Jón Lærði Guðmundsson
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Jón Lærði Guðmundsson
Jón lærði Guðmundsson (; 1574–1658) was an Icelandic autodidact, poet, and alleged sorcerer. He is considered a pioneer of Icelandic literary history, because he was the first to write a description of Icelandic nature and a critical account of a contemporary event, in Icelandic. His poetry gives insight into contemporary Icelandic folklore. Guðmundsson, who lived in Strandir, was considered a great master of magic in 17th century Iceland. He was said to have turned around the Turkish slave ships from the coasts of Iceland more than once, an achievement which gave him widespread fame, and was described in popular prints.Ankarloo, Bengt & Henningsen, Gustav (red.), Skrifter. Bd 13, Häxornas Europa 1400–1700 : historiska och antropologiska studier, Nerenius & Santérus, Stockholm, 1987 He was also said to have killed two ghosts between 1611-1612 with two of his poems: "Fjandafæla" and "Snjáfjallavísum". He had to leave his home region and was tried for sorcery ...
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Autodidact
Autodidacticism (also autodidactism) or self-education (also self-learning, self-study and self-teaching) is the practice of education without the guidance of schoolmasters (i.e., teachers, professors, institutions). Overview Autodidacts are ''self-taught'' humans who learn a subject-of-study's aboutness through self-study. This educative praxis (process) may involve, complement, or be an alternative to formal education. Formal education itself may have a hidden curriculum that requires self-study for the uninitiated. Generally, autodidacts are individuals who choose the subject they will study, their studying material, and the studying rhythm and time. Autodidacts may or may not have formal education, and their study may be either a complement or an alternative to formal education. Many notable contributions have been made by autodidacts. The self-learning curriculum is infinite. One may seek out alternative pathways in education and use these to gain compet ...
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Magician (paranormal)
Magic, sometimes spelled magick, is the application of beliefs, rituals or actions employed in the belief that they can manipulate natural or supernatural beings and forces. It is a category into which have been placed various beliefs and practices sometimes considered separate from both religion and science. Connotations have varied from positive to negative at times throughout history. Within Western culture, magic has been linked to ideas of the Other, foreignness, and primitivism; indicating that it is "a powerful marker of cultural difference" and likewise, a non-modern phenomenon. During the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, Western intellectuals perceived the practice of magic to be a sign of a primitive mentality and also commonly attributed it to marginalised groups of people. Aleister Crowley (1875–1947), a British occultist, defined " magick" as "the Science and Art of causing Change to occur in conformity with Will", adding a 'k' to distinguish ce ...
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Icelandic Language
Icelandic ( ; , ) is a North Germanic languages, North Germanic language from the Indo-European languages, Indo-European language family spoken by about 314,000 people, the vast majority of whom live in Iceland, where it is the national language. Since it is a West Scandinavian languages, West Scandinavian language, it is most closely related to Faroese language, Faroese, western Norwegian dialects, and the extinct language Norn language, Norn. It is not mutually intelligible with the continental Scandinavian languages (Danish language, Danish, Norwegian language, Norwegian, and Swedish language, Swedish) and is more distinct from the most widely spoken Germanic languages, English language, English and German language, German. The written forms of Icelandic and Faroese are very similar, but their spoken forms are not Mutual intelligibility, mutually intelligible. The language is more Linguistic conservatism, conservative than most other Germanic languages. While most of them hav ...
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Icelandic Folklore
Nordic folklore is the folklore of Denmark, Norway, Sweden, Iceland and the Faroe Islands. It has common roots with, and has been under mutual influence with, folklore in England, Germany, the Low Countries, the Baltic countries, Finland and Sápmi. Folklore is a concept encompassing expressive traditions of a particular culture or group. The peoples of Scandinavia are heterogenous, as are the oral genres and material culture that has been common in their lands. However, there are some commonalities across Scandinavian folkloric traditions, among them a common ground in elements from Norse mythology as well as Christian conceptions of the world. Among the many tales common in Scandinavian oral traditions, some have become known beyond Scandinavian borders – examples include The Three Billy Goats Gruff and The Giant Who Had No Heart in His Body. Legends * Tróndur was a powerful Viking chieftain who lived in the Faroe Islands during the 9th century. According to legend, Trà ...
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Strandasýsla
Iceland was historically divided into 23 counties known as ''sýslur'' (), and 23 independent towns known as ''kaupstaðir'' (). Iceland is now split up between 24 sýslumenn (magistrates) that are the highest authority over the local police (except in Reykjavík where there is a special office of police commissioner) and carry out administrative functions such as declaring bankruptcy and marrying people outside of the church. The jurisdictions of these magistrates often follow the lines of the historical counties, but not always. When speaking of these new "administrative" counties, the custom is to associate them with the county seats rather than using the names of the traditional counties, even when they cover the same area. Composition Independent towns (''kaupstaðir'') were first created in the 18th century as urbanisation began in Iceland; this practice continued into the 1980s. The last town that was declared an independent town was Ólafsvík in 1983. Since then, the ...
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Magic (illusion)
Magic, which encompasses the subgenres of close-up magic, parlor magic, and stage magic, among others, is a performing art in which audiences are entertained by tricks, effects, or illusions of seemingly impossible feats, using natural means. It is to be distinguished from Magic (supernatural), paranormal magic which are effects claimed to be created through supernatural means. It is one of the oldest performing arts in the world. Modern entertainment magic, as pioneered by 19th-century magician Jean-Eugène Robert-Houdin, has become a popular theatrical art form. In the late 19th and early 20th centuries, magicians such as John Nevil Maskelyne and David Devant, Howard Thurston, Harry Kellar, and Harry Houdini achieved widespread commercial success during what has become known as "the Golden Age of Magic", a period in which performance magic became a staple of Broadway theatre, vaudeville, and music halls. Meanwhile, magicians such as Georges Méliès, Gaston Velle, Walter R. B ...
