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[[File:Necropants in Iceland exhibit.jpg|thumb|upright|A replica of a pair of {{lang|is|nábrók}} at [[Strandagaldur|The Museum of Icelandic Sorcery & Witchcraft]]. At the right is the magical symbol that is part of the ritual and at its feet are coins.]]
[[File:Necropants in Iceland exhibit.jpg|thumb|upright|A replica of a pair of {{lang|is|nábrók}} at [[Strandagaldur|The Museum of Icelandic Sorcery & Witchcraft]]. At the right is the magical symbol that is part of the ritual and at its feet are coins.]]


'''{{lang|is|Nábrók}}''' ([[calque]]d as '''necropants''', literally "corpse britches") 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.{{cn|date=July 2023}} It is highly unlikely these pants ever existed outside of folklore.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://icelandmag.visir.is/article/macabre-necropants-made-dead-mans-skin-display-holmavik |title=The macabre necropants, made from dead man's skin, on display in Hólmavík |last=McMahon |first=Sara |date=24 December 2014 |website=Iceland Magazine |publisher= |quote=Whenever someone asks me whether they are real or whether a pair ever existed, I’m forced to tell the truth: Necropants have only ever existed in local folk legends.}}</ref>
'''{{lang|is|Nábrók}}''' ([[calque]]d as '''necropants''', literally "corpse britches") 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.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://icelandmag.visir.is/article/macabre-necropants-made-dead-mans-skin-display-holmavik |title=The macabre necropants, made from dead man's skin, on display in Hólmavík |last=McMahon |first=Sara |date=24 December 2014 |website=Iceland Magazine |publisher= |quote=Whenever someone asks me whether they are real or whether a pair ever existed, I’m forced to tell the truth: Necropants have only ever existed in local folk legends.}}</ref>


The [[Strandagaldur]] (The Museum of Icelandic Sorcery and Witchcraft) houses a reconstructed {{lang|is|nábrok}}, on exhibit (shown right) .<ref>Cf. the video embedded in: {{cite web|url=https://www.galdrasyning.is/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=212:nabrokarstafur&catid=18&Itemid=60&lang=en |title=Exhibition in Hólmark |website=The Museum of Icelandic Sorcery and Witchcraft |access-date=28 February 2024 }}</ref>
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==Ritual==
{{Copypaste|section=1|url=https://example.org|date=February 2024}}
⚫
[[File:Nábrók Necropants stencil by Ræveðs.svg|left|thumb|upright|{{lang|is|Nábrókarstafur}} ([[Icelandic magical staves|Stave]] for Necropants)<ref>{{Cite web |title=Galdrastafir – Galdrasýning á Ströndum |url=https://galdrasyning.is/galdrastafir/ |access-date=2023-07-27 |language=is-IS}}</ref>]]
The ritual for making necropants is described as follows:<ref>{{Cite web |date=2017-09-18 |title=Necropants and Other Tales of 17th-Century Icelandic Sorcery |url=http://www.atlasobscura.com/articles/objects-of-intrigue-necropants |access-date=2023-07-27 |website=Atlas Obscura |language=en}}</ref><blockquote>According to the ritual, to create a pair of necropants, the sorcerer must first make a pact with a friend, stating that once the friend has died of natural causes, the sorcerer has permission to skin them from the waist down. Once the friend is dead, the greedy magician must then wait until the friend has been buried, dig up the body, and then skin the lower half of the corpse without creating any holes or tears, thus creating a pair of gruesome skin pants.


