Fróðskaparrit - 01.01.1999, Page 131

BRÓÐIR ORMSINS OG FISKAR SUM KONGAR
135
A Cod King (From Jensen 1919)
Toskakongur (Frá Jensen 1919).
The examined herring was drawn and de-
scribed in German, Dutch and French
leaflets. All the pictures show the left side
of the fish with the letters VICIM (and
some unclear signs), which gave room for
many speculative interpretations. Accord-
ing to a brochure from Liibeck, the íish was
a sign of the forthcoming breakdown of the
Christian realm and the Doomsday. Christ
would appear from the heaven and call out
‘vici’ (‘I have gained the victory’). In 1588
in Berlin, theologist Jacob Coler distributed
an illustrated pamphlet about the finding.
He was of the opinion that the fish was a
sign marking the end of the world, which
should take place in the year 1600 (VIC =
1600, IM = 1000). Visitors from faraway
places found their way to Copenhagen to
see the remarkable herring. Brøndegaard
also gives further references from the
Lutheran Orthodoxy in the Nordic coun-
tries of finds of additional herring with sup-
posed letters, which were the subject of re-
ligious and ominous interpretations.
Cod Kings
There are also details about king cods,
kungstorskar, in the sources. They were
abnormal in shape or unusually coloured
representatives of their species. If they
were accidentally captured, they were to be
retumed to sea. In Norway, cod (Gadus
morhua) with a ball or crown on the head
were called kongetorsk. They were be-
lieved to be guides for the whole cod shoal.
To catch a kongetorsk was regarded as good
fortune and, according to folk belief, if you
were lucky enough to get seven of them,
you could count on good luck from the sea
for the rest of your life (Bratrein, 1986: 10-
12). In Lofoten, it was considered good
luck if you first got afiskekonge, a strange-
looking cod, in the fishing tackle while out
fishing. Kongetorsker from Lofoten were
used as gifts to the merchants of Bergen
(Trebbi, 1996: 19). Also in Denmark, de-
formed cods were called torskekonge or
fiskekonge. If they were captured, the fish-
erman would receive goođ luck in fishing
for the rest of the fishing season. Monstrous
specimens of other cod fish species have,