On the night before her wedding, a girl was tracked down by a ghost sent to kill her. Who was behind the haunting, and where did the ghost go after their encounter?
Once there was a farmhand at Hvítárvellir who is not himself named, nor is it said who his master was. Hvítárvellir is an old large farm and mansion in Borgarfjörður at the mouth of the Hvítá River. The land was considered one of the most valuable lands in the country and was, among other things, one of the largest salmon fishing grounds in Borgarfjörður.
Read More: Check out all ghost stories from Iceland
As an old farm with a long history, there have been more than one ghost passing through the place. But unlike the more vengeful ghost of Stormhöttir and the Hvítárvellir-Skotta that caused misery, accidents and even deaths, the spectre that became known as the Ghost of the Hay, was a more tragic figure.
The Ghost of the Hay
Before he came back as a ghost, he was a gardener at Hvítárvellir and harvested all the hay, and he had plenty of work, for there was then a large herd of cattle, both cows and steers. This man with no name set his heart on a girl at the farm. Although the farm has a pretty good record of those who have lived there throughout the years, she also remains nameless.
Hvítárvellir: The Farm in Borgarfjörður around the turn of the century in 1897, which WG Collingwood drew during the summer when he was traveling around the country.// Source
Alas, she did not want to have the gardener and she rejected him. Because of this the man became depressed and isolated himself from the others and only focused on his work that was done as it always had been. Now, no one wanted him, and he wanted no one.
One day, he was found hanged in his own neckerchief in one of the haystacks. People believed that he had taken his own life out of grief because he could not have the girl. She had meanwhile become betrothed to another man.
Life went on, and on the evening before her wedding, the weather was fine and the moonlight bright. The girl still had things to get in order for her wedding in the morning, like finishing her bridal shoes. She said to a maid at Hvítárvellir that she should come with her out to the doorway of the house to keep her company as she worked on her shoes, since the night was so fair and bright outside and it was not yet the time when people lit lamps.
They sat on the doorstep for a while, the bride-to-be working on the shoes and the other maid relaxing beside the bride-to-be until the maid got sleepy and yawned before calling it a night. The bride-to-be sat still as before and finished the shoes. When she had completed them she happened to look out and saw a man coming up from below the field.
He looked rather imposing, and he did not greet her. She addressed him first and asked who he was. According to the sources, he introduced himself, but there are no signs of her knowing or recognizing him. He claimed he had business with her. She said: “It is good then that I was not in bed since you have business with me, but what is your business now?”
“I intend to kill you,” he said.
“I think you will not do that,” she said, “and now do either this: go to the lowest and worst hell, or go to the damned north to a hayfield and row there for eternity. You will have nothing else from me.”
“I’ll rather go north to the hayfield a thousand times,” said the ghost, and he quickly turned and went there, and clairvoyant men have often seen him rowing there. After that the girl was entirely free of him and she was married in the morning.
It is, in short, common talk that although it is often stormy at Hvítárvellir, as in many places in that district, never there does hay break apart in the yard if neither stones nor people are put on it, and men credit this to the ghost who lies on the hay and protects the hayyard from all hay damage, provided that he may be alone on the stack. But if people lie there on the hay or put stones on it, it is said that the hay breaks apart and is whirled away down to the fence-lines.
Hvítárvellir around 1900: Then used as a dairy school in what was called the Baron’s House, which is on the far left in the picture. The building was moved in 1925 to Hvítárbakki, Borgarfjörður.
Once when the weather grew stormy there were in the hayyard at Hvítárvellir two haystacks among others, one newly stacked of loose and light meadow hay and unturfed, but the other compact and settled hay, turfed and well cared for. But all the same, all the turf and stones were flung off the latter haystack as if they were thrown, and the hay itself was scattered everywhere, while the newly piled hay was not disturbed in the least.
The Icelandic Ghost of Vengeance
About this ghost it is quite remarkable that he is one of the few who does good and not evil. A Móri is a male ghost in Iceland. When a male is raised from the dead for such a purpose like vengeance, he is not called a ghost, but a Móri. Often the term Fylgja ghost was used interchangeably with the Draug ghost. The female version of this vengeful ghost was called Skotta. Móri means rust brown in Icelandic and the ghosts were named so because of the color of their clothes.
Icelandic Ghosts and Ghouls: Fylgja or the draugr ghosts attached themselves to people that they haunted. They could also attach themselves to buildings or even entire towns. Many stories also talk about it being a generational haunting where the ghost decides to haunt all of the descendants of the original person it cursed. Most often the female line of the family. // An illustration to the Icelandic legend of the Skeleton in Hólar Church (Beinagrindin í Hólakirkju). From Icelandic Legends : Collected by Jón Arnason, illustrated by Jules Worms.
Who was this ghost that came to her door the night before her wedding? Was it the man who took his own life, or perhaps a ghost he raised as revenge before leaving the world himself? There has also been speculation that the ghost who lies on the hay is the Skotti or the Hvítárvellir-Skotti that were mentioned earlier. Some also say that it is Stormhöttur who guards the hay there, as is mentioned regarding the Hvítárvellir-Skotta. But that’s another story.
Said to have been conjured up by a sorcerer or even the fairy folk themselves, Pennard Castles history is both mysterious and haunted by the sound of the howling witch left in the sandy ruins of the abandoned castle in Wales.
For a long time, Larnach Castle was New Zealand’s only castle, and for a long time, also one of the more haunted places in the country. Built by a rich banker to live with his family, his dream of a lasting dynasty ended when personal tragedies as well as failed political and business ventures started to turn the family against each other.
Crammed into the ancient towers and dark corner of St Donat’s Castle in the Vale of Glamorgan in Wales, the ghosts lingering within these walls are old and persistent.
After a common feud between two men, a ghost was created to torment the people on Hleiðrargarðs farm. Thus, the Hleiðrargarðs-Skotta and her legendary haunting started, some say it even escalated in her starting a plague, killing both cattle and men.
The current Britannia Adelphi Hotel is the third building here used as a hotel, and filled with ghosts according to rumours. From the dark basement to the haunted suites in the upper floors, this Liverpool hotel is often dubbed Britain’s most haunted one.
Hidden away in a bone for years, the ghost and Skotta of Ábær was sent on a mission to harass a farmer in northern Iceland. However, they lost control of her, and have since been haunting them all.
Said to be unhappy with the fate of the city he once led, the ghost of Duke Berchtold V of Zähringen is said to be haunting the old city in Bern, around the Nydegg Church where his monument is placed.
The little island Munkholmen outside of Trondheim in Norway has had many haunted rumors for a long time. From an old Viking execution place to a state prison, who is still lingering there in their afterlife?
After old friends clash after falling out, a curse is put upon the other. For generations, the Hítardals-Skotta is said to have haunted their family and village, sometimes even said to be behind their deaths.
Have you ever noticed the underground world of the old town in Bern? Now fancy cafes and shops, there are also tales of secret passageways, hideouts and ghosts beneath the cobbled stoned city.
Buried in the mounds of the Icelandic landscape, a murdered shepherd came back from the dead as a Draugr or perhaps a Haugbúi ghost to haunt the people living at Finnbogastaðir farm.
Around the terrifying statue of the Kindlifressenbrunnen devouring children, young ghosts are said to haunt like a misty night. Said to be the unwanted babies taken out of the city through the underground tunnels, they return to the scene of the crime.
Meant to be a peaceful summer residence in Sissach, outside of Basel in Switzerland, the Ebenrain Castle turned into a haunted one after one of its former inhabitants is still haunting it.
In the peaceful town of Sissach, nestled amid the soft hills and dense forests of Baselland, stands the elegant yet somber Ebenrain Castle. Built as a summer residence for the rich and wealthy from Basel city in 1774–1776, it is considered the most significant late baroque residence in northwestern Switzerland.
Today it serves as a venue for art exhibitions, concerts, and cultural events, but behind its grand Baroque façade lingers a chilling story — one of guilt, scandal, and restless spirits.
Read more: Check out all ghost stories from Switzerland
The ghost said to haunt this stately estate is none other than Johann Rudolf Ryhiner-Streckeisen, a wealthy Basel merchant whose checkered past and tragic end cast a long, eerie shadow over Ebenrain.
Haunted Castle: Ebenrain Castle in Sissach, Basel-Land canton, Switzerland. It is said to be haunted by the ghost of a potential slave trader. // Source: Ikiwaner/ Wikimedia
A Man of Wealth and Sullied Reputation
Martin Bachofen (1727-1814), Basel silk ribbon manufacturer, builder of Ebenrain Castle
The story of Ebenrain begins with Martin Bachofen (1727–1814), a prosperous Basel silk manufacturer who built the castle as his country residence. But it was in the hands of Johann Rudolf Ryhiner-Streckeisen that the estate’s most notorious chapter was written.
Ryhiner was a man of considerable means, but also of questionable morals. Whispers surrounded him — not only for his extravagant lifestyle and tangled personal affairs, but for his alleged ties to the transatlantic slave trade, a grim and unspoken stain on Basel’s mercantile history. These rumors would cling to his name, long after his death.
Faced with accusations of bigamy — a scandal that threatened to unravel both his public and private life — Ryhiner’s world crumbled. On July 29, 1824, he took his own life with a pistol shot in one of the castle’s stately rooms, leaving behind a legacy of shame and whispered curses. Two years later, his widow sold the castle to Ludwig Vest, a businessman from Liestal.
A Restless Presence in the Dusk
But death did not silence Ryhiner. According to local legend, the merchant’s spirit returned to Ebenrain, condemned by his crimes and cowardice to linger in the place of his demise.
At dusk, when the mist gathers low along the castle’s lawns and the evening air turns chill, a tall gentleman has been seen strolling through the park. He swings a walking stick, his posture stiff and his gaze vacant. Some witnesses even claim he is accompanied by another indistinct, shadowy figure — perhaps a former accomplice, or one of the countless lives entangled in his dark dealings.
Those who have wandered the castle grounds after dark speak of sudden cold drafts, of unseen hands brushing their skin, and of a bloodstain in the west room — the very chamber where Ryhiner ended his life — that no servant or owner has ever been able to scrub away. Even after renovations, it is said to bleed through fresh plaster and paint, a grim, unyielding mark of guilt.
The Weight of an Unquiet Past
While Ebenrain Castle today stands as a proud cultural landmark, its ghostly past endures in local memory. The story of Johann Rudolf Ryhiner-Streckeisen is a reminder of the unspoken histories that linger in beautiful places. His restless spirit is said to prowl not for revenge, but tormented by a lifetime of sin and silence — a phantom burdened by the weight of lives lost and wrongs unrighted.
Schloss Ebenrain, Sissach, Schweiz. // EinDao/Wikimedia
So should you find yourself in the gardens of Ebenrain as the sun sinks behind the Jura hills, watch the tree-shrouded paths carefully. You might just glimpse a figure in 19th-century dress, cane in hand, forever pacing through the estate he could neither truly possess in life nor leave in death.
Said to have been conjured up by a sorcerer or even the fairy folk themselves, Pennard Castles history is both mysterious and haunted by the sound of the howling witch left in the sandy ruins of the abandoned castle in Wales.
