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Tables moved and plates broke

Kálfshamarsvík Lighthouse. Saurar farm is on the other side (north) of the lighthouse. Mariejirousek

Gracing the artic circle just north of Kálfshamarsvík lighthouse is a small farm called Saurar. Overlooking the Nordic Sea, only a short stretch of water separates it from southeastern Greenland.

Map of the ocean between Greenland, Iceland and Norway. The yellow dot shows the location of Saurar. Paul Homewood

It’s the tail end of winter in 1964 and the hybrid turf house still stands, notwithstanding its questionable foundation and poor structural condition. The roof is topped with large stone slabs to protect the turf from flying off in bad weather.

Saurar farm. Standing in the door is farm-owner Guðmundur Einarsson and next to him is his son, Björgvin. Þórður

The farm is the home of an elderly couple and two of their grown children. Once inside, the hallway leads straight into the kitchen which is the gateway to the other two rooms in the house. At the very end is the baðstofa where the elderly couple sleeps in separate beds. In between them is a window and an oval table that measures about 1.10-1.20 meters long and weighs about 20 kilos. The floor in the baðstofa vibrates a little while the electrical generator is running, but not enough to be of any significance in what’s about to come.

A quick map of the house drawn by a reporter from memory. Among the items that kept mysteriously moving was the oval table by the window in baðstofa, the beds by the wall, the sofa-bed in the kitchen, the kitchen table and the cupboard in the kitchen that stands on the floor. Ragnar Lárusson

Abnormal activity

Tuesday evening, March 17th, 1964, the Saurar farm family went to bed as normal and clueless about the events to come. They hadn’t been asleep long when at 01:40 a.m. farmer Guðmundur and his family woke up to a loud screech. It only lasted a few seconds and then all was quiet. Curious and a little uneasy about what the noise could have been, they wanted to investigate. They didn’t have to wait long. As they were getting out of bed, they noticed the oval table by the window had been pushed about 6 feet out onto the floor.

The oval table between the beds in the baðstofa. If you look closely, you can see the table top has become damage from all the movements that began on March18th.

Their first thought was that there had been an earthquake, but as they looked around, they noticed that this couldn’t be, because there were no signs of displacement of other objects in the room. Neither had there been any shaking of beds, nor the floor or the walls. What could possible make the table move and nothing else?

The Saurar couple with four of their children. From left: Guðmundur Einarsson, Björgvin, Sigurborg, Margrét Benediktsdóttir, Arnfríður and Benedikt. Þórður

The family went back to bed and the night went on uneventful and when morning came, they all went on with their day as usual. The moving table was still a conundrum, but nothing to be concerned about.

The men were outside working while mother and daughter were left doing chores around the house. It was almost noon and much of the dirty dishes were sitting on the kitchen table waiting to be cleaned. Margrét and her daughter Sigurborg had to walk outside for unknown reason. They had barely stepped out the door when they heard a loud noise from inside the house. This wasn’t the same sounds as they experienced that night, but it was just as alarming.

The women rushed back inside to see what had happened. The kitchen table that was usually up against the window was in the middle of the floor and all the dirty dishes had shattered into pieces on the floor.

Dishes broke on a few occasions. Here are some of the plates a reporter was able to get a photo of that had been carried out. MBL

Margrét and Sigurborg didn’t know what to think, there had to be a logical explanation. They had experienced earthquakes numerous times and knew this was something different. Nonetheless, they were certain there was some logic behind this all.

The following day, Thursday, March 19th, Margrét was out milking the cows. When she was done, she carried the bucket full of milk into the kitchen and sat it on the table. She had barely turned her head when the bucket started moving and before she had the chance to react, the bucket was on the floor and the milk spilled everywhere.

Margrét looking exhausted and confused is being interviewed by the reporter Stefán Jónsson with the newspaper Alþýðublaðið. Grétar Oddsson

The random tumultuous nuisances for becoming a part of their every day life. The didn’t feel scared, just very annoyed and the not knowing gave them an uneasy feeling. As time went on, they noticed that the mysterious movements seemed to be stronger in the presence of the women.