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Turkish Abductions
The Turkish Abductions ( ) were a series of slave raids by pirates from Algier and Salé that took place in Iceland in the summer of 1627. The adjectival label "''Turkish''" () does not refer to ethnic Turks, country of Turkey or Turkic peoples in general; at the time it was a general term for all Muslims of the Mediterranean since the majority were from or subjects of the Ottoman Empire. The pirates came from the cities of Algiers and Salé. They raided Grindavík, the East Fjords, and Vestmannaeyjar. About 50 people were killed and close to 400 captured and sold into slavery. A ransom was eventually paid, 9 to 18 years later, for the return of 50 individuals. Raids The 1627 raid was not the first one. In 1607, both Iceland and the Faroe Islands were subjected to a slave raid by the Barbary pirates, who abducted hundreds of people for the slave markets of North Africa. In 1627, the Barbary pirates came to Iceland in two groups: the first group was from Salé and ...
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Witchcraft
Witchcraft is the use of Magic (supernatural), magic by a person called a witch. Traditionally, "witchcraft" means the use of magic to inflict supernatural harm or misfortune on others, and this remains the most common and widespread meaning. According to ''Encyclopedia Britannica'', "Witchcraft thus defined exists more in the imagination", but it "has constituted for many cultures a viable explanation of evil in the world". The belief in witches has been found throughout history in a great number of societies worldwide. Most of these societies have used Apotropaic magic, protective magic or counter-magic against witchcraft, and have shunned, banished, imprisoned, physically punished or killed alleged witches. Anthropologists use the term "witchcraft" for similar beliefs about harmful occult practices in different cultures, and these societies often use the term when speaking in English. Belief in witchcraft as malevolent magic is attested from #Ancient Mesopotamian religion ...
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Slaying Of The Spaniards
The Slaying of the Spaniards (also known as the Spanish Killings; ) was one of the last documented massacres in Icelandic history. Some Basque whalers went on a whaling expedition to Iceland and were killed after a conflict in 1615 with local people in the region of the Westfjords. Background During the first half of the sixteenth century, Spanish whalers set up the world's first large-scale whaling industry in Newfoundland. The center of this industry was some ten ports on the southern coast of Labrador. During the peak years of the 1560s and 1570s, the fleet comprised around 30 ships manned by up to 2,000 men, who killed approximately 400 whales each year. By the beginning of the seventeenth century, Spanish whaling had reached Iceland. Massacre The year 1615 was a difficult year in Iceland with ice up to shores until late summer and considerable loss of livestock. During mid-summer, three Spanish whaling vessels came into in Westfjords. The Icelanders and the Spaniards ha ...
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Witch Trials In Iceland
The Witch trials in Iceland were conducted by the Danish authorities (Iceland then being a Danish possession), who introduced the belief in witchcraft as well as the Danish Witchcraft Act in the 17th century, and then stopped the persecutions. Similar to the case of Witch trials in Latvia and Estonia, the witch trials were introduced by a foreign elite power in an area with weak Christianity, in order to ensure religious conformity. Iceland was uncommon for Europe in that magic as such was viewed favorably on the island, and the majority of those executed were men, which it had in common with only the witch trials in Finland. History Icelandic view on magic In Iceland, magic and supernatural powers play an important role in popular folk belief. It is divided into two categories. The first category is ''galdur'', good ("White") or bad ("Black") spells performed by ''galdra''-masters by the help of ''galdrastafir'' (magic symbols), magic books, runes or vocally. The second catego ...
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1574 Births
__NOTOC__ Year 1574 ( MDLXXIV) was a common year starting on Friday of the Julian calendar. Events January–March * January 22 – Mohammed II becomes the new Sultan of Morocco upon the death of his father, Abdallah al-Ghalib. * January 27 – At Agra, Bhagwant Das becomes the new Maharaja of the Kingdom of Amber in what is now India's state of Uttar Pradesh, upon the death of his grandfather, the Raja Bharmal. * January 29 – Off of the coast of the Netherlands, the Battle of the Scheldt is fought between the Spanish Fleet and a combined Dutch and English fleet of ships. The Spanish Navy loses 15 ships and 1,200 men are killed, wounded or captured. * February – The fifth War of Religion against the Huguenots begins in France. * March 2 – Swedish troops attack Wesenberg Castle in Estonia and lose at least 1,000 men in attempting to capture it from the Russian Army.Gary Dean Peterson, ''Warrior Kings of Sweden: The Rise of an Empire in the ...
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1658 Deaths
Events January–March * January 13 – Edward Sexby, who had plotted against Oliver Cromwell, dies in the Tower of London. * January 30 – The "March Across the Belts" (''TÃ¥get över Bält''), Sweden's use of winter weather to send troops across the waters of the Danish straits at a time when winter has turned them to ice, begins. Within 17 days, Sweden's King Karl X Gustav leads troops across the ice belts to capture six of Denmark's islands as Swedish territory. * February 5 – Prince Muhi al-Din Muhammad, one of the sons of India's Mughal, Emperor Shah Jahan, proclaims himself Emperor after Jahan names Muhi's older brother, Dara Shikoh, as regent, and departs from Aurangabad with troops. * February 6 – Swedish troops of Charles X Gustav of Sweden March Across the Belts, cross The Great Belt in Denmark, over frozen sea. * March 8 (February 26 Old Style and New Style dates, OS) – The peace between Sweden and Denmark-Norway is concluded i ...
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