For a long time, Larnach Castle was New Zealand’s only castle, and for a long time, also one of the more haunted places in the country. Built by a rich banker to live with his family, his dream of a lasting dynasty ended when personal tragedies as well as failed political and business ventures started to turn the family against each other.
Crammed into the ancient towers and dark corner of St Donat’s Castle in the Vale of Glamorgan in Wales, the ghosts lingering within these walls are old and persistent.
After a common feud between two men, a ghost was created to torment the people on Hleiðrargarðs farm. Thus, the Hleiðrargarðs-Skotta and her legendary haunting started, some say it even escalated in her starting a plague, killing both cattle and men.
The current Britannia Adelphi Hotel is the third building here used as a hotel, and filled with ghosts according to rumours. From the dark basement to the haunted suites in the upper floors, this Liverpool hotel is often dubbed Britain’s most haunted one.
Hidden away in a bone for years, the ghost and Skotta of Ábær was sent on a mission to harass a farmer in northern Iceland. However, they lost control of her, and have since been haunting them all.
Said to be unhappy with the fate of the city he once led, the ghost of Duke Berchtold V of Zähringen is said to be haunting the old city in Bern, around the Nydegg Church where his monument is placed.
The little island Munkholmen outside of Trondheim in Norway has had many haunted rumors for a long time. From an old Viking execution place to a state prison, who is still lingering there in their afterlife?
After old friends clash after falling out, a curse is put upon the other. For generations, the Hítardals-Skotta is said to have haunted their family and village, sometimes even said to be behind their deaths.
Have you ever noticed the underground world of the old town in Bern? Now fancy cafes and shops, there are also tales of secret passageways, hideouts and ghosts beneath the cobbled stoned city.
Buried in the mounds of the Icelandic landscape, a murdered shepherd came back from the dead as a Draugr or perhaps a Haugbúi ghost to haunt the people living at Finnbogastaðir farm.
Around the terrifying statue of the Kindlifressenbrunnen devouring children, young ghosts are said to haunt like a misty night. Said to be the unwanted babies taken out of the city through the underground tunnels, they return to the scene of the crime.
Back at a time when the hills of Münsterberg were called Spittelsprung in the really old parts of Basel in Switzerland, it was also said a monk was haunting the streets. Gliding in and out of the houses frightening the children, he took no notice of the world of the living, always deep in his prayers. The question is, prayer for what?
In the tangled web of Basel’s medieval streets, history lies thick as mist, and nowhere more so than on the Münsterberg, the quiet hill crowned by the grand sandstone edifice of Basel Münster. The old town rises and falls with small hills, each carrying the weight of centuries.
The Münsterberg is the most storied of them, its cobbled alleys flanked by 18th-century palaces, austere official buildings, and the venerable Naturhistorisches Museum. Yet long before these elegant façades graced the streets, this hill bore another name: Spittelsprung.
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In the days when death came swiftly and often, a hospital and almshouse once stood here. A place where the sick and dying clung to what comfort the Church could offer, and where sins were whispered to unseen ears in dimly lit corners.
And it is from this time that one of Basel’s most quietly unnerving hauntings is said to have begun.
A Monastic Shadow Along the Streets of Münsterberg
According to accounts passed down through generations, a spectral monk used to make his mournful rounds upon the Münsterberg back when it was called Spittelsburg. It is told that on certain nights, when the wind sighs low through the narrow alleys and the bell of the cathedral tolls its midnight note, he appears without warning in one of the houses along the hill.
It was said that the pale glow of a flickering lamp or hearth reveals his dark robes and tonsured head as he silently crosses the living room floor, eyes never lifting from the pages of his ancient breviary. His lips move in soundless prayer, and the room fills with a sense of something ancient and sorrowful.
Children, watching from behind chairs or half-open doors, would scream at the sight of him, but the ghostly monk didn’t seem to even notice them, never pausing in his devotions or lifting his head from his books. It was only when an adult stepped forward to confront him, hand outstretched or voice raised in command, that the figure would vanish like smoke caught in a draft, leaving nothing but the lingering scent of old candle wax and dust.
The Forgotten Sins of Spittelsprung
Why this monk’s restless soul should remain is lost to time. Was he a healer who succumbed to one of the plagues that ravaged Basel? A sinner seeking penance? Or perhaps a witness to unspoken horrors within the hospital walls?
He was certainly not the only monk that used to haunt the city of Basel. On Herbergsgasse there used to be a poorhouse that used to be haunted by one as well. At least back in 1626 where fire crackling in the stove could be heard when there was no fire seen. A monk in a dark robe appeared with a small dog in his arms in the rooms several times and the farmers who stayed overnight at the inn to pay their rent to the landlords were said to have been paralyzed when they laid in their beds, watching the monk glide through their rooms.
The street, now called Münsterberg, seems tranquil in daylight, its medieval square echoing with little but the footsteps of museum-goers and students. But come nightfall, when the ancient stones remember their past, the air can turn heavy. Locals whisper that in certain houses, a shape still moves by lamplight, and prayers too old for memory still pass through unseen lips.
Said to have been conjured up by a sorcerer or even the fairy folk themselves, Pennard Castles history is both mysterious and haunted by the sound of the howling witch left in the sandy ruins of the abandoned castle in Wales.
For a long time, Larnach Castle was New Zealand’s only castle, and for a long time, also one of the more haunted places in the country. Built by a rich banker to live with his family, his dream of a lasting dynasty ended when personal tragedies as well as failed political and business ventures started to turn the family against each other.
Crammed into the ancient towers and dark corner of St Donat’s Castle in the Vale of Glamorgan in Wales, the ghosts lingering within these walls are old and persistent.
After a common feud between two men, a ghost was created to torment the people on Hleiðrargarðs farm. Thus, the Hleiðrargarðs-Skotta and her legendary haunting started, some say it even escalated in her starting a plague, killing both cattle and men.
The current Britannia Adelphi Hotel is the third building here used as a hotel, and filled with ghosts according to rumours. From the dark basement to the haunted suites in the upper floors, this Liverpool hotel is often dubbed Britain’s most haunted one.
Hidden away in a bone for years, the ghost and Skotta of Ábær was sent on a mission to harass a farmer in northern Iceland. However, they lost control of her, and have since been haunting them all.
Said to be unhappy with the fate of the city he once led, the ghost of Duke Berchtold V of Zähringen is said to be haunting the old city in Bern, around the Nydegg Church where his monument is placed.
The little island Munkholmen outside of Trondheim in Norway has had many haunted rumors for a long time. From an old Viking execution place to a state prison, who is still lingering there in their afterlife?
After old friends clash after falling out, a curse is put upon the other. For generations, the Hítardals-Skotta is said to have haunted their family and village, sometimes even said to be behind their deaths.
Have you ever noticed the underground world of the old town in Bern? Now fancy cafes and shops, there are also tales of secret passageways, hideouts and ghosts beneath the cobbled stoned city.
Buried in the mounds of the Icelandic landscape, a murdered shepherd came back from the dead as a Draugr or perhaps a Haugbúi ghost to haunt the people living at Finnbogastaðir farm.
Around the terrifying statue of the Kindlifressenbrunnen devouring children, young ghosts are said to haunt like a misty night. Said to be the unwanted babies taken out of the city through the underground tunnels, they return to the scene of the crime.
For centuries now, there have been rumours about the ghost of a gray lady haunting the Søndre Brekke Manor house in Norway. A presence so strong that even an exorcism didn’t have help.
Søndre Brekke Gård in Skien, Telemark, in the south-eastern part of Norway, has a history since the 1400s as a manor house for the rich and wealthy. Since 1909 it has been used as a museum for, although some believe one resident never moved out. And rumor has it that the manor house comes with its own Lady in Gray.
Read More: Check out all ghost stories from Norway
For over two centuries, staff and visitors have reported strange disturbances, unexplained noises, and glimpses of a sorrowful woman who has never found rest. But who is this lady said to still roam the halls of the former manor house?
The legend begins in 1813, when a young woman of unknown identity died suddenly inside the grand hall of the manor. No records reveal her name, her origin, or even the circumstances of her death. What is known is that she never left. Her spirit, troubled and unable to move on, is said to still drift quietly through the corridors of Søndre Brekke, seen only by the unlucky or the unwary.
This was during the time the minister of commerce, Niels Aall had bought the manor house in 1810 and the museum is decorated just as they think he might have had it when living in it. In 1813 though, Prince Christian Frederik, who would later be king of Denmark-Norway, came for a visit and a feast was held in his honor on the 21st of August. He was doing a tour to strengthen the ties Norway had with Denmark, which had been weakened after Denmark’s alliance with Napoleon in the wars.
Although politically it wasn’t necessarily a popular visit, the feast was a welcome break for the locals, and they all joined to participate.
There aren’t many details of how this nameless woman died though. Some say that she was very ill and it wasn’t taken into consideration as there was a visit from the Prince that took all the attention. Some say that Nils Aal had apologized to not make the party a ball because of respect for his ailing mother, Amborg Jørgensdatter Aall, was on her deathbed. The Prince ignored this though, and asked a peasant girl to dance and the feast turned into a ball either way. This version is from the famed Norwegian writer, Henrik Wergeland in his Konstitutionshistorie from 1841.
In 1895 Øverland wrote in his book Norway’s History from 1895, that it wasn’t Niels Aall’s mother dying, but his aunt, Benedicta Henrikka Løvenskiold. She died three days before the party took place. But this is uncertain as well as she died at the Kammerherregården in Porsgrunn, hours away from Brekke.
These are just two of the texts about it, but the local legends said more. She has forever remained nameless and largely forgotten as she died in the room next to the feasting ballroom and returned as a ghost to roam its halls.
A Warning from Beyond to the Museum’s Caretaker
One of the most unnerving encounters involves the caretaker of the manor, Jarle Ravik who was considered the go to for the story and the haunted experiences that he said happened during his shifts.
While alone on duty on a stormy night with the wind howling, he suddenly felt a cold hand grip his arm. Shocked, he spun around, but no one was there. Just seconds later, a large tree crashed to the ground directly in front of him. Had the Gray Lady saved him from a fatal accident? Or was it simply a strange coincidence? No one knows, but the caretaker never forgot the sensation of that unseen hand.
Another time he was walking a round after closing time and opened the door to the ballroom. There, the Lady in Gray was standing in front of him. He closed the door in panic before opening it again, but by then, she was gone. Ever since that time, he never saw her again, although he claimed to feel her presence, like she was watching out for him working at the museum.
According to Ravik, he proposed a completely different tale about the ghost and the origin. He claimed he had heard about it from two old ladies from Skien. According to them, the woman who died was from a Swedish or Danish noble woman who visited with her daughter when the prince came to visit.
According to the woman, it was unseemly for a ball because of a death in one of the European noble families, and she stormed out from the feast in protest. Her daughter remained though and when the woman returned the next day, her daughter had been assaulted by one of the prince’s officers. Because of this, she swore she would never leave the manor house again, a promise she apparently held.
