The Sexton Of Mörkaa

In the old days there lived a sexton on Mörkaa in the Oefjord; his name is not named, but he was good friends with a girl who Gudrun was called and according to some people on Baegisaa beyond of the Hörgbach, where she was in service to the pastor.

The sexton had a horse with a grey mane, which he called Faxe, and that he always rode. It happened once just before Christmas that he Baegisaa came to invite Gudrun to Mörkaa for Christmas, and He promised to pick her up at a certain time and take her to the feast on the day before Christmas Eve. In the days before the When the sexton rode to invite Gudrun, a lot of snow had fallen and ice had formed on the water; but on the day he returned to Baegisaa rode, the weather was thawing, and during the day the stream impassable due to drift ice and strong currents. He moved from home without thinking about what might have changed during the day, and thought the stream was still the same as in the morning. Öxnedalsbach had a bridge; but when he came to the Hörgbach, He had climbed up and broken the ice. He rode along the stream along until he was opposite Saurbör, the next farm of Mörkaa, where a bridge leads over the stream. The sexton rode onto the bridge down, but he had barely reached the middle when it broke and he fell into the stream.

When the farmer on Tuevold got out of bed the next morning, he saw a saddled horse standing on his home field, and it was him as if he recognized the sexton's faxes. Something strange feeling, because he had seen the sexton there the previous day. riding past, but did not notice that he had returned, and he soon suspected what had happened. He then went to the field out, and it was really Faxe who stood there, dripping wet and badly Then he went down to the stream, to the so-called Tuevoldsnaes; there he found the sexton just ahead at the headland, where he was driven as a corpse. The farmer immediately moved to Mörkaa and told this news. When the sexton was found, his The back of his head was badly damaged by the drifting ice floes. was brought to Mörkaa and buried the week before Christmas.

Since the sexton had left Baegisaa and until the day Before Christmas Eve there was no news about what happened in Mörkaa of the continuous thaw and the strong current But the day before the festival the weather had changed, and At night the water in the stream had sunk, so that Gudrun had hope to come to Mörkaa for Christmas. to clean, and when she had almost finished decorating herself, she heard someone knocked on the door; another girl who was standing by her, opened, but saw no one outside; outside it was neither light nor dark, for the moon sailed behind clouds that were continually Gone by.

The girl came in and said that she hadn't seen anything, Gudrun But said: "Then it will probably apply to me, now I'll go out." She had finished cleaning by now and she needed only to put on the coat. She took the coat and pulled the one Sleeves on the other, but the others threw it over her shoulder and held it Outside she saw Faxe standing in front of the door and next to him a man, whom she thought was the sexton. Whether they spoke to each other is unknown. not, but the man lifted Gudrun onto the horse, then mounted it himself and sat down in front of her.

They rode for a while without speaking to each other and came to the Hörgbach, on the shores of which there were high ice blocks; horse jumped over such a piece of ice, the sexton’s hat was thrown lifted up, and Gudrun saw the exposed skull. In this At that moment the clouds disappeared from the moon and he said:

»The moon glides,
Death rides,
Don't you see the white spot
In the neck,
City, City?«[4]

She was horrified, but remained silent. Others say that Gudrun himself lifted his hat and discovered the white skull, And that she then said: "I now know where that comes from."

Now nothing is reported on your conversations or her ride, until they came to Mörkaa, where they were greeted by the Horses mounted; then he said to Gudrun:

» Hier nun warte, Garun, Garun,
Until I sent faxes, faxes,
On to the wall, wall.«

He then went away with the horse, but she happened to look into the churchyard and was shocked when she discovered an open grave. came to pull the bell; someone from behind, and it was now her luck that she had no time had had the opportunity to pull on both coat sleeves, for it pulled so hard that the coat at the shoulder seam of the sleeve she had put on, But the last thing she saw of the sexton was that he threw himself, with the rag of his cloak in his hand, into the open grave, whereupon the earth was swept over him from both sides.

Gudrun continued to ring until the courtiers of Mörkaa came out and they fetched her, because she had become so afraid that she neither to go, nor dared to stop ringing; she could well think that she had to do with the sexton’s ghost, although she had not previously received any news of his death. she became certain when she started talking to the people of Mörkaa, who told her the whole story of the sexton’s death, while she told them about her ride.

That same night, when everyone had gone to bed and the lights were turned off were, the sexton came and stormed at Gudrun with such impetuosity, that people had to stand up, and no one could keep an eye on this Even half a month later, she was never able to and every night someone had to watch over her. Yes, some say even that the priest himself could sit on the edge of the bed next to her and Finally, a magician was found west of the Skagefjord. When he came, he left a large stone above of the home field and attach it to the gable of the dormitory In the evening, when it began to get dark, the sexton came and wanted to the house, but the magician caught him south of the gable, forced him into the ground with many incantations and then rolled the Stone over him; and the sexton is said to still lie there today.

After this time, the haunting on Mörkaa stopped and Gudrun recovered again. A little later she returned home to Baegisaa, but it is said that that she would never be the same as she used to be.


Footnotes:

[4] Garun = Gudrun. Ghosts cannot say »Gud«,
God’s name, or a word containing God’s name,
express.

[5] Isl. »sàluhlid« = the gate through which the corpses enter the
brought to church.