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 is from Røst in Lofoten
There was an island at Røst with only a church and a cemetery on it. One night, a school of herring came in the bay by the church. It was dark, and all the locals agreed to hold off fishing until daylight. All but two: a man and wife snuck out for a head start. They caught plenty of herring and started to make their way home along the cemetery. Suddenly, shouts and screams sounded from the sea, and a horde of draug came walking up the bay towards them. The man and wife ran into the cemetery and shouted, “Rise all Christians, to battle with the draug!” The dead’uns emerged from their graves with coffin lids held high, and attacked the creatures from the sea. The man and wife tossed their fish aside to get away. A tough battle ensued. The dead’uns won, and the draug were thrown back into the deep.
When the other villagers came down to the bay that morning, they were greeted with a terrible sight. Coffin lids and sticks of kelp lay scattered all the way down to the high water-mark. The man and wife’s catch was gone without a trace, and the schools of herring never returned that year.
Read more tales
The tale of the Dead’uns at Røst is part of the exhibition “Did you hear that? – Tales of guidance and warning” .