Disturbances in the Dark from the Lady in Gray
Others have experienced her presence in less dramatic but equally unsettling ways. Chairs slide across the floor with no one near them. Doors slam shut as though someone is passing briskly through the corridors. The atmosphere turns heavy, as though watched by someone who lingers just beyond sight. Some feel dread. Others feel sorrow. But everyone agrees: she is there.
A room on the second floor has been called «Den grå dames værelse», or the Lady in Gray’s Room. Other sightings have traced back to 1899 in writing when the doctor and engineer. The same year a package was delivered to Høyer who lived there at the time and the lady suddenly showed up. He described her as middle tall, a bit short grey skirt. Bråtu who delivered the package turned to address her, but she glided past him and into a door without looking at him. Bråtu didn’t think much about it, as he was used to rude rich people. But when he told the servants about her to the servants, Høyer was summoned and they went through his observation.
“She went through a door?” Høyer asked and Bråtu pointed, but first then noticed that where she had gone through there was no door at all.
She also showed up in 1905 a late Sunday breakfast in the room next to the Lady in Grey’s Room. The dog started barking and the man staying in the room saw her standing in front of him.
In her room there was a new servant employed at Brekke and she went into the room one summer evening. She came out pale and silent before she collapsed in spasms.
In the early 1900s, sightings of her were so common among the locals, they just commented, “it’s just her” when someone met her in the late 1920s. She was even spotted outside of the manor and walking around the city center in Kleiva.
The Haunted Ibsen Show
In 1925 there was an Ibsen display in the north wing at Brekke. When they locked the room for the night, everything was fine. When they returned in the morning though, the chairs were moved, the window blinds fell down and a newly restored portrait of Ibsen had fallen to the ground and was broken.
Was this the Lady in Grey though or was it actually the ghost of Lammers, that had the furniture displayed there? They called a ghost expert to investigate this, the father of the infamous Norwegian traitor from the second world war, Vidkun Quisling. He published his book Believable ghost stories in 1911 and was known as the expert in the field. Interestingly enough though, he didn’t mention the Grey Lady at all.
Later it was said that even an exorcism was conducted to drive the ghost out, but it seemingly didn’t have an effect. So the question remains, is the Lady in Gray still haunting the Søndre Brekke Gård?
Said to have been conjured up by a sorcerer or even the fairy folk themselves, Pennard Castles history is both mysterious and haunted by the sound of the howling witch left in the sandy ruins of the abandoned castle in Wales.
For a long time, Larnach Castle was New Zealand’s only castle, and for a long time, also one of the more haunted places in the country. Built by a rich banker to live with his family, his dream of a lasting dynasty ended when personal tragedies as well as failed political and business ventures started to turn the family against each other.
Crammed into the ancient towers and dark corner of St Donat’s Castle in the Vale of Glamorgan in Wales, the ghosts lingering within these walls are old and persistent.
After a common feud between two men, a ghost was created to torment the people on Hleiðrargarðs farm. Thus, the Hleiðrargarðs-Skotta and her legendary haunting started, some say it even escalated in her starting a plague, killing both cattle and men.
The current Britannia Adelphi Hotel is the third building here used as a hotel, and filled with ghosts according to rumours. From the dark basement to the haunted suites in the upper floors, this Liverpool hotel is often dubbed Britain’s most haunted one.
Hidden away in a bone for years, the ghost and Skotta of Ábær was sent on a mission to harass a farmer in northern Iceland. However, they lost control of her, and have since been haunting them all.
Said to be unhappy with the fate of the city he once led, the ghost of Duke Berchtold V of Zähringen is said to be haunting the old city in Bern, around the Nydegg Church where his monument is placed.
The little island Munkholmen outside of Trondheim in Norway has had many haunted rumors for a long time. From an old Viking execution place to a state prison, who is still lingering there in their afterlife?
After old friends clash after falling out, a curse is put upon the other. For generations, the Hítardals-Skotta is said to have haunted their family and village, sometimes even said to be behind their deaths.
Have you ever noticed the underground world of the old town in Bern? Now fancy cafes and shops, there are also tales of secret passageways, hideouts and ghosts beneath the cobbled stoned city.
Buried in the mounds of the Icelandic landscape, a murdered shepherd came back from the dead as a Draugr or perhaps a Haugbúi ghost to haunt the people living at Finnbogastaðir farm.
Around the terrifying statue of the Kindlifressenbrunnen devouring children, young ghosts are said to haunt like a misty night. Said to be the unwanted babies taken out of the city through the underground tunnels, they return to the scene of the crime.
Although not even completely dead, an unfortunate boy was resurrected as an undead by a sorcerer to avenge an entire family. For generations the Írafells-Móri plagued, harassed and also took care of the family he was sent to destroy.
There was a man named Kort, the son of Þorvarður Möðruvellir in Kjós. He was a juryman and a well respected farmer. He was also known to be an extremely haunted man. The ghost that ended up haunting him and his family descendants are mostly known by the name Írafells-Móri. Not only did the ghost haunt the family, but their friends, neighbours and just unfortunate people crossing his path. But seeing that including every instance of haunting and haunted, this article will solely focus on Kort, his children and grandchildren.
Read More: Check out all ghost stories from Iceland
Kort was married twice. First to Ingibjörg, and the latter Þórdís Jónsdóttir. Ingibjörg was from the north and many had tried to propose to her before Kort, but she refused them all. The suitors became angry when she chose Kort over them and the men in the north went to a sorcerer to curse both Kurt and Ingibjörg. To do this, the sorcerer resurrected a ghost that would do their bidding called a Móri.
A Móri is a male ghost in Iceland. When a male is raised from the dead for such a purpose like vengeance, he is not called a ghost, but a Móri. Often the term Fylgja ghost was used interchangeably with the Draug ghost. The female version of this vengeful ghost was called Skotta. Móri means rust brown in Icelandic and the ghosts were named so because of the color of their clothes.
Raising the Dead for Vengeance
The sorcerer chose for this a young boy, of whom the story says that he had died of exposure outdoors between the farms. When he rose from the dead, he was warm and not even completely dead before being resurrected, and was sent out, ordered to haunt the couple at Möðruvellir and their descendants for nine generations.
The many men who saw the Írafells-Móri described him so that he wears gray trousers below and a brownish coat on the body, with a black broad-brimmed hat on his head, and there was a notch or large gap in the brim above the left eye. When Móri came south he attached himself to Möðruvellir as instructed and killed livestock and spoiled food. But there are no examples of Móri directly killing people.
Icelandic Ghosts and Ghouls: Fylgja or the draugr ghosts attached themselves to people that they haunted. They could also attach themselves to buildings or even entire towns. Many stories also talk about it being a generational haunting where the ghost decides to haunt all of the descendants of the original person it cursed. Most often the female line of the family. // An illustration to the Icelandic legend of the Skeleton in Hólar Church (Beinagrindin í Hólakirkju). From Icelandic Legends : Collected by Jón Arnason, illustrated by Jules Worms.
One winter, Kurt and his wife had two calves that the Írafells-Móri drove over the cliffs the following summer, and they were found dead below. Another time, Kort had a mare and a foal grazing in the home pastures at Möðruvellir. Late in the summer men saw the foal running as if it had gone mad around a stone, and then it fell down dead. When they came to it the foal lay dead with its behind, caught its rectum on the stone and tore all its guts out. This was attributed to Móri.
Unlike most ghosts, the Móri was thought to have not been completely dead before being turned. Because of this, the ghost needed to eat and was even rationed food at both Möðruvellir and when he went to live at Írafell to haunt their son, Magnús Kortsson.
Móri would sometimes sit on the barn floor and gnaw on the milk troughs with his paws or knock them down, splash curd both on Ingibjörg and all over the rafters, or throw turf and stones into the food wherever it was, spoiling it with it if he wasn’t fed. Once they forgot to feed Móri in the evening and in the morning, they saw him sitting in the barn with his hands down in each cheese barrel, both munching on the cheese and sprinkling it with crumbs. After that, they were careful not to forget to feed him.
After this Kort moved away from Möðruvellir and went to Flekkudal in Eyjafjörður, but Móri followed them there and plagued them no less than before until his death in 1821.
The Haunting of Magnús Kortsson
After the death of Kortur Heitin (1821), Móri first followed his eldest son Magnús, who lived for a long time on Írafell, as mentioned above, and because Móri was the longest attached to it, he was called Írafells-Móri, and that name has since stuck with him.
It seems that there were fewer evil visits before Kort the Elder than to some of his children and grandchildren from his first wife, whether it is because it has been longer since he was alive and those stories have therefore faded from people’s memory or Mór was more concerned with the visits when he began to follow Kort’s children or the third thing that some think is most likely is that he did not dare to wade as much while Kort was alive as after he died.
It wasn’t just food that Móri needed; he also felt he needed to rest like anyone else, and it is said that after he started following Magnús Kortsson to Írafell where he got his name, he always had to leave a bed space empty for him opposite his own. No one except the ghost was supposed to lie in it. It also had a separate food supply.
Once people needed a place to stay for the night at Írafell. Later that evening, a boy came to the house and asked to stay there. Magnús said he could stay in the house, but had no place but the floor to sleep unless he dared to sleep in the ghost’s bed. The boy accepted and braved himself to get into the bed, but when he fell asleep, something terrible stirred him in his sleep and woke him up. He was unable to sleep well that night.
The next day the weather was bad so that the guests could not travel and had to stay at Írafell another night. That evening, some boys who lived at Írafell and knew Móri and had often been in a fight with him came and stuck knives all around the bed so that the points stuck out everywhere. That night the boy slept soundly and the men were grateful that Móri had not dared to attack him because of the knives.
Once Magnus went to Seltjarnarnes when there was a lot of fishing there, but since he had no regular place on any of the boats, he sailed with them all and sat in different places every day. For two days, he got a seat at farmer Sigurður’s in Hrólfskáli. They all noticed that Magnus was never alone, and on the third morning and they set sail, they started whispering about seeing something looking like a russet wool or ball of hair coming with Magnus. Because they didn’t want to bring any bad luck with them to the sea, and asked him to leave the boat.
The Haunting of Björn Kortsson
It said Björn Kortsson had twice suffered grievous affliction like his other brothers. Once a man met Björn traveling north, and when they meant to ride past each other his horses shied, and it was the belief of men that they had seen the ghost and feared him, though the man himself did not see him.
On another occasion it was that the farm at Mýdal in Mosfellssveit stood open one winter evening in moonlight and fair weather. One of the household came from somewhere, and when he came into the doorway he saw a boy further inside the door whom he did not recognize, but thought to himself that this must be Írafells-Móri, from the description he had heard of him. The man now thought to corner Móri inside to handle him and shut the door. Then he let his hands sweep through the doorway and felt as though something came against him, but when he meant to seize it, it slipped away from him again so that he could not grasp it. But early the next morning Björn Kortsson came to Mýdal.
Björn was, like all that family, a good-natured and well respected man. It is said that he was popular with the ladies and at least three sought after him when he was a young man at Hjálmholt. He used to joke that it was Mori they were after, as everyone knew that he was followed.
As time went on though, Björn joked less and less as madness afflicted him in the later years of his life, and it wasn’t easy to live with him. It seems that a lot of the family members had this mental illness that often accompanies stories of ghosts haunting families. The illness was not seen as natural though, and was blamed on Móri.
