THE LAST SENTENCE TO DEATH BY FIRE, Museum of Icelandic Sorcery and Witchcraft ~ Höfðagata 14, 510 Hólmavík, Iceland
26
THE LAST SENTENCE TO DEATH BY FIRE
Klemus Bjarnason lived in the area around Hólmavík and was charged with sorcery and evildoing in 1690 and sentenced to death by fire. Judging from the available material Klemus was not a very popular man but the original accusation concerned a piece of driftwood which he was rumoured to have stolen.
Klemus didn't care for the accu-sations and swore according to witnesses that he would revenge himself if found guilty. His neigh-bours saw evidence of his powers in the fact that at least two women fell ill after he uttered the threat and Klemus was promptly accused of witchcraft. It wasn't until he had been judged guilty and was on his way to Pingvellir that Klemus recited for the sheriff an invocation to prevent foxes harming sheep and for this he was condemned to death.
His luck was that while awaiting sentence the king had issued a decree stating that all capital offences must be put to the
newly installed Supreme Court in Copenhagen. Consequently the sentence was changed into one of exile and Klemus died in prison in Copenhagen a year later.
Invocations and charms against the arctic fox are numerous in grimoires and folklore. This sequence of characters was to be carved on oak which then was either tied to the wool on the neck of the sheep or put under the threshold of the sheep house. Evidently foxes were a real threat to the livelihood of the people of Strandir since they are a feature in a number of cases in the area.
A map of the area inside the museum shows how people on farms all around Steingrímsfjörður were involved in the case, some sitting in court, others appearing as witnesses. The present inhabitants will have little difficulty in tracing their ancestry to some of these persons.
THE LAST SENTENCE TO DEATH BY FIRE, Museum of Icelandic Sorcery and Witchcraft ~ Höfðagata 14, 510 Hólmavík, Iceland
26
THE LAST SENTENCE TO DEATH BY FIRE
Klemus Bjarnason lived in the area around Hólmavík and was charged with sorcery and evildoing in 1690 and sentenced to death by fire. Judging from the available material Klemus was not a very popular man but the original accusation concerned a piece of driftwood which he was rumoured to have stolen.
Klemus didn't care for the accu-sations and swore according to witnesses that he would revenge himself if found guilty. His neigh-bours saw evidence of his powers in the fact that at least two women fell ill after he uttered the threat and Klemus was promptly accused of witchcraft. It wasn't until he had been judged guilty and was on his way to Pingvellir that Klemus recited for the sheriff an invocation to prevent foxes harming sheep and for this he was condemned to death.
His luck was that while awaiting sentence the king had issued a decree stating that all capital offences must be put to the
newly installed Supreme Court in Copenhagen. Consequently the sentence was changed into one of exile and Klemus died in prison in Copenhagen a year later.
Invocations and charms against the arctic fox are numerous in grimoires and folklore. This sequence of characters was to be carved on oak which then was either tied to the wool on the neck of the sheep or put under the threshold of the sheep house. Evidently foxes were a real threat to the livelihood of the people of Strandir since they are a feature in a number of cases in the area.
A map of the area inside the museum shows how people on farms all around Steingrímsfjörður were involved in the case, some sitting in court, others appearing as witnesses. The present inhabitants will have little difficulty in tracing their ancestry to some of these persons.