Loftur Þorsteinsson (born 1702) was an Icelander known as ''Galdra-Loftur'' for his supposed mastery of Old Norse sorcery ('' galdr''). He was the subject of many folk

saga is a series of science fantasy role-playing video games by Square Enix. The series originated on the Game Boy in 1989 as the creation of Akitoshi Kawazu at Square (video game company), Square. It has since continued across multiple platforms, ...

s about his alleged magical performances. Loftur was born near in the northwest of Iceland. His father, Þorsteinn Jónsson, was a falconer at Vörðufell, and his mother was Ásta Loftsdóttir. In 1716, Loftur became a student at the Latin school at

Hólar Hólar (; also Hólar í Hjaltadal ) is a small community in the Skagafjörður district of northern Iceland. Location Hólar is in the Hjaltadalur valley, some from the national capital of Reykjavík. It has a population of around 100. It is th ...

. During his time there, he developed an interest in ''galdr''. According to legend, Loftur tried (and failed) to obtain the legendary grimoire (book of spells) ''

Rauðskinna ''Rauðskinna'' (English: ''Red Skin''), also known as ''The Book of Power'', is a legendary book about black magic, alleged to have been buried with its author, the Bishop Gottskálk grimmi Nikulásson of Hólar. The subject of the book was to lea ...

'', which was supposedly buried in 1520 with its author, Bishop

Gottskálk grimmi Nikulásson Gottskálk grimmi Nikulasson (1469 – 8 December 1520), was the Bishop of Hólar from May 1497 to 1520. He was the nephew of Ólafur Rögnvaldsson who preceded him as bishop. He was succeeded by Jón Arason (1484–1550), the last Roman Ca ...

. Loftur left the Hólar school in 1722 — sources vary as to whether he graduated or was expelled — but what happened in his life after that is uncertain. According to one legend, Loftur was driven insane by his failure to acquire the ''Rauðskinna'' and was placed under the care of a priest in Staðarstaður. He later took to sea in an old rowboat and disappeared, presumably drowned.

''Galdra-Loftur''

Loftur is the subject of the play ''Galdra-Loftur'' ( da, Ønsket; en, The Wish, italic=yes or ''Loftur the Magician'') by

Jóhann Sigurjónsson Jóhann Sigurjónsson (June 19, 1880 – August 31, 1919) was an Icelandic playwright and poet. Atypically, Jóhann wrote plays and poetry in both his native Icelandic and in Danish. Biography Jóhann was the son of an Icelandic farmer and was ...

. The play portrays Loftur as a Faust-like ambitious scholar seeking power and knowledge through sorcery. The play was first performed on December 26, 1914, in Reyjavík and published in Danish and Icelandic in 1915.

References

Other sources

*Páll Eggert Ólason (1948
''Íslenskar æviskrár''
(Hið íslenska bókmenntafélag) 1702 births Loftur Thorsteinsson Icelandic folklore Year of death unknown Witchcraft in Iceland {{iceland-bio-stub