG
The North American Icelandic Community Newspaper . Since 1886
24 issues a year
Donations are published periodically in L-H.
Permission is required to publish donations and donor names.
Amounts under $500: donor name will be published, amount will not be dislcosed. Yes No
Preauthorized credit card payment option available on monthly basis
A GHOST STORY
The boy who did not know what fear was
PHOTOS: FREDERICK W.W. HOWELL
The farm and the church at Skálholt in 1900