Tales of guidance and warning
We gather around the fire on a dark evening. There we tell tales about ghosts and ghosts. Someone who was saved from storm and accident.
This tale comes from Tysfjord.
It was common knowledge in these parts that if a draug came into your boat, it was an omen of accident and death. Especially so if he took the seat of a particular fisherman: misfortune was sure to befall him.
One time, a group of fishermen heard a draug scurry around the front end of their boat. As he made his way back through the vessel, he tried the seats as he went. “Here won’t do! Here won’t do!” Finally, he made it to the aft. “Here will do!” he declared. The skipper jumped to his feet, knife in hand, and stabbed the draug. “If it will do for you, it will do for me, too!” he said. The draug stayed put.
The next morning, the draug was nowhere to be seen. All that remained was a piece of cartilage stuck to the skipper’s knife.
Read more stories
The story of the Devil in the cards is part of the exhibition “Did you hear that? – Tales of guidance and warning” .