==Folklore==
Once the “necropants” have been created, the caster must don the purloined pantaloons against his bare skin. Now the ritual requires that the sorcerer steal a coin from a destitute widow,(a widow stricken with infirmity due to old age, physical disability, chronic ailment, mental imbalance or who has no source of income to support herself and her dependent children, if any) and place it in the empty scrotum of the pants along with the [[Icelandic magical staves|magical Icelandic stave]] (symbol), Nábrókarstafur, written on a scrap of parchment. And that’s it!
The folklore surrounding this these magic pair of pants, called by several appellations in Iceland, were described by [[Jón Árnason (author)|Jón Árnason]] in his folklore collection, under section on "{{lang|is|[[:wikt:Töfra|töfra]][[:wikt:bragð|brögð]]}}" ('magic tricks'),<ref name="jon_arnason1862"/> and translated into English by [[Jacqueline Simpson]] under "Lappish Breeches".{{efn|Simpson's translation curtails the prefatory paragraph on magic and begins with the description of the breeches, hence the section name change.}}


According to this superstition, anyone who desired never to run out of money{{Refn|group="lower-alpha"|This is the sense of Icelandic "{{lang|is|Þeir, sem vildu afla sèr penínga, sem aldrei væri þrot nè endir á}}". Mauer uses the German stock phrase "[[:en:wikt:in Hülle und Fülle|wikt:in Hülle und Fülle]] meaning 'in abundance';<ref name="maurer1860"/> Powell and Magnusson embellish somewhat as] "When a man wishes to get riches, at once vast and inexhaustible, and always waxing during his lifetime, he must.. [obtain] the so-called ''''Devil's pair of drawers;'''' also called ..".<ref name="jon_arnason-tr-powell1866"/> Simpson gives "money that would never fail them".<ref name="jon_arnason-tr-simpson1972"/>}} would attempt to obtain a pair of '''{{lang|is|skollabrækur}}''' (pl. case, "'''devil's breeks'''",<ref name="cleasby-vigfusson-skollabraekr"/> "'''Old Nick's breeches'''";<ref name="jon_arnason-tr-simpson1972"/> cf. ''''demon pants''''<ref name="willson2023"/>).
The pants soon become indistinguishable from the wearer’s body, and so long as the original coin was not removed, the scrotum should continue to miraculously fill with coins for the rest of time.</blockquote>

The same magical wealth-gathering apparel was otherwise also known as '''{{lang|is|Finnabrækur}}''' ("'''Breeches of Fins'''",<ref name="jon_arnason-tr-powell1866"/> "'''Lappish Breeches'''"<ref name="jon_arnason-tr-simpson1972"/>); '''{{lang|is|gjaldbuxur}}''' ("'''Money Trousers'''",<ref name="jon_arnason-tr-powell1866"/> "'''Money Breeches'''"<ref name="jon_arnason-tr-simpson1972"/>); '''{{lang|is|nábuxu/nábrók}}''' ("'''Dead-man's pantaloons'''",<ref name="jon_arnason-tr-powell1866"/> "'''Corpse Breeches'''"<ref name="jon_arnason-tr-simpson1972"/>); or '''{{lang|is|Papeyarbuxur}}''' ("'''Papey Breeches'''"<ref name="jon_arnason-tr-simpson1972"/>).{{Refn|group="lower-alpha"|It is explained further that Fins or Lapps are reputed to be wizards, and [[Papey]] is an isle reputed to be populated by the wealthy.<ref name="jon_arnason-tr-powell1866"/><ref name="jon_arnason-tr-simpson1972"/>}}

⚫
===Ritual===
⚫
[[File:Nábrók Necropants stencil by Ræveðs.svg|left|thumb|upright|{{lang|is|Nábrókarstafur}} ([[Icelandic magical staves|Stave]] for Necropants)<ref name="galdrasyning-galdrastafir">{{Cite web |title=Galdrastafir – Galdrasýning á Ströndum |url=https://galdrasyning.is/galdrastafir/ |access-date=2023-07-27 |language=is-IS}}</ref>]]
The ''nábrók'' is obtained by first making a (mutual<ref name="tracy2017"/>) 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 has 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. {{section link||Removal}} below). There is no wealth-giving magic on it yet, and in order to activate the charm, the person must purloin a coin from a poor [[widow]], 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"<ref name="jon_arnason-tr-powell1866"/>), then deposit the coin into the ''[[pungur]]'' (translated politely as "pockets"<ref name="jon_arnason-tr-simpson1972"/> but actually denoting "scrotum"<ref name="tracy2017"/>) of the "Corpse Breeches". Some say the wearer can also choose the 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 he may then spend, but he must make sure he does not remove the original coin to keep the magic effect intact.<ref name="jon_arnason1862"/><ref name="jon_arnason-tr-powell1866"/><ref name="jon_arnason-tr-simpson1972"/>