The elderly couple sat at their kitchen table enjoying a peaceful moment with their coffee. Guðmundur turned his back for a moment and suddenly the table started moving. Margrét was getting used to the ruckus and reacted by throwing herself on to the table to keep it from moving. No matter how she tried, the table had a life of its own and in a quick motion, it moved to the middle of the floor. Margrét noticed to milk jug was wobbling and grabbed it just as it was about to tip over.

Saurar farm. The front door is on the other side of the house. MBL

On the western wall in the baðstofa several framed pictures and photographs had been thrown off the wall and on to the floor, breaking some of the frames. The couple was forced to put the pictures and photos away in the dresser drawer.

Margrét looking for something in her dresser.

It didn’t appear the nuisance had any plans on stopping. On March 20th at 2:30 p.m. Sigurborg was working in the kitchen. Suddenly the large cupboard up against the north wall in the kitchen started moving and was about to tip over. Sigurborg watched as the radio sitting on top of the cupboard neared the edge and quickly reached out to catch it.

Although relieved to have saved the radio, she was not as lucky when it came to the cupboard itself. It was much heavier and with a mind of its own, it fell face down onto the floor. This was one of many times the cupboard fell to the floor. The day after, Margrét and her son Björgvin were sitting in the next room and heard the noise when the cupboard fell. They rushed into the kitchen and saw it laying face down on the floor.

The cupboard in the kitchen. DV

The elderly couple didn’t know how to prevent the movements or how to prevent them from destroying their belongings. One thing they had noticed was that it seemed to only happen to items up against the wall. They fettered the cupboard to the partitioning, tied the kitchen table, pulled the oval table out on to the floor and put a chair between it and the window.

Whatever force was at play would have nothing of it. The cupboard broke, the kitchen table top broke in two and stacked on top of each other. In the baðstofa, the now completely broken chair had been tipped over and moved to the other side of the table.

A reporter took a photo of the broken chair. Grétar Oddsson

The ghost seekers

The word had already spread across the country drawing reporters and anyone with a curiosity to the small farm. All the visits and mystical movements was becoming too much for the distraught family. Their house was always cramped with visitors and Margrét made coffee for them all. Regardless of how annoying all the attention was, it didn’t come close to the nuisance of the constant phone calls at all hours. The family had barely slept in days.

Sigurlaug Guðmundsdóttir, the daughter who lives on the farm. Grétar Oddsson

The phone calls from newspapers were constant, the questions about where and when and how and what were so many that Margrét refused to answer or talk on the phone. In the end they cancelled their phoneline.

An example of questions were as such: Is your mother there? Ask her if anything moved. Where were you when the movement began? When did the movements start? What moved first? Where was the location? How big was the table that moved? Is it a heavy table? In the newspaper, it said it was quite heavy and difficult to move? Where in the house do you sleep? Is it open between rooms? Where does your brother sleep? How old is he? How old are you? Have you noticed any other movements? Where did the guest sleep? What happened then? Is there a dog on the farm? How does he react? Have you noticed this phenomenon before? Are other farms experiencing the same thing? Are you scared of it?

Besides all the phone calls, the little farm was constantly receiving visitors wanting to experience the mystery themselves. The coffee pot was brewing nonstop. Grétar Oddsson

Besides news reporters, people of all ilk flocked to the farm trying to make sense of it all. These were geologists, priests, spiritists, mediums, neighbors and “passers-by”.

One of the reporters to visit the farm was Þórður Jónsson from Skagaströnd. He was a news reporter for Morgunblaðið and had with him the bus driver, Hörður Ragnarsson. They spent three hours at the farm hoping something would happen.

