or (

calque In linguistics, a calque () or loan translation is a word or phrase borrowed from another language by literal word-for-word or root-for-root translation. When used as a verb, "to calque" means to borrow a word or phrase from another language ...

d as necropants, literally "corpse breeches") are a pair of pants made from the skin of a dead human, which are believed in Icelandic witchcraft to be capable of producing an endless supply of money. It is highly unlikely these pants ever existed outside of folklore. The Strandagaldur (The Museum of Icelandic Sorcery and Witchcraft) houses a reconstructed , on exhibit (shown right) .

Folklore

The folklore surrounding these magic pair of pants, called by several appellations in Iceland, were described by Jón Árnason in his folklore collection, under section on "" ('magic tricks'), and translated into English by

Jacqueline Simpson Jacqueline Simpson (born 1930) is a prolific, award-winning British researcher and author on folklore. "Old Nick's breeches"; cf. "demon pants"). The same magical wealth-gathering apparel was otherwise also known as ("Breeches of Fins", "Lappish Breeches"); ("Money Trousers", "Money Breeches"); ("Dead-man's pantaloons", "Corpse Breeches"); or ("Papey Breeches"). The term "necropants" is a designation under which the object has come to be popularly known.

Ritual

The ''nábrók'' is obtained by first making a (mutual) pact with a friend that if either of them die, the other can use his corpse to make a pair of "Corpse Breeches" with. Once one of them dies, the survivor digs up the body, and flays the skin from the waist down so as not to puncture any holes. The freshly skinned pants must be worn right away, and it is said to grow on the person, until such times as he appoints to remove the pair in order to give to someone else (cf. below). There is no wealth-giving magic on it yet, and in order to activate the charm, the person must steal a coin from a wretchedly poor

widow A widow (female) or widower (male) is a person whose spouse has Death, died and has usually not remarried. The male form, "widower", is first attested in the 14th century, by the 19th century supplanting "widow" with reference to men. The adjecti ...

, which theft must be performed between the readings of the Epistle and Gospel during one of the three major festivals of the year (or "between the First and Second Lesson on.. Yule, Easter, or Whitsuntide"), then deposit the coin into the ' (translated politely as "pockets" but actually denoting "

scrotum In most terrestrial mammals, the scrotum (: scrotums or scrota; possibly from Latin ''scortum'', meaning "hide" or "skin") or scrotal sac is a part of the external male genitalia located at the base of the penis. It consists of a sac of skin ...

") of the "Corpse Breeches". Some say the wearer can also choose the time of theft to be carried out on the very next day after the pants are first worn. Afterwards the breeches will start collecting coins from the living, which the wearer is free to dispense with. However, he must be careful not to remove the original coin if he wishes to keep the magic effect intact.

Later elaboration

According to recent literature, a piece of paper inscribed with a magical symbol ( magical Icelandic stave) must be placed with the coin in the scrotum sack; this particular symbol being given the name "". The stave is mentioned in

Halldór Laxness Halldór Kiljan Laxness (; born Halldór Guðjónsson; 23 April 1902 – 8 February 1998) was an Icelandic writer and winner of the 1955 Nobel Prize in Literature. He wrote novels, poetry, newspaper articles, essays, plays, travelogues and sh ...

's historic novel, ''

Íslandsklukkan Iceland's Bell or Iceland Clock () may refer to: *Iceland's Bell (novel), ''Iceland's Bell'' (novel), a 1943 book by Nobel prize winner Halldór Kiljan Laxness *Iceland's Bell (painting), ''Iceland's Bell'' (painting), by Icelandic painter Jóhanne ...

'' ("Iceland's Bell" 1943) where a character named Jón Þeófilusson is caught possessing the sign of the (translated as "Blusterer") and the (sign of the "Corpse's Breeches"), thereby facing the prospect of being burned as a sorcerer. The in-depth analysis of the novel by Eiríkur Jónsson (1981) uncovered that in a manuscript of a

Galdrabók The (, ''Book of Magic'') is an Icelandic grimoire dated to . It is a small manuscript containing a collection of 47 spells and sigils/staves. The grimoire was compiled by four people, possibly starting in the late 16th century and going on un ...

, the above-depicted sign, labeled as "Gim-Ring ?or Corpse Breeches stave" (). But other manuscripts do not associate this symbol with the Corpse Breeches, and label the symbol as or whose name then can be made meaningful sense as "Ring of Allurement". This may in turn be related to the Ginnir ("enticer") stave used to charm a love interest.

Removal

The diabolical () nature of the object has been emphasized by commentators. According to some, the pants were the gift of the devil to those who have sold his soul to them. These pairs cannot be removed by its wearer until he is at his life's end, but it will become imperative for him to remove his pair and pass it onto another, otherwise, the "salvation of his soul" is at stake, and his corpse will be smothered by vermin. And the particular sequence must be followed. The wearer cannot simply remove and hand over the pants, but must do it one leg at a time. That is to say, he must first "doff" the pants off his right leg, and make his successor wear the right pant leg. At that point, his successor is committed to his fate; even if he tries to change his mind and take off the right pant leg, he will wind up wearing the left leg, regardless of his will.

Related folklore

Jón "ríki" Þórðarson ("the Rich", b. 1771) is associated with a ghost story (''

fylgja In Norse mythology, a fylgja (Old Norse: , plural ) is a supernatural being or spirit which accompanies a person in connection to their fate or fortune., Summarized and translated @ They can appear to people in their sleep as dream-women, or a ...

'' tale) of (Skotta of Peathouse"), also recorded by Jón Árnason Margaret Willson writes that a rumour of owning "demon's pants" to accumulate wealth was attached to this figure. There is also the folktale about a witch named Katla, associated with the volcano Katla, also recorded by Jón Árnason.