The Haunting of Einar Kortsson
Einar Kortsson, who had been living in Tjarnarhús near Lambastaðir for a long time, once left home and was going up to Kjós to find his relatives there. It was early in the winter and when he arrived there it was getting dark. He continued on foot, and arrived after the vigil at Skrauthólar in Kjalarnes. Although Einar was not entirely unfamiliar with the place, he did not want to cause any trouble or wake people up when they were all just asleep. So he decided to look in the barn to see if he could find a place to stay for the night.
The next morning he excused himself to the townspeople who welcomed him. They did however think that the Mori had made way for their master, as the night before, a cow had broken its neck and was found dead in the same stall Einar went to sleep in. The Mori was also thought to be behind the death of Einar’s favorite horse. One morning late in Einar’s time, Gráni lay dead in the air so tightly in front of the farm door in Tjarnarhúsi that no one could get in or out of him until the door was taken off its hinges. This was thought to have been caused by Móri.
Móri played various other tricks on Einar while he followed him. One was that Einar sometimes became like a disfigured man in the face or like a leper, with eruptions of scabs and boils and scratches as if a cat had clawed him, but if he was asked how he had gotten them he would say nothing about it. At times these eruptions disappeared again, and this was counted among other strange things that are said to follow the Kort family and be attributed to Móri.
Men also often saw Móri riding around the houses at Einar’s, both the farmhouses and also a shed that he owned, and it was believed that Móri stayed often down by the sea, for many times the dogs there went mad and broke out in barking and noise around the shed, though no men nor animals were seen moving near it.
The Haunting of Kort Kortsson
Not many stories have gone about of hauntings before Kort Kortsson the elder, but men still believe they can fully say that Móri followed him so that harm came both to others and to himself. In the winter of 1833 it so happened that Þorsteinn, a farmer at Þúfukot in Kjós, rowed the winter fishing season at Kjalarnes and went home at Easter, as is the custom of many fishermen whose homes are not far away.
On that same day Kort Kortsson in Uppkot in Eyrarhverfi also went home, for he too was rowing that season at Kjalarnes. Since Kort was on foot he asked Þorsteinn to carry a few things for him. One of these was a sheepskin coat which Þorsteinn tied behind him. Þorsteinn then continued his way until the roads divided to Þúfukot and Uppkot. Þorsteinn meant to go straight home without stopping at Uppkot, but when he turned his horse onto the path that led home to Þúfukot it seemed to him, and he even thought he heard, that someone seized the sheepskin coat behind him, and in that same moment the horse fell down dead under him. This was blamed on Móri, that he had crushed or killed the horse because he had wanted Þorsteinn to return the sheepskin coat home to Kort.
Kort was like many of his siblings, half-crazed in mind, so that often care had to be taken that he did not do himself harm, which he often tried when he was in such a state. In one such fit he got hold of a knife and cut himself straight across the neck, but then someone came to him and the knife was taken from him. He was then brought to a doctor who healed him and sewed the wound, but since the stitching had been done badly, there was always something odd in Kort’s throat when he swallowed. People believe he died of this wound, which he was continually reopening when madness came over him.
The Haunting of Solveig Kortsdóttir
Solveig, daughter of Kort, married Magnús, a farmer at Hjallasandur on Kjalarnes, and they have lived there for most of their farming life. People say that Móri follows her, as with the other siblings.
Magnús and she had kept a maidservant named Sigríður. She was once in the kitchen in the evening doing some household work. Then the maid said to her mistress: “What is crawling there on my back?” and looked back over her shoulder at the same time. The housewife said that nothing was crawling on her. But in that same moment the maid fainted where she stood. Then the household came and carried her to her bed. Afterwards the fainting passed off, but then she was seized with terrible vomiting. And just about when the vomiting eased, there was a knocking at the farmhouse door. A farmhand heard it further inside the house and said: “Be off, whoever you are,” for he thought that it was the one who had attacked Sigríður the maid. Then they went to the door, and there was Solveig Kortsdóttir, asking for that same maid who had fainted, for she had some errand with her. People think this was the ghost of Solveig, Írafells-Móri, who pressed so hard upon Sigríður.
Kort’s Grandchildren and the Continuing Haunting of their Family
Magnús at Írafell had four children: two named Guðrún, Guðríður, and Guðmundur. Once, Guðrún fell ill, and Móri came to her where she lay in a single-room dwelling and knocked down all the sets of cups she owned from a shelf above the window in the same room where she lay, and they went, as one might well imagine, into a thousand pieces.
The other Guðrún married her father’s workman, named Ólafur, and they have long lived at Reykjakot in Mosfellssveit. She was often ill both in mind, as so many of the Kort family have been prone to, and also in body. She has also lost a number of children, and that may well be in part the cause of her ailments. It is said that Móri, especially after the death of Magnús, took up his lodging with the couple Ólafur and Guðrún and that he keeps to himself above a large floor-vat which is sunk halfway into the pantry floor. When Guðrún is ill so that others must take charge of the cooking, it is said that Móri sets a dog’s head upon himself and is ashamed to take his food from any other than Guðrún.
Magnús of Írafell’s son Guðmundur was haunted by Móri no less than his sister Guðríður. One winter, Ásgeir the farmer at Lambastaðir had sent his son Þorvaldur to Reynivellir for instruction under Reverend Ólafur Pálsson, now provost of Gullbringu- and Kjósar-sýsla. Þorvaldur went home shortly before Christmas to spend the holiday with his parents, and it had been arranged that he would be fetched afterwards if anyone happened to travel from Kjós.
One evening at Lambastaðir, Þorvaldur and his mother Sigríður were the only two sleeping in the house. It was late at night and the lights had been put out, when Sigríður suddenly felt unwell and asked her son to light them again. Þorvaldur did so, and when he was finished she asked him to fetch her some water to drink, and to take the light with him so he would not stumble anywhere, although Þorvaldur, though only twelve years old at the time, was not afraid of the dark and did not need it for that reason.
So he went for the water into the kitchen, leaving the lamp in the parlor and the parlor door open, so that the glow reached into the kitchen. He filled a glass and was about to go back when, as he turned around, he saw a strapping boy come out of the anteroom into the kitchen, though neither of the doors there had been closed the evening before. The boy stood in the glow of the lamp bareheaded, with a broad-brimmed hat in his hand, wearing a brownish coat, raising his eyebrows roguishly and grinning at Þorvaldur. They looked one another in the eyes for a short while, for Þorvaldur said he had not been afraid of him but studied him closely, and he still remembers how it seemed to him that the boy’s whole face was covered with hair. But when Þorvaldur took his eyes off him, he was overcome with dizziness so that the water spilled from the glass.
Then a sheepdog that had been lying in the parlor leapt up with a terrible barking, running through the kitchen and out into the home-field, and several other dogs joined in, keeping it up for a long time. The next day two men came down from Kjós to fetch Þorvaldur, and one of them was Guðmundur Magnússon, who was then living at Káraneskot. People then felt sure that it had been Írafells-Móri whom Þorvaldur had seen that night.
Einar Kortsson had four daughters; two of them are normal, one suffers from a limb-wasting disease, and the fourth is thought not to be quite right in the head. Her name is Guðrún, she is sixteen years old, and until now nothing had been found amiss with her. She often complains that “the wretch Móri” is teasing her, pinching her, or otherwise tormenting her. Recently she developed an ailment in her knee which lasted a long time, and she herself said that it had come about because Móri had shoved her so that she fell on a stone with her knee. And just as she blames Móri for all these mishaps of hers, so there is talk that he is also the cause of the girl’s want of understanding, since she is considered little more than a half-wit, and this is thought to be in keeping with various other assaults of Móri against members of the Kort family.
Descendants of Kort: The picture above shows Kristinn Magnússon, Guðrún Pétursdóttir, his wife, and Pétur Kristinsson, their son. // Source
Kristinn Magnússon (1827-1893) was the son of Solveig Kortsdóttir (1796-1865). Kristinn was a well-known shipowner and shipbuilder. Móri, never did anything horrific when they tjey reached this part of the descendants. He was more of a nuisance to the family according to Kristinn. He told people they had to feed him like they would any other adult and as his ancestors had done before him. He would spill his food and make a big mess as per usual. Kristinn spoke often of the boy, as he called him. He never seemed to bother him, but his presence was often with Kristinn and if we are to believe the legends, perhaps still are, although in a more faded presence in the family members branching out in Iceland like a tree.
Said to have been conjured up by a sorcerer or even the fairy folk themselves, Pennard Castles history is both mysterious and haunted by the sound of the howling witch left in the sandy ruins of the abandoned castle in Wales.
For a long time, Larnach Castle was New Zealand’s only castle, and for a long time, also one of the more haunted places in the country. Built by a rich banker to live with his family, his dream of a lasting dynasty ended when personal tragedies as well as failed political and business ventures started to turn the family against each other.
Crammed into the ancient towers and dark corner of St Donat’s Castle in the Vale of Glamorgan in Wales, the ghosts lingering within these walls are old and persistent.
After a common feud between two men, a ghost was created to torment the people on Hleiðrargarðs farm. Thus, the Hleiðrargarðs-Skotta and her legendary haunting started, some say it even escalated in her starting a plague, killing both cattle and men.
The current Britannia Adelphi Hotel is the third building here used as a hotel, and filled with ghosts according to rumours. From the dark basement to the haunted suites in the upper floors, this Liverpool hotel is often dubbed Britain’s most haunted one.
Hidden away in a bone for years, the ghost and Skotta of Ábær was sent on a mission to harass a farmer in northern Iceland. However, they lost control of her, and have since been haunting them all.
Said to be unhappy with the fate of the city he once led, the ghost of Duke Berchtold V of Zähringen is said to be haunting the old city in Bern, around the Nydegg Church where his monument is placed.
The little island Munkholmen outside of Trondheim in Norway has had many haunted rumors for a long time. From an old Viking execution place to a state prison, who is still lingering there in their afterlife?
After old friends clash after falling out, a curse is put upon the other. For generations, the Hítardals-Skotta is said to have haunted their family and village, sometimes even said to be behind their deaths.
Have you ever noticed the underground world of the old town in Bern? Now fancy cafes and shops, there are also tales of secret passageways, hideouts and ghosts beneath the cobbled stoned city.
Buried in the mounds of the Icelandic landscape, a murdered shepherd came back from the dead as a Draugr or perhaps a Haugbúi ghost to haunt the people living at Finnbogastaðir farm.
Around the terrifying statue of the Kindlifressenbrunnen devouring children, young ghosts are said to haunt like a misty night. Said to be the unwanted babies taken out of the city through the underground tunnels, they return to the scene of the crime.
Before a modern apartment complex was built in its place, the area around St Johann district used to belong to the crusader order of St. John. Tales of knights prancing in armor, the anguished screams of children cries coming from the wells as well as ghostly apparitions in the old Ritterhaus have haunted the place for ages.
