Nábrók: Meet the legend of trousers made of human skin to attract fortune

It's not easy for anyone, is it? However, everything must have been really desperate in 17th-century Iceland, because there came a kind of morbid mandinga beyond that promised to leverage the finances!

Before we tell you what the spell consisted of, it should be borne in mind that, at the time, the region's harsh class system, constant pirate attacks and frequent natural disasters made the lives of Icelandic peasants incredibly difficult. It is now up to you to decide if these were sufficient reasons to perform the ritual we will describe.

Nábrók

It was because of this bleak landscape that someone came up with the idea of ​​creating a macabre pact between friends. The two men - usually associated with witchcraft - met and agreed that when one of them died, the other could use their skin from the waist down to make a Nábrók, that is, pants made of human skin.

According to local belief, this lovely piece had the power to attract a steady stream of money to those who used it. However, while there is a replica of Nábrók at Holmavík's Museum of Icelandic Witchcraft and Witchcraft, no one can be sure if any of these pants actually came into being - nor did anyone dare to parade wearing one.

Ritual

After the two friends made the deal - and one of them booted - the other was then allowed to dig up the body and skin it. The procedure should be done with extreme care, as the skin could not have any tears or scratches. After removing all the fabric, the owner of the new pants should wear it still fresh so that it clung to his body.

In addition, the friend should steal a coin from a poor widow during a holiday such as Christmas, Easter or All Souls and deposit it in the scrotum of the garment along with the symbol of Nábrókarstafur (a runic symbol) to ensure that there would always be plenty in the money bag. The owner of the necromantic pants - which is the translation for the word Nábrók - could use it for a lifetime to enjoy its powers.

However, there was a "but": it was forbidden to die wearing the garment, or else you could risk your body being immediately infested with lice and having to roam the earth for eternity. So the garment had to be passed on from one generation to the next, but in order for it to continue to bring fortune, the new owner had to put on his right leg before the old owner removed his left leg from his pants. Sinister!

* Posted on 21/10/2015