According to recent literature, a piece of paper inscribed with a magical symbol ([[Icelandic magical staves|magical Icelandic stave]]) must be placed with the coin in the scrotum sack, and the symbol "{{lang|is|Nábrókarstafur}}" (see ).{{Refn|"Stave for Necropants" (The Museum of Icelandic Sorcery and Witchcraft) accessed 2012,<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.galdrasyning.is/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=212:nabrokarstafur&catid=18&Itemid=60&lang=en |title=Stave for Necropants |website=The Museum of Icelandic Sorcery and Witchcraft |access-date=15 August 2012<!--by Lund-->}}</ref>{{Dead link|date=February 2024}} quoted in {{harvp|Lund|2015}}.<ref name="lund2015"/> Similar description in Icelandic is retained on the description page for different staves.<ref name="galdrasyning-galdrastafir"/>}}<ref>Cf. {{harvp|Tracy|2017}}, p. 134 and n66.</ref><ref>{{Cite web |date=2017-09-18 |title=Necropants and Other Tales of 17th-Century Icelandic Sorcery |url=http://www.atlasobscura.com/articles/objects-of-intrigue-necropants |access-date=2023-07-27 |website=Atlas Obscura |language=en}}</ref>

===Removal===
The diabolical ({{lang-is|[[:en:wikt:djöfull|djöfull]]egt}}) nature of the object has been emphasized by commentators.<ref name="tracy2017"/> According to some, the pants were the gift of the devil to those who have sold his soul to them.{{Refn|"Some say that they are from the devil himself, and given by him only to those who have sold him their souls".<ref name="jon_arnason-tr-powell1866"/>}}

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|pant leg]]. At that point, his successor is committed to his fate; even if he tries to change his mind and take off his right leg, he will wind up wearing the left leg, regardless of his will.<ref name="jon_arnason1862"/><ref name="jon_arnason-tr-powell1866"/><ref name="jon_arnason-tr-simpson1972"/>

==Explanatory notes==
{{notelist}}


==References==
==References==
;Citations
{{reflist}}
{{reflist|2|refs=
<ref name="cleasby-vigfusson-skollabraekr">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''.</ref>

<ref name="jon_arnason1862">{{cite book|author=Jón Árnason |author-link=Jón Árnason (author) |chapter=Töfrabrögð |title=Íslenzkar Þjóðsögur og Æfintýri |volume=I| location=Leipzig |publisher=J. C. Hinrichs |year=1862 |pages=428–|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=xgxyGmV62ywC&pg=PA428}} ([http://baekur.is/is/bok/000197672/1/7/Islenzkar_thjodsogur_og_Bindi_1_Bls_7 baekur.is]) {{in lang|is}}</ref>

<ref name="jon_arnason-tr-powell1866">{{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}}</ref>

<ref name="jon_arnason-tr-simpson1972">{{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 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=HY-DCKd6UgUC&pg=181 |pages=167– |isbn=9780520021167 }}</ref>

<ref name="jon_arnason1862">{{cite book|author=Jón Árnason |author-link=Jón Árnason (author) |chapter=Töfrabrögð |title=Íslenzkar Þjóðsögur og Æfintýri |volume=I| location=Leipzig |publisher=J. C. Hinrichs |year=1862 |pages=428–|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=xgxyGmV62ywC&pg=PA428}} ([http://baekur.is/is/bok/000197672/1/7/Islenzkar_thjodsogur_og_Bindi_1_Bls_7 baekur.is]) {{in lang|is}}</ref>