Þórður described his experience in the March 20th edition of Morgunblaðið. He sat down in the baðstofa where the oval table was. They waited and hoped for something to occur. Disappointed nothing happened, they walked into the kitchen for some coffee. Þórður had barely sat down at the table and Hörður was still in the doorway when an awful noise came from the now empty baðstofa. The men ran back in. The oval table they had just sat by was now in the middle of the floor. The two men stood there speechless. No one was in there and they knew then that the movement was not a hoax.

Þórður Jónsson (f.1918 – d.2009). Héraðsskjalasafn Austfirðinga

The farm caught the interest of the Icelandic Society for Psychical Research and on March 21st, several members headed out to Saurar to investigate the matter further. Among the members were the medium Hafsteinn Björnsson and its president, Sveinn Víkingur. Some of the other members were Sigurlaugur Þorkelsson, Katrín J. Smári, Helgi Vigfússon, Mildríður Falsdóttir and Sigurveig Hauksdóttir.

At the time, Rev. Sveinn Víkingur was the president for the spiritist society and Hafsteinn Björnsson its medium. Read more about Sveinn in my blog here. Read more about Hafsteinn in my blogs here.

The reporter for Vísir newspaper invited three clairvoyant individuals with mediumistic abilities to accompany him to Saurar. Those were Ævar Jóhannsson (the father of IKEAs managing director, þórarinn), Ingibjörg Skarphéðinsdóttir and Margrét Thorlacius from Öxnadal (read more about her in my blogs here). Margrét was not able to make it, so Ævar and Ingibjörg left for Saurar with the Vísir reporter. The spiritist society were on their way, too.

Ingibjörg Skarphéðinsdóttir (1916-1974) was known for her mediumsitic abilities and is a descendants of Einar from Bóla, who many consider one of Iceland’s most talented mediums. Nanna Tómasdóttir

When they got to Saurar farm, the reporter knocked three times on the door: in the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Ghost. Once invited inside they sat down and waited for the society to arrive.

The clairvoyant Ævar Jóhannsson sitting at the oval table in the baðstofa. DV

When the spiritists finally arrived, they had quite the following with them. It was apparent that here was someone of importance arriving. The members of the spiritist society were invited into the baðstofa where they sat for a while and conversed. The electrified room was cramped with people and the furniture in disarray. During the conversation, Hafsteinn fell into a trance state. The room was quiet and no sign of furniture magically moving.

Reporters snapped a photo of the medium Hafsteinn Björnsson as he arrived at Saurar farm. DV

One of the members, Sigurlaugur Þorkelsson who was sitting on the sofabed (díva) near the door, felt someone grab a tight grip around his arm. Another member, Helgi Vigfússon also entered a trance state for a short time and some unknown forces seemed to be pulling him out onto the floor.

Several individuals who had passed on into the next life reached out to the medium during his trance state. As they spoke through Hafsteinn, they shared their names. The vicar of Saurar, Rev. Pétur Ingjaldsson, who was present, recognized the names. They had all at some point been members of his parish.

Sigurlaugur Þorkelsson suspected it was poltergeist phenomenon where the tenants were unwillingly causing the movements. SG

The spirit-beings weren’t causing the movements, there was something else at play here. Nonetheless, the spirit-beings promised to try to release the energy that was scattered around the farm by drawing power from it.

Since the society was unable to find anyone on the other side causing these movements, they promised to try again when they got back to Reykjavík. It would be more quiet and private, making contact much easier. They made good on their promise and held a few séances on behalf of Saurar, but no otherworldly being claimed to know what was going on.

Ós and Saurar. The farm is in a remote location by the Nordic Sea. Mats Vibe Lund

The spiritists left, but the reporter and the people he invited stayed behind. The medium Lára Ágústsdóttir from Akureyri arrived as well. She also did a séance where she went into a trance and described some of the same people as Hafsteinn had, but also added that she saw an English sailor or captain named Jack. When she saw him, he was followed by the sound of gunshots and there was some type of disorder regarding his grave, which got all this mayhem started. Lára felt almost certain he was behind the ruckus.