Tucked within the twisting streets of old Basel, where ancient walls pressed close against the restless Rhine, and a ghost story around every corner. This is especially true for the St. Johanns district, a former working class neighborhood where people have lived since the Celts founded a settlement here that would become Basel city.
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Among other things to see is the historical St. Johanns-Tor, one of the three remaining entrances to the old medieval city and now the landmark of St. Johann Quarter. Among the quaint streets filled with shops and cafes, there are much older things said to haunt the streets still.
Old Basel: Map of Basel in the olden days. The location of the Johanniterkommende and Church on a map of the city of Basel from around 1650.
The Armored Rider at Johanniterkommende Basel
Before falling apart, the whole area used to belong to The Order of St. John, which was founded after the conquest of Jerusalem by the army of the First Crusade in 1099.
The Knights Hospitaller’s branch first documented in Basel in 1206, a so-called commandery. The order dedicated itself to the care and support of pilgrims, the sick, and the needy. The whole district is now named after this order. When it was founded, the walled complex, comprising the church, churchyard, and commandery, stood approximately 300 meters northwest of the walled old town of Basel on the Rhine.
Equally talked about was the specter of a knight in full armor, his visor down and sword raised high, who was said to ride through the courtyard at the dead of night, the hooves of his phantom steed leaving no mark on the stone.
This would be from The Commandery of the Knights of St. Johns that used to be where St. Johanns-Vorstadt 84 to 88 is now. Especially around the Ritterhaus right by the river was said to be haunted by the armed knights riding through the courtyard.
The Haunted Buildings: The Order of St. John’s settlement around 1640. The B is where the Knight’s House was that were demolished 1929.
Today the Ritterhaus, or Knight’s House is gone as it was demolished in 1929. A modern apartment building has been built in its place. Did the ghost go away with the building? We know little about the commandery as their archives were mostly gone by the 19th century.
The Child in the Sod Well
For centuries, passersby reported hearing the unmistakable sound of a child’s desperate, echoing scream rising from the depths of one of the old sod wells in the district, a type of covered well that used to be plentiful around the city. The source of the cry was never uncovered, though macabre rumors swirled and the legend of the crying child ghost persisted.
The well was said to have been close to the old Ritterhaus as well, although the exact location is unknown. There aren’t many of the old sod wells left in the city anymore however, and the question is, did the ghost of the crying child also disappear?
The Pale-Faced Man and the Lady in Black
Inside the shadowed rooms of the Ritterhaus, other apparitions made their mournful rounds as well as outside. A small white dog, eyes luminous in the dark, would scamper through the halls, vanishing through walls as though chasing after some long-departed master.
But it was the appearance of a man with a deathly, hollow face, his features waxen and drained of all life, that filled residents and visitors alike with a primal dread. He would appear without sound, his dead gaze locking onto the living, before melting away into nothingness.
More unsettling still was the lady in a black cloak, a theatrical figure said to glide soundlessly through the rooms, her face hidden in deep shadow.
Though the Commandery of St. John is long gone, its stones scattered and repurposed, the legends have clung stubbornly to the place like fog. Is it still something left haunting the place?
Said to have been conjured up by a sorcerer or even the fairy folk themselves, Pennard Castles history is both mysterious and haunted by the sound of the howling witch left in the sandy ruins of the abandoned castle in Wales.
For a long time, Larnach Castle was New Zealand’s only castle, and for a long time, also one of the more haunted places in the country. Built by a rich banker to live with his family, his dream of a lasting dynasty ended when personal tragedies as well as failed political and business ventures started to turn the family against each other.
Crammed into the ancient towers and dark corner of St Donat’s Castle in the Vale of Glamorgan in Wales, the ghosts lingering within these walls are old and persistent.
After a common feud between two men, a ghost was created to torment the people on Hleiðrargarðs farm. Thus, the Hleiðrargarðs-Skotta and her legendary haunting started, some say it even escalated in her starting a plague, killing both cattle and men.
The current Britannia Adelphi Hotel is the third building here used as a hotel, and filled with ghosts according to rumours. From the dark basement to the haunted suites in the upper floors, this Liverpool hotel is often dubbed Britain’s most haunted one.
Hidden away in a bone for years, the ghost and Skotta of Ábær was sent on a mission to harass a farmer in northern Iceland. However, they lost control of her, and have since been haunting them all.
Said to be unhappy with the fate of the city he once led, the ghost of Duke Berchtold V of Zähringen is said to be haunting the old city in Bern, around the Nydegg Church where his monument is placed.
The little island Munkholmen outside of Trondheim in Norway has had many haunted rumors for a long time. From an old Viking execution place to a state prison, who is still lingering there in their afterlife?
After old friends clash after falling out, a curse is put upon the other. For generations, the Hítardals-Skotta is said to have haunted their family and village, sometimes even said to be behind their deaths.
Have you ever noticed the underground world of the old town in Bern? Now fancy cafes and shops, there are also tales of secret passageways, hideouts and ghosts beneath the cobbled stoned city.
Buried in the mounds of the Icelandic landscape, a murdered shepherd came back from the dead as a Draugr or perhaps a Haugbúi ghost to haunt the people living at Finnbogastaðir farm.
Around the terrifying statue of the Kindlifressenbrunnen devouring children, young ghosts are said to haunt like a misty night. Said to be the unwanted babies taken out of the city through the underground tunnels, they return to the scene of the crime.
For a long time, there have been tales about the Dearg Due, the bloodthirsty vampire of Ireland. But how true is the story about the female vampire though, and has it really been told since ancient times?
Hidden for centuries in the shadowed fields of County Waterford is the chilling legend of the Dearg Due, a ghostly figure born of beauty betrayed and a thirst for vengeance that would refuse to die. But the more you peel away from the legend, the more questions you are left with.
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The name Dearg Due is said to mean red bloodsucker or the red thirst according to those who tell about the legend. The entity has been described as a female vampiric demon who seduces men before draining and sucking their blood. And together with The Legend of Ireland’s Vampire King Abhartach and the Haunted Giant’s Grave, it’s one of Ireland’s most well known vampire legends.
The Legend of the Blood Thirsty Dearg Due
Once upon a time, a young woman known for her beauty lived in Ireland. When and where is a bit hazy though. Some say this happened closer to two thousand years ago in pre-christian times. It is said it happened around the area of what is now Waterford City in South-East Ireland. The ancient Celtic name for Waterford was “Cuan na Graí” or “The Harbor of the Sun.” This is the oldest city in Ireland, founded by vikings in the 9th century.
The County Waterford is based on the historic Gaelic territory of the Déise settled in the 4th and 8th century. But who lived there before that as we can see by the many megalithic tombs and ogham stones in the county? Around two thousand years ago when the story is said to have happened?
Waterford, Ireland
She fell in love with a humble farm labourer and dreamed of a simple life by his side. But her father, greedy and cold, bartered her to a cruel chieftain in exchange for land and wealth and she had no say or choice in the matter.
At her wedding, she was dressed in red and gold and it was a huge feast. Her marriage, though, was a tragedy and her husband was both cruel and abusive. Some say that she was locked away in her chambers or a tower. Ensnared in misery, she starved herself in despair to escape her cruel fate. Slowly, she just wasted away.
She was buried near what has been known as Strongbow’s Tree in Waterford, and said to only be visited by her true love who prayed for her return to him. Her husband married a new woman at once, and her father didn’t think about her much in his newfound riches. and in death her grief mutated into something darker.
When the first anniversary of her burial arrived, she rose from the grave, no longer the gentle maiden, but a crimson spectre who returned to the house of her father and the bed of her husband, touching their lips and stealing breath from their bodies as though it were blood.
From that hour onwards she haunted the land, drifting through night mists, luring young men with her sorrow-soft beauty only to drain them utterly of life. The stories differ in how long she roamed the land. Some say ten months to a year. Some say she’s still there, lurking in the dark.
The only safeguard, locals say, was to place heavy stones upon her grave or leave salt at the threshold to keep her from clawing her way out every night to hunt down men for her vengeance. In some versions of the legend, they used her former lover as bait who helped wrap her in blessed twigs to make her rest in her grave designed for her to stay.
The History Behind the Legend
Now, a powerful story that has made its rounds claiming to be ancient roots. But how old is this story, really? Where is Strongbow’s tree, said to be the place she is buried beneath, supposedly in the ruins of an old churchyard.
Strongbow landed in Ireland on 23 August 1170 and attacked Waterford with a force of some two hundred knights and one thousand other troops. There were rumours that Strongbow’s body was secretly taken from Dublin and re-interred in 1177 to the place where he married the Irish princess Aoife. This is said to have been where the Christ Church Cathedral, Waterford was built, and a tree was planted in his memory.
Strongbow: This was actually a nickname to Richard de Clare (c. 1130[1] – 20 April 1176), the second Earl of Pembroke as well as his father’s nickname. He is known for the Normann invasion of Ireland and is said to have died there after an infection.
Now, this version would mean that the tree was planted long after the story was said to have happened. Another version though, links the two legends better. This claims that Strongbow and Aoife were married on August 25 on the shore of the River Suir beneath a great oak tree that came to be known as “Strongbow’s Oak.” It would make sense that ruins of an old churchyard existed here, but why would a pre-christian woman be buried there?
Now, which oak tree could Strongbow’s Oak be? An interesting point is the Reginald’s Tower in Waterford, built by the Norman invaders. It is said that this was the actual place where they got married. The site is sometimes called Dundory (an Irish word which means “fort of oak”), and hence the tower is occasionally called the Dundory Tower. It is also known as the Ring Tower. It begs the question. Was it a stone tower they ended up building over her grave?
The Haunted Tower: As an article in the Tipperary Free Press from the 9th of April 1851 says, ‘some of those wiseacres who congregate about the tower, verily believe that it must be the old Dane himself come to visit his old castellated mansion …’ Did the haunted vampire legends actually start and evolve here?
That is of course, that it actually was a woman the locals feared was a vampire and buried under stones. But did she ever exist? It is interesting that this so-called ancient legend is first found in writing in 1924 when Dudley Wright wrote in his book Vampires and Vampirism:
At Waterford, in Ireland, there is a little graveyard under a ruined church near Strongbow’s Tower. Legend has it that underneath the ground at this spot there lies a beautiful female vampire still ready to kill those she can lure thither by her beauty.
However, when Montague Summers mentioned this vampire in his book The Vampire in Europe from 1928, he also mentioned that this was a legend the locals had never heard about and he spelled her name, dearg-due. Fast forwarding to Anthony Master’s book, The Natural History of the Vampire, he writes:
In old Ireland there was a traditionally-motivated vampire named the Dearg-due, which means the red blood-sucker. The only way to keep the Dearg-due in its grave was to build a cairn of stones over the top. Another legend claims that there is a female vampire lurking near Waterford. The actual spot is under a ruined church near Strongbow’s tree, and it is to this sinister place that the vampire lures, by her fatal beauty, men with good red blood running in the veins.
The name had suddenly changed and spelled differently. The Strongbow’s Tower was changed into Strongbow’s Tree. But the written foundation for the legend started to be repeated more rapidly. For a full walkthrough of the legend, check out the blog dedicated to debunk theories about the Irish language and history.
