Let me tell you about the Museum of Icelandic Sorcery & Witchcraft. No, this isn’t the latest episode of Game of Thrones (even though some of the show is filmed there as well as Northern Ireland, Malta, Croatia, Morocco and the freakin’ moon) when the Red Witch Lady gives birth to a magical smoke demon baby. Located in Hólmavík, about 155 miles (250 km) north of Reykjavík, Dungeons and Dragons fans who visit the museum can find out about the violently inventive sorcery of medieval Iceland. The place has been open since 2000 and has been growing in popularity ever since. Some of the info on display includes the Icelandic witch hunt of the 17th century, various magical objects, and the history of sorcery and enchantments.
For example, raven brains were mixed with human blood to create a potion that supposedly made more than just Harry Potter invisible. If anyone desired money and power all they had to do was catch some random sea creature with a net woven from virgins’ hair. Sounds like the world’s easiest magical spell, right? WRONG! Because this next one’s better. If the virgin sea monster thingie doesn’t work, the other option was wear necropants, which was made by skinning a dead man from the waist down. EASY! Also, if you’re lucky, you can go on a ghost hunt on special ghost days. AND interesting to note that unlike the rest of Europe (and this scene from Monty Python and the Holy Grail) women were not considered to be witches in Iceland, it was usually just men who were accused of the practice and burned at the stake.