Nobody on the farm knew anything about any Englishmen in the area, but were aware that ships may have sank there during the war. Lára continued that these sailors had nothing to do with the family or this place and that they were long gone from their earthly stay.

Ingibjörg Lára Ágústsdóttir (1899-1971) was accompanied by her husband Steingrímur Sigursteinsson (1914-1999) to Saurar.

So far, none of the clairvoyant visitors, except Lára, had been able to find any spirit-being on the other side who could be causing these events.

Some people started thinking that maybe it was the ground underneath the house that was eroding, causing a slow collapse. Although seemingly likely, it didn’t explain the location or item specific movements.

Saurar. A photo of what the ground looks like by the shoreline. Byggðasafn Skagfirðinga

Margrét was going crazy and was beginning to think it had more to do with the movement of the earth than something supernatural. She reached out to a scientist at the Háskóli Íslands (University of Iceland) who went out there to look around. After a survey of the area, the scientist said there was a possibility it could be that the house was slowly sinking closer to the sea level, causing the movements.

Two of the geologists that came out to the farm were Tómas Tryggvason (1907-1965) and Guðmundur Kjartansson (1909-1972). After using their instruments, they were able to rule out all seismic activities. Guðmundur confirmed that this was not of natural occurrence.


*Guðmundur Kjartansson (1909-1972), Geologist. Náttúrufræðistofnun Íslands*

Tómas Tryggvason, geologist. The first Icelander to study minerology and petrology. Unknown

Poltergeist

Having ruled out natural events and it likely not being haunted by ghosts, they continued to search for answers.

It had occurred to them that these activities were manmade, but perhaps more like that of telekinesis. These type of events had been reported on all over the world, even in Iceland. One of the most famous instances occurred in Hvammur, Þistilfjörður in 1913. Whatever the cause of the Saurar farms phenomenon was, it was still just as mysterious as when it first started.

Something that people found odd or interesting was that on Friday, April 3rd, Margrét was taken to the hospital in Blönduós, which was about 50 km away. She stayed there for 8 days. During this time, all otherworldly activity ceased. After she got back home, it stayed quiet for a few days and then started back up again with a vengeance.

The constant ruckus lasted only a short time in late April and then completely ceased for good. Shortly after, the family moved.

Left: Benedikt Guðmundsson (1926-1992). After the spooky incident, everyone in the family moved out, except Benedikt. He lived at the farm until his death. Towards the end of his life, he struggled with his health. One day he went missing and after a few days’ search, he was found dead by the shore in Saurar. Center: Guðmundur Einarsson (1892-1973), Björgvin Guðmundsson (1920-1995) and Margrét Benediktsdóttir (1894-1973). Björgvin didn’t live at home at the time, but came home about the same time as the events began. Right. Sigurborg Guðmundsdóttir (1941?-?)

Back in U.S.A., the parapsychologist Dr. William G. Roll happened to be reading about Saurar farm in the New York Times. He had been working as a researcher at the Duke University with research into mystical phenomenon under Dr. J.B. Rhine. He later became the head of the spiritist association called Psychical Research Foundation. In their quarterly bulletin, Theta, in the Winter 1965 issue, they headlined the matter The Saurar Poltergeist.

The quarterly bulletin, Theta. PRF

Dr. W.G. Roll, together with Rev. Sveinn Víkingur went out to Saurar farm. The parapsychologist had brought with him his equipment to measure any energy fields around the farm.

After covering all corners of the house with his meter, Dr. Roll and Rev. Sveinn sat down and talked to the family. It turned out that the family unity was not as strong as it should be. Margrét was getting old and ready to leave the old farm in the desolated area of Saurar. She was also too tired to carry on the daily farm duties and was ready to move somewhere more relaxing and public. On the other hand, her husband was quite happy there and had no desire to move.

Dr. Roll measuring the electric fields at Saurar. LÓA

Dr. Roll was thinking that all signs pointed towards PKP or psycho kinetic power where if enough people are thinking the same thing, it can become reality. In order to move items, energy is needed and the energy has to come from some type of energy field (source), like how sound waves are carried through the air and radio waves through an electromagnetic field.