<ref name="lund2015">{{Cite book|last=Lund |first=Katrín Anna |author-link=<!--Katrín Anna Lund--> |chapter=38. Just Like Magic: Activating Landscape of Witchcraft and Sorcery in Rural Tourism, Iceland|editor-last=Brunn |editor-first=Stanley D. |editor-link=<!--Stanley D. Brunn--> |title=The Changing World Religion Map: Sacred Places, Identities, Practices and Politics |publisher=Springer |year=2015|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=CGh-BgAAQBAJ&pg=PA772 |page=772<!--767–782-->|isbn=<!--940179376X, -->9789401793766}}</ref>

<ref name="maurer1860">{{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 |pages=[https://archive.org/details/bub_gb_QWcJAAAAQAAJ/page/n107 91–92]|language=de}}</ref>

<ref name="tracy2017">{{cite book|last=Tracy |first=Larissa |author-link=<!--Larissa Tracy--> |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=<!--1843844524, -->9781843844525}}</ref>

<ref name="willson2023">{{cite book|last=Willson |first=Margaret |author-link=<!--Margaret Willson (author)--> |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=<!--1728240069, -->9781728240060}}</ref>
}}

[[Category:Icelandic folklore]]
[[Category:Icelandic folklore]]
[[Category:Culture of Iceland]]
[[Category:Culture of Iceland]]

Revision as of 08:48, 28 February 2024

A replica of a pair of nábrók at The Museum of Icelandic Sorcery & Witchcraft. At the right is the magical symbol that is part of the ritual and at its feet are coins.

Nábrók (calqued as necropants, literally "corpse britches") 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.[1]

The Strandagaldur (The Museum of Icelandic Sorcery and Witchcraft) houses a reconstructed nábrok, on exhibit (shown right) .[2]

Folklore

The folklore surrounding this these magic pair of pants, called by several appellations in Iceland, were described by Jón Árnason in his folklore collection, under section on "töfrabrögð" ('magic tricks'),[3] and translated into English by Jacqueline Simpson under "Lappish Breeches".[a]

According to this superstition, anyone who desired never to run out of money[b] would attempt to obtain a pair of skollabrækur (pl. case, "devil's breeks",[7] "Old Nick's breeches";[6] cf. 'demon pants'[8]).

The same magical wealth-gathering apparel was otherwise also known as Finnabrækur ("Breeches of Fins",[5] "Lappish Breeches"[6]); gjaldbuxur ("Money Trousers",[5] "Money Breeches"[6]); nábuxu/nábrók ("Dead-man's pantaloons",[5] "Corpse Breeches"[6]); or Papeyarbuxur ("Papey Breeches"[6]).[c]

Ritual

Nábrókarstafur (Stave for Necropants)[9]

The nábrók is obtained by first making a (mutual[10]) 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 has 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. § Removal below). There is no wealth-giving magic on it yet, and in order to activate the charm, the person must purloin a coin from a poor widow, 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"[5]), then deposit the coin into the pungur (translated politely as "pockets"[6] but actually denoting "scrotum"[10]) of the "Corpse Breeches". Some say the wearer can also choose the 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 he may then spend, but he must make sure he does not remove the original coin to keep the magic effect intact.[3][5][6]

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, and the symbol "Nábrókarstafur" (see ).[13][14][15]

Removal

The diabolical (Icelandic: djöfullegt) nature of the object has been emphasized by commentators.[10] According to some, the pants were the gift of the devil to those who have sold his soul to them.[16]

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 his right leg, he will wind up wearing the left leg, regardless of his will.[3][5][6]

