Do you believe in elves or magic spells? In Iceland those things have been part of the traditional folklore for a very long time. To learn about what that meant, and continues to mean, we spoke with experts in Old Norse religion and folk beliefs Kári Pálsson and Giorgia Sottotetti. They worked together on a new book, The Galdrabók: Forbidden Icelandic folk magic with Hyldyr, a small, independent publisher in Washington State that has also published other books on related themes.

This episode was a bit of a spooky one for Terri. As a researcher of Vikings and Iceland herself, coincidentally (or not?) back in 2019 she had seen Jarðskinna, the tiny manuscript that we discuss and that is the focus of Kári and Giorgia’s book (along with the Galdrabók), and always wondered what it meant. As you can see from her photo above, taken in the Árni Magnússon Institute in Reykjavík, it contains strange images and symbols that still defy explanation. Luckily, Kári and Giorgia have transcribed the Icelandic text, but they have yet to crack the code. If you have any experience with Icelandic folkloric magic and potential insight into what the images might mean, they would love to hear from you. You can reach them through their publisher.

The episode was a bit spooky for C. J. too. All he could see in the images and symbols was an alien abduction! But perhaps that was because he was a bit under the weather and could really have used a magic healing spell. Or maybe he’s just spent too much time in the Vikingverse ;)

This was a really interesting and fun chat, not only about the manuscripts, but the beliefs of Nordic peoples that have withstood the test of time, from before and during the Viking Age straight through to the present. And we ended on a recitation of a Fart Rune, so what’s not to love about that?!

Takk fyrir Kári and Giorgia!

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