So was the legend about the vampiric woman a made up story after the popularity from Dracula published in 1897 and the Irish connection to Bram Stoker? Or was it perhaps something older, something bloodthirsty only held back by a pile of stones?
Said to have been conjured up by a sorcerer or even the fairy folk themselves, Pennard Castles history is both mysterious and haunted by the sound of the howling witch left in the sandy ruins of the abandoned castle in Wales.
For a long time, Larnach Castle was New Zealand’s only castle, and for a long time, also one of the more haunted places in the country. Built by a rich banker to live with his family, his dream of a lasting dynasty ended when personal tragedies as well as failed political and business ventures started to turn the family against each other.
Crammed into the ancient towers and dark corner of St Donat’s Castle in the Vale of Glamorgan in Wales, the ghosts lingering within these walls are old and persistent.
After a common feud between two men, a ghost was created to torment the people on Hleiðrargarðs farm. Thus, the Hleiðrargarðs-Skotta and her legendary haunting started, some say it even escalated in her starting a plague, killing both cattle and men.
The current Britannia Adelphi Hotel is the third building here used as a hotel, and filled with ghosts according to rumours. From the dark basement to the haunted suites in the upper floors, this Liverpool hotel is often dubbed Britain’s most haunted one.
Hidden away in a bone for years, the ghost and Skotta of Ábær was sent on a mission to harass a farmer in northern Iceland. However, they lost control of her, and have since been haunting them all.
Said to be unhappy with the fate of the city he once led, the ghost of Duke Berchtold V of Zähringen is said to be haunting the old city in Bern, around the Nydegg Church where his monument is placed.
The little island Munkholmen outside of Trondheim in Norway has had many haunted rumors for a long time. From an old Viking execution place to a state prison, who is still lingering there in their afterlife?
After old friends clash after falling out, a curse is put upon the other. For generations, the Hítardals-Skotta is said to have haunted their family and village, sometimes even said to be behind their deaths.
Have you ever noticed the underground world of the old town in Bern? Now fancy cafes and shops, there are also tales of secret passageways, hideouts and ghosts beneath the cobbled stoned city.
Buried in the mounds of the Icelandic landscape, a murdered shepherd came back from the dead as a Draugr or perhaps a Haugbúi ghost to haunt the people living at Finnbogastaðir farm.
Around the terrifying statue of the Kindlifressenbrunnen devouring children, young ghosts are said to haunt like a misty night. Said to be the unwanted babies taken out of the city through the underground tunnels, they return to the scene of the crime.
A family cursed by a ghost called Sels-Móriwas said to be haunted for nine generations in 18th and 19th century Iceland. Targeting the women in the family, it is said that it was the ghost that drove them all mad.
What sticks out from Icelandic ghost stories, was that often, the ghost was not just a shadow or whisper, creaking in the walls or lurking in the corner of the eyes. The Icelandic ghosts were often like flesh and blood and dangerous. Not only could they hurt you, they could follow you and your family, plaguing them with misfortune, and like the ghost story of Sels-Móri or the ghost of Þorgarður, was behind madness that seemed to be passed down in the families.
Read More: Check out all ghost stories from Iceland
A ghost story spanning over generations as well as travelling over the entire country is the story of Móri of Sel, where the story was said to have started. The story features an Icelandic ghost called a fylgja from 19th century Iceland, that has roots back to the Viking age. And to understand the concept of this rather long family saga, it could be helpful to how the fylgja evolved and operated through time.
Fylgur/Fylgja: The Old Norse Ghost
There were many different types of ghosts in Norse mythology and that the vikings believed in. One of them was the Fylgjur or Fylgja ghost, or Attending Spirits that we can find traces back in Iceland since the 12th century. These were originally a ghost of a very physical substance that interacted with the real world as if they were a part of it still.
Read Also: Check out the Irish Fetch ghost, that has a huge resemblance to the norse Fylgja.
Fylgja attached themselves to people that they haunted. They could also attach themselves to buildings or even entire towns. Many stories also talk about it being a generational haunting where the ghost decides to haunt all of the descendants of the original person it cursed. Most often the female line of the family. Perhaps because of its origin as a female spirit.
Icelandic Ghosts and Ghouls: An illustration to the Icelandic legend of the Skeleton in Hólar Church (Beinagrindin í Hólakirkju). From Icelandic Legends : Collected by Jón Arnason, illustrated by Jules Worms.
In the Fylgjur stories from the middle ages, the spirits could be a beneficial one, almost like a messenger to help with the person’s path of life, some sort of totem animal or guiding spirit. But when the folklorist of Iceland started collecting old oral tales from farmers in the 17th century, the Fylgjur ghosts had drastically changed from its pagan old norse roots, throughout time, religious belief and superstition.
One thing that really changed was the Fylgjur’s purpose of haunting the living, and it was rarely to be of any help. Many stories talk about how they were wronged and it caused their death. They then came back to take revenge and were dangerous, even deadly.
Sels-Móri or Þorgarður
The story starts with a completely different family than the one that ended up being cursed. It starts with the life and death of the ghost itself. There once was a married couple that lived at a farm near the river Elliðá, not too far from Reykjavik.
The story was compiled by Jón Árnason from stories circulated in the southwest of Iceland). Valgerður Jónsdóttir (1771–1856) and Hólmfríður Þorvaldsdóttir (1812–1876) are also listed as sources. There are at least 18 people by name, and at least 15 are verified historical people.
The farm had a worker named Þorgarðurand it was rumored that the wife had an affair with him. The farmer often had to go out for trivial tasks while Þorgarður was back home alone with her and this got people talking.
One winter night there was a horrible storm when the farmer was out working and tending to his livestock. He didn’t come home the following night and a search party was put together. The next morning they went to look for him and found him dead in the river and it looked like a murder.
Elliðaá: The salmon river near Reykjavík from ca 1900 where the whole story about the Sels-Móri started.
Þorgarður was immediately suspected of this because of his reputation, and most believe that he actually did it. Even though he denied that he had killed his master, he was sentenced according to what the story says, either death by hanging or paying up with some fines and he should be allowed to redeem his life with a sheep fee. However, he didn’t have the money.
At that time there lived a man named Jón at Seli in Seltjarnarnes east of Reykjavik, known as a diplomatic statesman with a kind heart. Þorgarður went to Jón and begged him to save his life and get out of the sentence.
Jón was reluctant to do so at first, but Þorgarður vowed to serve him and his descendants as long as he had the strength and age. Jón, touched by the man’s plight, agreed to help and began to count the ransom on the table that Þorgarður needed to escape hanging.
When Jón counted the money, his wife Guðrún entered the living room and asked what he was doing with all the money. Jón said he was going to save the life of the man. She asked him not to do that foolish thing and swept up all the money in her apron with one hand.
Jón changed his mind and agreed with his wife. When she walked out of the room with the money in her apron she looked at Þorgard and said: “Let each one suffer for his actions.”
Þorgard answered: “There will be no parting with us here; therefore it is no more than for me to see that my farewell follows you and your family to the ninth point.”
Then Þorgarður went away and was captured by the authorities, either in Iceland or abroad. It is believed that he was hanged in Kópavogur and that after his death, he immediately went back and sought out the Selsjóns as a fylgja ghost.
The Hauntings for Nine Generations
As he had promised, he followed them wherever they went, especially the wife. Guðrúna was then both despondent and delirious and haunted for the rest of her life. Because this ghost was attached to Sel for a long time, he was called Sels-Móri.
A Móri is a male ghost in Iceland. When a male is raised from the dead for such a purpose like vengeance, he is not called a ghost, but a Móri. Often the term Fylgja ghost was used interchangeably with the Draug ghost. The female version of this vengeful ghost was called Skotta. Móri means rust brown in Icelandic and the ghosts were named so because of the color of their clothes.
The Selsjóns couple had one daughter named Þorgerður that would be the next victim of Sels-Móri’s haunting. She married Halldór Bjarnason, a prominent farmer in Skildinganes. As well as inheriting her parents’ estates, she also inherited Sels-Móri of her family they called ættarfylgja, meaning something like an ancestral ghost.
They had a son, Bjarni í Sviðholt, and it looks like the Sels-Móri skipped the male descendant of the family and he lived in peace. He was probably one of the members of the legal court whom the law speaker Magnús Ólafsson appointed later to the Alþing of Öxará, 1798.
He had many children and was known to be friendly and a good guy, thinking perhaps that they were free of the haunting. They still knew about the Sels-Móri, and he was in those days often called Sviðholt’s ghost, but very often he was still associated with the name Þorgarður. But the ghost returned to haunt the female descendants.
Bjarni’s second daughter, whose name was Úríður, married Benedikt Björnsson, a student from Hítardal, who has been a priest in Fagranes for a long time. She was the greatest clairvoyant, but such adversity came upon her that she became half-crazy and sometimes angry with everything and difficult to live with. Although the ghost of Sels-Móri was almost part of life in Icelandic folklore culture, her insanity was too much for her husband.
As a result, she divorced her husband and her sister Ragnheiður took her in who was married with a school teacher at Bessastaðir called Jón Jónsson. The teachers and families of Bessastaðaskóli often lived in or close to the school. Today this is residence of the President of Iceland and has always been important in the history of the nation and has always been the seat of chieftains and high officials.
Úríður died there after a time of unstable paranoia. She would claim that a viper was stinging her and that another woman called Ingibjörg was stabbing her with a cobbler’s needle. This was believed to refer to a woman who lived with her and her husband before they separated. This woman actually became his second wife after the divorce, so it begs to question what really happened before she was sent to her sister.
They all believed that their ancestral ghost Sels-Móri who was the one behind her insanity. Úriði is said to have said during her fits of insanity that she should have said: “My sister, it’s better to stab me,”
It looks like her sister, Ragnheiður, was mostly free of the haunting, although the Sels-Móri was blamed when he caused the destruction of a mail boat that was lost in 1817 because her first husband sailed with it. Sels-Móri was also the cause of the late Þórður Bjarnason’s death, in Sviðholt; it is still said that he had haunted the children of Ragnheiður, especially her son, Björn.
Ragnheiðar’s children, Especially Bjarna Rector
It should be mentioned here at the same time that Bjarni Halldórsson in Sviðholt had a sister named Jórunn who seems to have had almost a parallel haunting in addition to her ancestral one. She was very fair and beautiful and a man in Álftanes asked her to marry him. But she thought that he was beneath her and she rejected him. She would however never be rid of him.
He promised he would cling to her and her family, even if he was unable to get to her as a wife. She married one named Eyjólf, and had a baby girl. They hadn’t been together for long when it became apparent that Jórunn had mental issues, which only increased as time went by, and in the end, she went completely insane. This was believed to be because of the curse of the suitor she rejected as well as the curse their family already was struggling with.
Her daughter Þorgerðr grew up and married Eggert Bjarnason, who was at that time the priest at Snæfoksstaðir (Klausturhólum) in Grímsnes. She then went east with him and they had children together and it seemed to be fine. Perhaps they had escaped the curse by moving away?
Time passed until Jórunn, Þorgerðr’s mother, died. There was no evidence of that illness in Þorgerði during her mother’s lifetime, as she had never come south since she went east, and it is said that Reverend Eggert was warned not to let her go south and never come beyond Sog or Álfvattan and would not blame her then.