Explanatory notes

  1. ^ Simpson's translation curtails the prefatory paragraph on magic and begins with the description of the breeches, hence the section name change.
  2. ^ This is the sense of Icelandic "Þeir, sem vildu afla sèr penínga, sem aldrei væri þrot nè endir á". Mauer uses the German stock phrase "wikt:in Hülle und Fülle meaning 'in abundance';[4] Powell and Magnusson embellish somewhat as] "When a man wishes to get riches, at once vast and inexhaustible, and always waxing during his lifetime, he must.. [obtain] the so-called 'Devil's pair of drawers;' also called ..".[5] Simpson gives "money that would never fail them".[6]
  3. ^ It is explained further that Fins or Lapps are reputed to be wizards, and Papey is an isle reputed to be populated by the wealthy.[5][6]

References

Citations
  1. ^ McMahon, Sara (24 December 2014). "The macabre necropants, made from dead man's skin, on display in Hólmavík". Iceland Magazine. Whenever someone asks me whether they are real or whether a pair ever existed, I'm forced to tell the truth: Necropants have only ever existed in local folk legends.
  2. ^ Cf. the video embedded in: "Exhibition in Hólmark". The Museum of Icelandic Sorcery and Witchcraft. Retrieved 28 February 2024.
  3. ^ a b c Jón Árnason (1862). "Töfrabrögð". Íslenzkar Þjóðsögur og Æfintýri. Vol. I. Leipzig: J. C. Hinrichs. pp. 428–. (baekur.is) (in Icelandic)
  4. ^ Maurer, Konrad von (1860). "Kap. 3. §.2. Zaubermittel". Isländische Volkssagen der Gegenwart: vorwiegend nach mündlicher Überlieferung (in German). Leipzig: J. C. Hinrichs. pp. 91–92.
  5. ^ a b c d e f g h i Jón Árnason (1866). Icelandic Legends Collected by Jón Árnason. Translated by George E. J. Powell; Eiríkr Magnússon. London: Longman, Green, and Co. pp. lxxxix–xc.
  6. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Jón Árnason (1972). "Lappish Breeches". Icelandic Folktales and Legends. Translated by Jacqueline Simpson. University of California Press. pp. 167–. ISBN 9780520021167.
  7. ^ Cleasby-Vigfusson (1874), Icelandic-English Dictionary. s.v. skolli 2: "the evil one, a word used in swearing.. hence in compds: skolla-braekr f. pl. devil's breeches.
  8. ^ Willson, Margaret (2023). Woman, Captain, Rebel: The Extraordinary True Story of a Daring Icelandic Sea Captain. London: Sourcebooks. ISBN 9781728240060.
  9. ^ a b "Galdrastafir – Galdrasýning á Ströndum" (in Icelandic). Retrieved 2023-07-27.
  10. ^ a b c Tracy, Larissa (2017). Flaying in the Pre-modern World: Practice and Representation. Boydell & Brewer. pp. 133–135. ISBN 9781843844525.
  11. ^ "Stave for Necropants". The Museum of Icelandic Sorcery and Witchcraft. Retrieved 15 August 2012.
  12. ^ Lund, Katrín Anna (2015). "38. Just Like Magic: Activating Landscape of Witchcraft and Sorcery in Rural Tourism, Iceland". In Brunn, Stanley D. (ed.). The Changing World Religion Map: Sacred Places, Identities, Practices and Politics. Springer. p. 772. ISBN 9789401793766.
  13. ^ "Stave for Necropants" (The Museum of Icelandic Sorcery and Witchcraft) accessed 2012,[11][dead link] quoted in Lund (2015).[12] Similar description in Icelandic is retained on the description page for different staves.[9]
  14. ^ Cf. Tracy (2017), p. 134 and n66.
  15. ^ "Necropants and Other Tales of 17th-Century Icelandic Sorcery". Atlas Obscura. 2017-09-18. Retrieved 2023-07-27.
  16. ^ "Some say that they are from the devil himself, and given by him only to those who have sold him their souls".[5]
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