True story:
Since the mid-1800s my Icelandic friend’s family has owned Fjaðrárgljúfur (see link for photos), rich farm land and a canyon in southern Iceland (right at the very bottom center of this community’s image, in fact.) Part of Thor II was filmed there. I joked that I hoped his ancestors fought a Norse God for the land, and instead he told me this story about how they actually got it. I retell it with permission.
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“There is a dark family secret that was kept so well hidden for so long that it was actually forgotten. My great-grandfather was probably the last one to know all the details. But we know the aftermath involved a ghost. The ghost of my great-great-(great?)-aunt, to be more specific.
“The land was originally owned by a large family that was wiped out in The Mist Hardships in the 1700s. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/M%C3%B3%C3%B0uhar%C3%B0indin) 80% of Iceland’s livestock and about a fifth of its people died in the Mist Hardships, and this farmer and his family was included. After which there were many claims to it, until in the mid-1800s a rich and important man fell in love with it and bought it.
“He intended to retire there in his old age, but since his important rich guy things kept him away until then, he leased it out to a farmer. My great-great-great-aunt went to work at the new farm as a housekeeper. And then some horrible things happened. We don’t know what, but the farmer was kicked out before he drunk himself to death, and the rich guy lost his appetite for the land.
“My great-great-great-aunt did not want to leave, though. At all. She just wanted to sit and look at the view. All day, always. So my young great-great-grandfather bought the land and took over. He became a rich and important man off the land.
“My great-great-great-aunt lived there until her old age. Always sad. Always looking at the view. Her ghost then kept up the practice.
“My family had a long standing feud with one of our neighbors. After my grandfather died, we realized nobody knew exactly why. Tight lipped men, the men in our our family.”
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I thought you’d find this interesting.
– Kevin