But when Jórunn á Skógtjörn died, it is said that Þorgerður begged her husband to go south with her to mourn her mother and he finally agreed. They had come south over Hellisheiði, south into Fóelluvötn above Helliskot when the curse hit her. According to the stories she was struck with a a dizzy spell and that she was never the same again. She had inherited Sels-Móri. They also believed that her mother’s ghost and fylgidraugur, had met her daughter there and followed her from then on as long as she lived
Breaking the Generational Curse and Haunting
She didn’t live very long however, and she died shortly after going south. The children of Reverends Eggerts and Þorgerður didn’t fare well with either, and two of their daughters were also said to have gone crazy, as so many of the women in their family line had done before them.
But Sels-Móri made a promise all those generations ago, and after the ninth generation, the curse was lifted and the family line, if there still is someone around, is said to be finally free from it.
Said to have been conjured up by a sorcerer or even the fairy folk themselves, Pennard Castles history is both mysterious and haunted by the sound of the howling witch left in the sandy ruins of the abandoned castle in Wales.
For a long time, Larnach Castle was New Zealand’s only castle, and for a long time, also one of the more haunted places in the country. Built by a rich banker to live with his family, his dream of a lasting dynasty ended when personal tragedies as well as failed political and business ventures started to turn the family against each other.
Crammed into the ancient towers and dark corner of St Donat’s Castle in the Vale of Glamorgan in Wales, the ghosts lingering within these walls are old and persistent.
After a common feud between two men, a ghost was created to torment the people on Hleiðrargarðs farm. Thus, the Hleiðrargarðs-Skotta and her legendary haunting started, some say it even escalated in her starting a plague, killing both cattle and men.
The current Britannia Adelphi Hotel is the third building here used as a hotel, and filled with ghosts according to rumours. From the dark basement to the haunted suites in the upper floors, this Liverpool hotel is often dubbed Britain’s most haunted one.
Hidden away in a bone for years, the ghost and Skotta of Ábær was sent on a mission to harass a farmer in northern Iceland. However, they lost control of her, and have since been haunting them all.
Said to be unhappy with the fate of the city he once led, the ghost of Duke Berchtold V of Zähringen is said to be haunting the old city in Bern, around the Nydegg Church where his monument is placed.
The little island Munkholmen outside of Trondheim in Norway has had many haunted rumors for a long time. From an old Viking execution place to a state prison, who is still lingering there in their afterlife?
After old friends clash after falling out, a curse is put upon the other. For generations, the Hítardals-Skotta is said to have haunted their family and village, sometimes even said to be behind their deaths.
Have you ever noticed the underground world of the old town in Bern? Now fancy cafes and shops, there are also tales of secret passageways, hideouts and ghosts beneath the cobbled stoned city.
Buried in the mounds of the Icelandic landscape, a murdered shepherd came back from the dead as a Draugr or perhaps a Haugbúi ghost to haunt the people living at Finnbogastaðir farm.
Around the terrifying statue of the Kindlifressenbrunnen devouring children, young ghosts are said to haunt like a misty night. Said to be the unwanted babies taken out of the city through the underground tunnels, they return to the scene of the crime.
Is there a dragon nesting in Mount Pilatus by Lake Lucerne in Switzerland? For centuries the mountain has brought fear and fantastical tales from the locals living at the foot of the raging mountain. It was even forbidden to visit, as they believed disturbing the spirits would cause storms and flooding.
Above the shimmering waters of Lake Lucerne, shrouded in thick clouds and an aura of ancient mystery, Mount Pilatus looms over the Swiss landscape like a sentinel from another world. Feared for bringing bad weather, stories about ghosts and mythological creatures are said to reside there.
Read more: Check out all haunted stories from Switzerland
While today it is a beloved destination for hikers, skiers, and tourists, this formidable massif has long been known by a darker name: Dragon Mountain. With jagged peaks, hidden caves, and a history that weaves folklore into the very rock, Pilatus has earned its reputation as a place where legend and reality blur.
Mount Pilatus: Known as Dragon Mountain, towers majestically above Lake Lucerne, shrouded in mystery and steeped in folklore. Thought to be haunted as well as the location of a dragon’s lair.
A Mountain of Monsters and Dragons
The legend of dragons dwelling on Mount Pilatus dates back centuries, with tales so vivid and widespread that they were chronicled in early medieval records. Locals believed the dragons were no mere beasts but intelligent and mystical creatures, protectors of ancient knowledge, and wielders of supernatural power. Their winged forms were said to disappear into the cliffs, their cries echoing down into the valleys during violent storms.
A particularly famous account comes from the summer of 1421. According to the chronicle, a great dragon was seen flying through the skies from Rigi to Pilatus before it plummeted down near the base of the mountain. A nearby farmer named Stempflin from Neuenkirch witnessed the crash and fainted from the shock.
European Dragon; A dragon in a landscape, which, according to the Italian inscription, lived in the swamps outside Rome on December 1, 1691. On the left a bridge over a river.
When he awoke, the dragon had vanished, leaving behind a scorched earth, a thick pool of blood — and something strange: a smooth, shimmering object soon named the Drachenstein (Dragon Stone). Locals attributed healing properties to this strange relic, and for many years it was kept in a Lucerne church as a miraculous artifact. The surgeon Martin Schriber acquired the object from a descendant of Stämpfli and in 1523 had its miraculous powers confirmed in a document by the mayor and council of the city of Lucerne.
Dragon Mountain: An illustration depicting a dragon soaring through the sky, embodying the mythical tales surrounding Mount Pilatus. Discovery of the Lucerne Dragon Stone by the farmer Stämpfli. One of four illustrations from: Description of the famous Lucerne or 4th Waldstaetten Lake by Johann Leopold Cysat. Chapter 25: Of Dragons and Lindtwürms and of the Dragon Stone found in the city of Lucerne.
It was for a long time well documented over the years. after Schriber’s death in 1527, it came into the possession of Dorothea Moser , and in 1564 of the town clerk Johannes Kraft , then of the mayor Ludwig Schürf , then into the possession of the Cloos family, from whom it went to the Fleckenstein family and finally to the Meier von Schauenstein family. In 1929, the Canton of Lucerne acquired the stone from the latter for 400 francs. Since then, it has been state property and was displayed in the Natural History Museum in Lucerne.
When the stone was loaned in 1954 to the Pharmacy History Museum in Basel, the documentation was lacking. After some deaths, it was forgotten about and considered lost in Lucerne for years until a curator in 1960 happened upon it in a museum in Basel.
By 1978, it was back when the Natural History Museum in Lucerne reopened. For a long time, people assumed the stone was a meteorite. However, in 2006, they did some tests on it, showing it was burnt clay, although the origin and the cause of the stone and dragon legend remains a mystery.
Dragon on Pilatus: Illustrations from the 1661 book: Description of the famous Lucerne or 4. Waldstaetten Lake by Johann Leopold Cysat. Chapter 25: Of dragons and lindworms and of the dragon stone found in the city of Lucerne.
The Dragon in the Reuss River
The story about the farmer and the healing dragon stone is not the only dragon sighting from the 1400s. In 1499, a dragon was reportedly washed ashore in the Reuss River running through Luzern, at the foot of the Mount Pilatus mountain.
River Reuss: The iconic wooden Chapel Bridge at night, reflecting over Lake Lucerne, near the legendary Mount Pilatus.
Still to this day, reports about seeing something swim under the Reuss bridge, whether be a dragon sighting or something similar to the Loch Ness monster is still happening.
A Portal Between Worlds
Other tales claim that a secret cave system beneath the peak known as the Flue served as a nesting ground for the dragons, and that travelers who dared venture too close would be cursed or spirited away. In one version from a 1619 chronicle, a man witnessed dragons gliding between the great rock formations of Pilatus and vanishing into the very walls of the mountain. These were no mindless beasts but powerful guardians, perhaps even shape-shifters, tied to the elements.
There are also stories about people falling off the snowy mountain in the winter, but awaking warm inside of the dragon’s cave, with the dragon nursing them back until spring. This story about nice dragons nursing someone through winter, This story happened the same year as the Dragon Stone appeared, and that the young man was fed on moon milk from the cave walls and flown back to Lucerne by the two dragons living there after the winter was over.
The Ghost of Pontius Pilate
Because of these dark and unexplainable occurrences, the mountain was also considered cursed. In the Middle Ages, the city council of Lucerne forbade anyone from climbing Pilatus for fear of awakening the spirits and demons said to be imprisoned within. All farmers had to swear by God that they would never visit the lake either. In 1387, six priests were jailed for it. In 1564, two men made it to the lake without meeting a spirit, so they threw stones in the lake instead. This was said to cause a thunderstorm and they too were put in jail.
Before being called Mt Piilatus, it was called Fractus Mons or Fräkmünt until 1460. The ghost of Pontius Pilate, from whom the mountain may derive its name, was also rumored to be buried in the now dried up Pilatus lake closeby, his soul haunting the region in eternal unrest.
Pontius Pilatus: He was the fifth governor of the Roman province of Judaea, serving under Emperor Tiberius from 26/27 to 36/37 AD and most known for being the official who presided over the trial of Jesus and ordered his crucifixion. He was ordered to Rome by the Syrian legate to face Emperor Tiberius, but Tiberius died before Pilate arrived, and his fate thereafter remains unknown. The only sure outcome of Pilate’s return to Rome is that he was not reinstated as governor of Judaea, either because the hearing went badly, or because Pilate did not wish to return. Some say he retired, some say he committed suicide. // Image: Mihály Munkácsy: Christ before Pilate.
In the text Mors Pilati (perhaps originally 6th century, but recorded c. 1300 AD), Pilate was said to have been forced to commit suicide and his body thrown in the Tiber. However, the body is surrounded by demons and storms, so that it is removed from the Tiber and instead cast into the Rhone, where the same thing happens. Finally, the corpse is taken to Lausanne in modern Switzerland and buried in an isolated lake (perhaps Lake Lucerne), where demonic visitations continue to occur. according to another, Pilate took refuge in a mountain (now called Mount Pilatus) in modern Switzerland, before eventually committing suicide in a lake on its summit.
A remorseful Pilate prepares to kill himself. Engraving by G. Mochetti after B. Pinelli.
It was said that if he was disturbed, storms and bad weather would break loose from the mountain. The ghostly figure that is said to have appeared with gray hair and dressed in purple annually on Good Friday by the lake.
In 1585, the priest Johann Muller got together with the authorities to prove this was all superstition. He brought them out to the lake and threw rocks at the water, and no bad weather came. They were still not completely convinced and decided to drain the lake forever in 1594 when they abolished the no visitation policy, just to be sure.
How true is it that Pilatus died here though? There are several mountains claiming the same actually. Some say that the name was actually from the word Pila, meaning pilgrim.
Myth Meets Modernity
The many dragon stories are told in the canton of Luzern and many of them believe that dragon still roars in the sky. Athanasius Kircher relates: “When I was looking at the bright sky at night in 1649, I saw a shining dragon flying past from a hole in a very large rock cliff on Mount Pilatus. Its wings were moving rapidly, and as it flew it threw off sparks like glowing iron when it is being forged.