If telekinesis occurred, then it is possible that there is an energy field that allows the telekinesis to happen. Even thought there is a force field, it doesn’t mean it has to be something otherworldly at all. Everything that happens in nature follows some laws. They are only mystical while we don’t know the laws they abide by, Dr. Roll explained.

Poltergeist was the answer that checked the most boxes. EG

Margrét’s desire to leave was so strong that through some kinetic power, she was unknowingly able to cause all the ruckus. This conclusion pleased everyone and the case was closed. This was a case of Poltergeist, a German word made up of the words Polter and Geist, which translates to noisy spirit.

Cartoon drawing of the hauntings at Saurar. Sigmund

The evil spirit of a bull

Another explanation, which was more for entertainment purposes was the story of Boli and Júlíus. Some time before Guðmundur and Margrét moved to Saurar, a man by the name of Júlíus Rósant Jósefsson (1867-1951) lived there for a three year period. In the fall he would row to Pétur Björnsson (1857-1931) who lived nearby at Tjörn.

Left: Tjörn in Skagi. Bjarney Jónsdóttir; Right: Pétur Björnsson. HAH

Pétur stored his boat in Sauravík and one time during a bad storm, it was in danger of being crushed by the waves and the rocks. When Júlíus saw this he struggled through the storm and tied Pétur’s boat, so it wouldn’t be affected by the storm.

Some time later, Pétur arrived at Saurar and had with him a nice brand new wadmal sweater, which he gave Júlíus as an appreciation for keeping an eye on his boat. It was a nice and fashionable sweater. This was a big gift for Júlíus as he was a poor man and didn’t have much clothing. Receiving such a nice sweater was quite exciting for him and he was quite happy about it.

Map of Kálfshamarsvík. At the very top is Saurar. Right below it is Sauravík and Tjörn. On the upper precipice is Spánska dys which translates to Spanish Grave. More on that story is written below.

The happiness didn’t last long. When Júlíus was getting in bed for the night, he felt a strange presence and uneasiness come over him. Although the baðstofa was quite dark, he could see Þorgeirsboli (Boli) standing above him, with his skin flayed down to the tail and the glowing blue red lava.

Boli. Börn og tónlist

It didn’t matter which direction Júlíus moved, Boli was always right above him. He called out to his wife and asked her to help him. She sat down on his bed to keep watch over him, so he could get some rest. Soon Júlíus was back asleep and slept through the night. This became a nightly ritual for him and his wife every night for the next year as he couldn’t sleep unless someone watched over him.

Þorgeirsboli. Þrándur

This arrangement was wearing down both him and his wife. A year of this had made them both extremely sleep deprived and frustrated. Júlíus was beginning to think this bad omen was connected to the sweater Pétur had gifted him a year earlier. It had started that very night he received it. Not sure if he was making much sense, he kept wearing it, but only while travelling or when the weather was bad.

The following fall, Pétur was importing harðfiskur (dry fish) to Skagaströnd where they lived. Júlíus was a part of Pétur’s boat crew. They sailed up to Hólanes, the home of merchant Carl Berndsen and stayed the night in his attic.

The Hólanes houses burned to the ground in December 1892. HAH

Hólanes build in 1927, replacing the Hólanes houses that burned to the ground. Knútur Valgarð Berndsen

Before they went inside, Júlíus hung is wadmal sweater on a hook out in the storage shed that was right up against the house. Once up on the loft, the men got out their sleeping bags and got ready for bed. This night was no different for Júlíus, so he ended up asking one of his sea mates, Guðlaugur Jóhannesson to keep watch over him so he could get some sleep.

Þorgeirsboli. Painted by Jón Stefánsson

In the morning when the men were heading back home, they grabbed their belongings. Júlíus took the sweater off the hook and before he was able to put it on, he completely freaked out and threw the sweater in the garbage by the shed.

