Part 1 of a 3-part Plague Special! A newcomer to a small settlement brings enticingly rich goods with her, but warns of trouble if anyone touches them without her permission... This story comes from the 13th century Icelandic saga Eyrbyggja Saga, 50-55, which tells the story of a series of hauntings at the settlement of Frotha set in the year 1000 CE. In Part 1, we meet the Hebridean newcomer Thorgunna, but things soon start to go wrong when her extreme privacy is not respected. As the story goes on through Parts 2 and 3 over the next few weeks, we'll see how the distinctly physical "ghosts", or revenants, of medieval Iceland were used to express fears about infection and deadly disease.

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