Though scientific understanding has long since overtaken belief in dragons, the legend of Mount Pilatus remains one of the most enduring pieces of Swiss folklore. Even today, Pilatus is affectionately referred to as Drachenberg — Dragon Mountain — and symbols of dragons can be found carved into signs, trail markers, and souvenir shops throughout the region.
Lake Lucerne: Mount Pilatus towers majestically over Lake Lucerne, embodying Swiss folklore with its snow-capped peaks and mysterious aura.
The Dragon Stone itself reportedly vanished during one of Lucerne’s many church restorations, though some say it was hidden away to protect its powers. Others believe the dragons are simply dormant, waiting beneath the rock for the right time to rise again.
Visitors hiking the slopes on misty days often report strange gusts of wind, echoing screeches, or fleeting shadows soaring across the mountain face. Whether these are tricks of the imagination or something far older and more powerful, one thing remains certain: Mount Pilatus will never stop watching — or hiding its secrets.
Said to have been conjured up by a sorcerer or even the fairy folk themselves, Pennard Castles history is both mysterious and haunted by the sound of the howling witch left in the sandy ruins of the abandoned castle in Wales.
For a long time, Larnach Castle was New Zealand’s only castle, and for a long time, also one of the more haunted places in the country. Built by a rich banker to live with his family, his dream of a lasting dynasty ended when personal tragedies as well as failed political and business ventures started to turn the family against each other.
Crammed into the ancient towers and dark corner of St Donat’s Castle in the Vale of Glamorgan in Wales, the ghosts lingering within these walls are old and persistent.
After a common feud between two men, a ghost was created to torment the people on Hleiðrargarðs farm. Thus, the Hleiðrargarðs-Skotta and her legendary haunting started, some say it even escalated in her starting a plague, killing both cattle and men.
The current Britannia Adelphi Hotel is the third building here used as a hotel, and filled with ghosts according to rumours. From the dark basement to the haunted suites in the upper floors, this Liverpool hotel is often dubbed Britain’s most haunted one.
Hidden away in a bone for years, the ghost and Skotta of Ábær was sent on a mission to harass a farmer in northern Iceland. However, they lost control of her, and have since been haunting them all.
Said to be unhappy with the fate of the city he once led, the ghost of Duke Berchtold V of Zähringen is said to be haunting the old city in Bern, around the Nydegg Church where his monument is placed.
The little island Munkholmen outside of Trondheim in Norway has had many haunted rumors for a long time. From an old Viking execution place to a state prison, who is still lingering there in their afterlife?
After old friends clash after falling out, a curse is put upon the other. For generations, the Hítardals-Skotta is said to have haunted their family and village, sometimes even said to be behind their deaths.
Have you ever noticed the underground world of the old town in Bern? Now fancy cafes and shops, there are also tales of secret passageways, hideouts and ghosts beneath the cobbled stoned city.
Buried in the mounds of the Icelandic landscape, a murdered shepherd came back from the dead as a Draugr or perhaps a Haugbúi ghost to haunt the people living at Finnbogastaðir farm.
Around the terrifying statue of the Kindlifressenbrunnen devouring children, young ghosts are said to haunt like a misty night. Said to be the unwanted babies taken out of the city through the underground tunnels, they return to the scene of the crime.
The old stairs around the old town in Bern are most definitely haunted. Ascending from the Cathedral on Münsterplattform towards the Aare River, ghosts of the past are said to be the ones behind the creaks on the stairs.
The Mattentreppe may appear as a simple stone stairway leading from the dignified heights of Bern’s center to the working-class roots of the Matte district, known in centuries past for its bathhouses, its brothels, and even a visit from Casanova himself. This steep flight of steps, carved into the hillside and shadowed by the cathedral’s towering silhouette, is more than a picturesque shortcut. It is one of the city’s most haunted places, a corridor of shame, sorrow, and long-held secrets.
Read More: Check out all ghost stories from Switzerland
As the bells of the Bern Minster chime twelve on New Year’s Eve, and fireworks erupt over the Aare, there are those who claim they see more than celebration unfolding in the ancient quarter. Ghosts rise with the fog. Footsteps echo with no source.
The Nobleman and the Cripple haunting the Mattetreppe
The Mattentreppe is not only said to have been haunted by the ghosts appearing on New Years. It is also said to be haunted by the ghost of a nobleman from the olden times. He fell in love, or at least had an affair with a maid. When she became pregnant with his child, scandal loomed. The nobleman, unable to bear the disgrace and unwilling to face the consequences of his actions, hurled himself down the Mattentreppe in despair.
To this day, people have reported seeing the pale figure of a well-dressed man, pacing or rushing down the stairs, as if in torment. His cloak flutters even on windless nights.
In earlier years, a terribly crippled man was often seen on the matted steps where they had a landing. Hunched and crippled, he was sitting with two heavy baskets balancing impossibly from each finger. Passersby, moved by his suffering, would offer help. But whenever someone reached for a basket, the man would vanish in a puff of smoke, leaving only a mocking “Hahahaha!” echoing off the stone walls.
New Years Haunting of the Stairs
The eeriest of all tales tied to the Mattentreppe comes with the tolling of the New Year’s bell. When the bells in the cathedral begin to ring at the turn of the year, a poor soul rises from her grave: a young woman in a long, flowing gown, her face shaded beneath a wide-brimmed hat tied neatly with ribbons.
During the 20th century, the terrace by the Cathedral was changed from a graveyard to an open plaza by the Münsterplattform. We don’t know when she was buried as the location was built as a churchyard in 1334 and 1919 as this is when the ghost story was first published in print.
She ascends the stairs going from the cathedral down towards the river. She is aiming at one of the houses in the Schifflaube street between the cathedral and the Aare Riverbanks, where she lived and is now haunting. The Schifflaube/Schiffländte was a place for reloading the boats that were going up and down the river. It’s an old street with old buildings, although which number or if it’s still there is uncertain.
On the attic floor, she stands thoughtfully in the same spot, always silent. And when the last toll of the bell has faded away, she departs again, as silently as she came. She carefully closes the doors behind her. Without looking back, she walks past the houses, up the path toward the gardens, only to suddenly vanish like a mist.
In the place she keeps returning to, she once murdered her child, secretly, without anyone ever finding out.
Said to have been conjured up by a sorcerer or even the fairy folk themselves, Pennard Castles history is both mysterious and haunted by the sound of the howling witch left in the sandy ruins of the abandoned castle in Wales.
For a long time, Larnach Castle was New Zealand’s only castle, and for a long time, also one of the more haunted places in the country. Built by a rich banker to live with his family, his dream of a lasting dynasty ended when personal tragedies as well as failed political and business ventures started to turn the family against each other.
Crammed into the ancient towers and dark corner of St Donat’s Castle in the Vale of Glamorgan in Wales, the ghosts lingering within these walls are old and persistent.
After a common feud between two men, a ghost was created to torment the people on Hleiðrargarðs farm. Thus, the Hleiðrargarðs-Skotta and her legendary haunting started, some say it even escalated in her starting a plague, killing both cattle and men.
The current Britannia Adelphi Hotel is the third building here used as a hotel, and filled with ghosts according to rumours. From the dark basement to the haunted suites in the upper floors, this Liverpool hotel is often dubbed Britain’s most haunted one.
Hidden away in a bone for years, the ghost and Skotta of Ábær was sent on a mission to harass a farmer in northern Iceland. However, they lost control of her, and have since been haunting them all.
Said to be unhappy with the fate of the city he once led, the ghost of Duke Berchtold V of Zähringen is said to be haunting the old city in Bern, around the Nydegg Church where his monument is placed.
The little island Munkholmen outside of Trondheim in Norway has had many haunted rumors for a long time. From an old Viking execution place to a state prison, who is still lingering there in their afterlife?
After old friends clash after falling out, a curse is put upon the other. For generations, the Hítardals-Skotta is said to have haunted their family and village, sometimes even said to be behind their deaths.
Have you ever noticed the underground world of the old town in Bern? Now fancy cafes and shops, there are also tales of secret passageways, hideouts and ghosts beneath the cobbled stoned city.
Buried in the mounds of the Icelandic landscape, a murdered shepherd came back from the dead as a Draugr or perhaps a Haugbúi ghost to haunt the people living at Finnbogastaðir farm.
Around the terrifying statue of the Kindlifressenbrunnen devouring children, young ghosts are said to haunt like a misty night. Said to be the unwanted babies taken out of the city through the underground tunnels, they return to the scene of the crime.
An online magazine about the paranormal, haunted and macabre. We collect the ghost stories from all around the world as well as review horror and gothic media.
Said to have been conjured up by a sorcerer or even the fairy folk themselves, Pennard Castles history is both mysterious and haunted by the sound of the howling witch left in the sandy ruins of the abandoned castle in Wales.
For a long time, Larnach Castle was New Zealand’s only castle, and for a long time, also one of the more haunted places in the country. Built by a rich banker to live with his family, his dream of a lasting dynasty ended when personal tragedies as well as failed political and business ventures started to turn the family against each other.
Crammed into the ancient towers and dark corner of St Donat’s Castle in the Vale of Glamorgan in Wales, the ghosts lingering within these walls are old and persistent.
After a common feud between two men, a ghost was created to torment the people on Hleiðrargarðs farm. Thus, the Hleiðrargarðs-Skotta and her legendary haunting started, some say it even escalated in her starting a plague, killing both cattle and men.
The current Britannia Adelphi Hotel is the third building here used as a hotel, and filled with ghosts according to rumours. From the dark basement to the haunted suites in the upper floors, this Liverpool hotel is often dubbed Britain’s most haunted one.
Hidden away in a bone for years, the ghost and Skotta of Ábær was sent on a mission to harass a farmer in northern Iceland. However, they lost control of her, and have since been haunting them all.
Said to be unhappy with the fate of the city he once led, the ghost of Duke Berchtold V of Zähringen is said to be haunting the old city in Bern, around the Nydegg Church where his monument is placed.
The little island Munkholmen outside of Trondheim in Norway has had many haunted rumors for a long time. From an old Viking execution place to a state prison, who is still lingering there in their afterlife?
After old friends clash after falling out, a curse is put upon the other. For generations, the Hítardals-Skotta is said to have haunted their family and village, sometimes even said to be behind their deaths.
Have you ever noticed the underground world of the old town in Bern? Now fancy cafes and shops, there are also tales of secret passageways, hideouts and ghosts beneath the cobbled stoned city.
Around the terrifying statue of the Kindlifressenbrunnen devouring children, young ghosts are said to haunt like a misty night. Said to be the unwanted babies taken out of the city through the underground tunnels, they return to the scene of the crime.
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![[Irish colleen], [between ca. 1890](https://i0.wp.com/moonmausoleum.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/11/cHJpdmF0ZS9sci9pbWFnZXMvd2Vic2l0ZS8yMDIyLTA5L2xyL2xvYzIwMDI3MTczMTgtaW1hZ2UuanBn.webp?resize=774%2C576&ssl=1)
