This episode is part of my Folklore Friday series where I am sharing a folklore story every Friday in 2024.
Who Was Sæmundur the Learned?
Back in the 1100s, Sæmundur Sigfusson was the pastor at the well known ancient manor of Oddi in South Iceland. What was different about Sæmundur is that he had an interesting past with the Devil. It is said that Sæmundur was considered to be wise and he honed his wisdom in many ways over the years. He supposedly attended the Sorbonne in Paris, which has been referred to as the “Black School” in Icelandic because it had a reputation of teaching “black” or dark arts.
In this folklore story I am sharing a series of encounters that Sæmundur had with the Devil. At the Black School that Sæmundur attended, the Devil himself was the headmaster. One strange custom after the students graduated was that the Devil would keep the last student to leave.
To the relief of the other students, Sæmundur volunteered to be the last one to leave. That day Sæmundur was wearing a big coat. When he was walking out the door, the Devil grabbed him and said “You are mine”. However, Sæmundur slipped out of the big coat that the Devil was holding and was able to escape.
How Sæmundur Continued to Outsmart the Devil
After leaving the school, Sæmundur became even more adept at outsmarting the Devil. He even went as far as to get the Devil to do various tasks for him. In fact, Sæmundur was able to get the pastorship for Oddi because he tricked the Devil into helping him.
When Sæmundur heard that the position was available he was abroad. He knew that many others were applying for the job so he had to get there as quickly as he could. After thinking about what he could do, Sæmundur called upon the Devil and told him that if the Devil could swim him to Iceland without wetting my gown, I will be at your mercy.
The Devil took Sæmundur at his word and turned into a seal to take him over to Iceland. Most of the way, Sæmundur was reading the book of Psalms. As they approached the shore of Iceland, Sæmundur hit the seal on the head, which caused it to sink under water. He got wet and then swam the rest of the way to shore. Because he got wet, the deal was off and Sæmundur could go on to become the pastor of Oddi.
There are many more stories about Sæmundur and this is just a taste of his interactions with the Devil
Random Fact of the Episode
Sæmundur supposedly wrote the history of Norwegian kings in Latin but it is said to be lost. The one way that we seem to know that Sæmundur wrote things is because he has been referenced by Snorri Sturluson.
Icelandic Word of the Episode
Sæmundur fróði – Sæmundur the learned
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