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- Icelandic Sorcery & Witchcraft - A fascinating and unusual Museum in Strandir -
 

The Executed

 
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The Executed

Jón Rögnvaldsson - 1625
Burnt in Eyjafjörður, north Iceland, for raising a ghost and possessing papers with runic characters. Denied all accusations.

Þórður Guðbrandsson - 1654
Burnt in Trékyllisvík, Strandir, for causing strange occurances in the community. After imprisonment he confessed that he had met the devil in the guise of a fox and sent it to Trékyllisvík.

Egill Bjarnason - 1654
Burnt in Trékyllisvík, Strandir, after confessing that he had killed a sheep with magic and made a contract with the devil.

Grímur Jónsson - 1654
Burnt in Trékyllisvík, Strandir, after confessing that he knew magic runes and had killed a sheep with a magic character.

Jón Jónsson sen. - 1656
Burnt in Ísafjörður, admitted in custody that he owned grimoires and that he had used them against the rev. Jón Magnússon.

Jón Jónsson jun. - 1656
Burnt in Ísafjörður. Admitted having used magical signs and among other things, having used farting-runes (Fretrúnir) against a girl, and caused the sickness of the rev. Jón Magnússon.

Þórarinn Halldórsson - 1667
From Ísafjarðarsýsla, the Westfjords. Burnt at the general assembly at Þingvellir. Admitted that he had carved helms of awe (Ægishjálmur) on oak and practiced healing with the aid of magical signs.

Jón Leifsson - 1669
Burnt in Barðastrandarsýsla in the Westfjords for having caused the illness of Helga, wife of the rev. Páll Björnsson in Selárdalur. Admitted that he had tried to gain some knowledge of the occult.

Erlendur Eyjólfsson - 1669
Burnt in Húnavatnssýsla county in north Iceland for having taught Jón Leifsson magic. Admitted that he had handed Jón a stave named Ausukross.

Sigurður Jónsson - 1671
Burnt in Þingvellir after a trial in Ísafjarðarsýsla county. Admitted among other things that he had fought a ghost and frightened it off with the help of herbs and his own semen.

Páll Oddsson - 1674
From Húnavatnssýsla county, burnt at Þingvellir. Denied all knowledge of magic but was convicted because of rumours against him.

Böðvar Þorsteinsson - 1674
Burnt at Þingvellir after having admitted that he had prevented a ship in Snæfellsnes from fishing.

Magnús Bjarnason - 1675
Admitted that he had caused the sickness of Helga, Páll Björnsson's wife, in Selárdalur, Westfjords.

Lassi Diðriksson - 1675
Condemned in connection with the sickness of Helga in Selárdalur, denied all charges and was generally thought innocent. Burnt at Þingvellir.

Bjarni Bjarnason - 1677
Supposed to have caused a woman's illness in the Westfjords. Denied all charges but was burnt at Þingvellir.

Þorbjörn Sveinsson - 1677
A marked thief who was found in possession of magical signs. Admitted that he had used sorcery to try to find out who had stolen from him and to make sheep easier to handle. From Mýrasýsla county in the West, burnt at Þingvellir.

Stefán Grímsson - 1678
Admitted freely after a death sentence was passed, though none of the things he was accused of. Burnt in Húnavatnssýsla county.

Jón Helgason - 1678
Burnt in Barðastrandarsýsla county in the Westfjords for having caused the sickness of Helga in Selárdalur.

Þuríður Ólafsdóttir - 1678
Mother of Jón Helgason, burnt for the same offence on the words of the rev. Páll Björnsson.

Ari Pálsson - 1681
From Barðastrandarsýsla where he was rumoured to have practiced magic, burnt at Þingvellir after failing to get his peers to swear his innocence. After conviction he admitted to knowing how to find out if a woman was a virgin.

Sveinn Árnason - 1683
Burnt in Arngerðareyri in the Westfjords for having caused an illness which the daughter of Páll and Helga in Selárdalur suffered from.


It is unclear whether the following should be included on a list of those executed for witchcraft:

Unnamed woman - 1580
A vague reference in a Danish book refers to a woman burnt for having used tilberi (a peculiar female magic to steal milk from sheep and cows). In 1635 a woman was acquitted after rumours had circulated that she kept a tilberi.

Guðrún Þorsteinsdóttir - 1605
Burnt for having killed a baby by throwing it into a boiling cauldron. No contemporary source directly mentions witchcraft in connection with this case.

Sveinn skotti Axlar-Bjarnarson - 1646
The son of Iceland's worst mass murderer. After repeated convictions for theft, rape, and sorcery, he was whipped and it was declared that he had forfeited his life if found guilty again. He was hanged for attempted rape.

Jón Jónsson (Ríðumaður) - 1650
Condemned for incest but after he was beheaded he was found to have magical amulets with staves in his shoes. His body was then burnt.

Halldór Finnbogason - 1685
Burnt at Þingvellir for blasphemy. Recited "Our Father who art in Hell" at all his trials.


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