Mathias Nordvig Mathias Nordvig (born 1982) is a Danish Scandinavian studies scholar. He specialises in Old Norse literature and culture and has studied the impact of volcanoes in Icelandic literature. Holding a PhD title from Aarhus University, he is an assistan ...

comments that Katla owns magical breeches that lets her travel long distance quickly, like the

Seven-league boots Seven-league boots are an element in European folklore. The boots allow the person wearing them to take strides of seven leagues per step, resulting in great speed. The boots are often presented by a magical character to the protagonist to aid ...

of fairy tale, and it may somehow be connected to the ''nábrók'' as well.

Explanatory notes

References

;Citations {{reflist, 2, refs= {{cite book, last=Barraclough , first=Eleanor Rosamund , author-link=Eleanor Rosamund Barraclough , title=Beyond the Northlands: Viking Voyages and the Old Norse Sagas , location= , publisher=Oxford University Press , year=2016 , url=https://books.google.com/books?id=kcFLDQAAQBAJ&pg=PA56 , page=56 , isbn=9780191004476 Cleasby-Vigfusson (1874), ''Icelandic-English Dictionary''. s.v. {{URL, 1=https://books.google.com/books?id=ne9fAAAAcAAJ&pg=PA554 , 2=skolli 2: "the evil one, a word used in swearing.. hence in compds: ''skolla-braekr'' f. pl. ''devil's breeches''. {{cite book, author=Eiríkur Jónsson , author-link= , title=Rætur Íslandsklukkunnar , trans-title=Roots of Iceland's Bells , location= , publisher=Hi Íslenska bókmenntafélag , year=1981, url=https://books.google.com/books?id=My41hgl8Lj4C&q=%22n%C3%A1br%C3%B3karstafur%22 , pages=63, 70, isbn=9780191004476 {{cite book, author=Jón Árnason , author-link=Jón Árnason (author) , chapter=Töfrabrögð , title=Íslenzkar Þjóðsögur og Æfintýri , volume=1 , location=Leipzig , publisher=J. C. Hinrichs , year=1862 , pages=428–, chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=xgxyGmV62ywC&pg=PA428
baekur.is
{{in lang, is {{Cite book, ref={{SfnRef, Jón Árnason, Powell (tr.), Magnússon (tr.), 1866 , author=Jón Árnason , author-link=Jón Árnason (author) , translator1=George E. J. Powell , translator-link1=George Ernest John Powell , translator2=Eiríkr Magnússon , translator-link2=Eiríkr Magnússon , title=Icelandic Legends Collected by Jón Árnason , location=London , publisher=Longman, Green, and Co. , year=1866 , url=https://books.google.com/books?id=bJ_7jDsJPQUC&pg=PR89 , pages=lxxxix–xc {{Cite book, ref={{SfnRef, Jón Árnason, Simpson (tr.), 1972 , author=Jón Árnason , author-link=Jón Árnason (author) , translator=Jacqueline Simpson , translator-link=Jacqueline Simpson , chapter=Lappish Breeches , title=Icelandic Folktales and Legends , publisher=University of California Press , year=1972 , chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=HY-DCKd6UgUC&pg=181 , pages=167–168 , isbn=9780520021167 {{Cite book, ref={{SfnRef, Laxness , Roughton (tr.), 2007 , author=Halldor Laxness , author-link=Halldór Laxness , translator=Philip Roughton , translator-link= , title=Iceland's Bell , publisher=Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group , year=2007 , url=https://books.google.com/books?id=rebeJbvxomMC&pg=PA35 , page=35 , isbn=9780307426314 {{Cite book, last=Lund , first=Katrín Anna , author-link= , chapter=38. Just Like Magic: Activating Landscape of Witchcraft and Sorcery in Rural Tourism, Iceland , editor-last=Brunn , editor-first=Stanley D. , editor-link= , title=The Changing World Religion Map: Sacred Places, Identities, Practices and Politics , publisher=Springer , year=2015 , chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=CGh-BgAAQBAJ&pg=PA772 , page=772, isbn=9789401793766 {{cite book, last=Maurer , first=Konrad von , author-link=Konrad von Maurer , chapter=Kap. 3. §.2. Zaubermittel , title=Isländische Volkssagen der Gegenwart: vorwiegend nach mündlicher Überlieferung , location=Leipzig , publisher=J. C. Hinrichs , year=1860 , chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=WHRBmSP7JAIC&pg=PA91 , page
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language=de {{Cite book, last=Nordvig , first=Mathias , author-link=Mathias Nordvig , chapter=Katla the Volcanic Witch: A Medieval Icelandic Recipe for Survival , editor1-last=Overing , editor1-first=Gillian R. , editor1-link= , editor2-last=Wiethaus , editor2-first=Ulrike , editor2-link= , title=American/Medieval Goes North: Earth and Water in Transit , place=Göttingen , publisher=V&R Unipress , year=2019, chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=aLvkEAAAQBAJ&pg=PA75 , page=75, isbn=9783847009528 {{cite book, last=Tracy , first=Larissa , author-link= , title=Flaying in the Pre-modern World: Practice and Representation , location= , publisher=Boydell & Brewer , year=2017 , url=https://books.google.com/books?id=_bM4DwAAQBAJ&pg=PA133 , pages=133–135 , isbn=9781843844525 {{cite book, last=Willson , first=Margaret , author-link= , title=Woman, Captain, Rebel: The Extraordinary True Story of a Daring Icelandic Sea Captain , location=London , publisher=Sourcebooks , year=2023 , url=https://books.google.com/books?id=QmluEAAAQBAJ&q=%22demon+pants%22 , pages= , isbn=9781728240060 Icelandic folklore Culture of Iceland Witchcraft in Iceland Trousers and shorts Human trophy collecting