Sorcery in Iceland
The National Museum of Iceland and Hyldyr Publishing are hosting a symposium on sorcery in Iceland.
Various sorcery-related poems, chants, and symbols from the 17th, 18th, and 19th centuries have been preserved in Icelandic sources, attracting curiosity from scholars and enthusiasts worldwide. Árni Magnússon and his scribe, Jón Ólafsson from Grunnavík, recorded such materials, and Jón Grunnvíkingur also documented and wrote about sorcery-related topics that came into their possession.
In recent times, public interest in the sorcery traditions of past centuries and the sources that describe them has been increasing.
The symposium will feature several short lectures on Icelandic sorcery traditions, Árni Magnússon’s views on sorcery, the publication of sorcery manuscripts, and contemporary interest in this subject.
Hyldyr Publishing recently released a book containing a grimoire from Árni Magnússon’s collection, AM 434 d 12mo, and publisher and folklorist Kári Pálsson will present an introduction to the work.
The event will begin at 1:00 PM in the Lecture hall of the National Museum of Iceland. Admission is free.
Watch the lecture here
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Following each lecture, there will be time for questions.
Már Jónsson, Professor of History:
Árni Magnússon and the Witch Trials of the 17th Century.
Haukur Þorgeirsson, Research Professor at the Árni Magnússon Institute for Icelandic Studies:
The Tradition of Sorcery in Iceland.
Teresa Dröfn Freysdóttir Njarðvík, PhD Candidate:
In the Beginning Was the Word: On Sorcery, Runes, Poems, and Magical Symbols.
Kári Pálsson, Folklorist:
On the Grimoire AM 434 d 12mo.
Joseph Stanley Hopkins, Hyldyr Publishing:
Observations on Publishing Grimoires for a Modern Popular Audience. (This lecture will be in English.)
