Nov 09 2023 105 mins 10
Anna Björg Þórarinsdóttir is the manager of The Museum of Icelandic Sorcery & Witchcraft in The Westfjords region of Iceland. We begin on the country's origins as a Viking settlement, followed by life in the traditional turf houses. From there we learn that belief in elves is still relevant today and how spirits in the land have shaped not only Icelandic legends, but the ethos. We hear of a nearby farm built over a heathen temple where an ominous Viking-era stone was discovered. In story form, Anna tells the rich history of the island's 16th-to-17th-century sorcerers: the religious temperament of the time, their persecution, and her own ancestral involvement. This opens up further synchronicities around her position at the museum & growing up in a New Age household. For the remaining time, it's an all out deluge of folklore and magic: spirit guides called Fylgja, hunting & farming folk magic, The Helm of Awe, the Yule Lads, a pair of human skin pants, and finally, a grotesque milk-stealing wool-worm known as the Tilberi!
Learn more about The Museum of Icelandic Sorcery & Witchcraft & follow Anna on Instagram.
Reading excerpt from Icelandic Folk Legends: Tales of Apparitions, Outlaws and Things Unseen by Alda Sigmundsdóttir
Music Credit:
"Ragnarok" [The End of the Gods]
Performed by Ensemble: Sequentia
Courtesy of 𝔐𝔲𝔰𝔦𝔠𝔞 𝔐𝔢𝔡𝔦𝔢𝔳𝔞𝔩𝔢
"Á fellr austan um eitrdala" [The Prophecy of the Seeress]
Performed by Ensemble: Sequentia
Courtesy of 𝔐𝔲𝔰𝔦𝔠𝔞 𝔐𝔢𝔡𝔦𝔢𝔳𝔞𝔩𝔢
"Leikr elds ok ísa" [The song of Fire and Ice]
Performed by Ensemble: Sequentia
Courtesy of 𝔐𝔲𝔰𝔦𝔠𝔞 𝔐𝔢𝔡𝔦𝔢𝔳𝔞𝔩𝔢
Untitled Kravik Lyre
Performed by Lyre of the Crossroads
Courtesy of Lyre of the Crossroads
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