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Hættú, hættú! ok lát eigi ofarr koma þessa fólsku!
I initally found this quote in An Icelandic-English Dictionary. Richard Cleasby and Gudbrand Vigfusson, Oxford, 1874, while searching for words related to restrain, bind or stop.
The phrase is recorded in Biskupa Sögur: gefnar út af hinu Íslenzka Bokmentafèlagi. I - Page 810. Jón Sigurðsson, Guðbrandur Vigfússon · 1858.
Also see: The life of Laurence, Bishop of Hólar in Iceland (Laurentius saga) Translated from the Icelandic by Oliver Elton p. 33.
The Biskupa sögur (Bishop sagas) are a group of medieval Icelandic sagas originally written in manuscripts mostly from the 13th and 14th centuries. As narratives, they record the lives of the early bishops of Iceland from the 11th century onward.
The context of the quoted curse is an argument between two men: Brother Björn, a preacher and Laurentius, the protagonist of the saga (later to become a bishop). The pair were sent by the archbishop in Niðaros, Norway, to Iceland.
In Iceland there is going to be a gathering to celebrate the day of the holy Þorlákr, Icelandic bishop and saint. Laurentius requests Brother Björn keep this in mind for his sermon, but Brother Björn lashes out that it is very arrogant of the Icelanders to unilaterally declare one of their own bishops a saint unrecognized and even unknown by the archbishop in Niðaros, and he forbids any inculsion.
This is when Laurentius utters his powerful words and warns Brother Björn he is going to suffer consequences. Sure enough, Brother Björn later falls ill, but when he repents and goes along with the programme, he gets better.
Most of the spells, curses and utterances on this website are drawn from Old Icelandic sources presented as heathen in origin. All of the written sources we have were written by Christian clerics and scribes, so their memory and filters must be taken into account when we read how they document stories, events having taken place decades or centuries earlier. The same holds true for the saga writer and mythographer Snorri Sturluson and his accounts of pre-Christian Old Norse mythology. However in this case, I appropriate a quote from a Christian narrative loaded with supernatural implications.
All of the recited phrases and stanzas acted out on this website are taken out of context and repurposed for contemporary messaging. It is interesting to know the original context, but the spells have been chosen for content and the power of the spoken ancient language.The repurpose here could not be clearer: The intent of the recital is to halt the non-sensical actions destroying our institutions and democracy.
-- Úlfr Ólason
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