Þorgeirsboli. Painting by Michael Olito

Finally at peace, Júlíus went home in his wool sweater instead. That night, Júlíus slept like a baby and didn’t wake up until the morning. He never saw the sweater or Boli again.

Some believe that Boli was back and moving things at Saurar. The family at Saurar didn’t think that sounded believable at all. This suggestion was never taken seriously, but while no one had an explanation of what was going on, perhaps for some it sounded just as good as any of the other suggestions.

Saurar and Kálfshamarsvík. The lighthouse can be seen on the very tip of the small peninsula. Mats Wibe Lund

Spanish pirates

There were those who still toyed with the idea of the poltergeist activity being wrong and that dead Spanish pirates were at work.

The story is of 14th century Spanish pirates who came up on land in this area to plunder and kill. The priest of Höskuldsstaðir gathered as many men and horses as he possibly could. They tied bales full of branches to the horses. When the Spanish vikings had reached the farm house at Höskuldsstaðir, they lit the branches on fire and sent the horses running towards them with awful lot of noise. Some of the Spaniards died and were buried by the road side. This grave is said to have been robbed by a man who was still alive in 2009.

Others died and were buried out on the precipice right by Ósvík and north of Laxá (between Ytri-Laxá and Blanda in Refasveit) in a place now called “Spánskanöf”. The graves are still visible and some time during 1844-1862, swords and whetstone were found there.

Spákonufellshöfði. A place with many hikes. It has a vast bird life and flora with educational markers on both. The grave of a Spanish sailor is underlined in yellow. The spot was chosen because of the view. Loftmyndir ehf. / Verkfræðistofan Stoð ehf

Some of the Spanish pirates escaped out to sea and made it ashore some ways away. Those who were still onboard the ship shot bullets of some sorts at land, but they hit the cliffs. Some say you can still see the markings on the cliffs.

Thinking they might be able to catch the Spaniards who escaped into the ocean, the Icelanders went ashore in Saurar to see if they’d find bodies or bones flushed ashore. The story goes that they were unsuccessful and found no signs of the pirates.

Kálfshamarsvík and the shore in the surrounding area. Jennifer Boyer

Nonetheless, the shaking at the farm was suggested to be the Spaniards who were buried near the farm in the 14th century. These graves are said to be in Framnes (in Saurar) which is now desolate. It’s believed that there are spirits surrounding and protecting the graves, preventing them from coming back to life. Strange sounds are said to come out of these graves and is a warning of a coming storm.

The elderly couple’s son, Björgvin had taken stones from the graves in 1963 when he was helping an eider bird prepare a nesting ground. Nothing strange occurred when he did so.

At the edge of the peninsula a couple of wooden pillars have been raised between the Spanish graves. On it hangs a ship’s clock out of copper. The wind rings the clock to scare away bird of prey from the eider ducks nests in the summer.

Cow at Saurar. Björn Bergman

Having heard the Spanish pirate might be causing all the mystical ruckus at Saurar farm, the journalist and amazing playwright Jökull Jakobsson (1933-1978) brought with him the talented Spanish artist, Baltasar Samper (1938-). The idea was that if they could get contact with the ghosts and they happened to only speak Spanish, then Baltasar would be able to communicate with them. The duo stayed the night between March 20th and 21st without any signs of activity.

Left: Baltasar Samper; Right: Jökull Jakobsson

Lost at sea

In July 1914 a boat sunk in the ocean by Saurar with five or six men onboard. The sail was found in Hraun which is at the tip of Skaga. The boat itself was found half sunk in Drangeyjarsund.

The strangest thing with this incident, felt Guðmundur was that none of the men washed ashore. The rumors were that a whale had turned the boat and the men sunk to the deep black ocean. The boat was retrieved and sold to Sauðárkrókur and used for a few more years until it sank with one man onboard one day never to be seen again. When Guðmundur shared this story he was most likely contemplating the unrest of the missing dead.

A man swimming in the Drangeyjarsund. Lúðvík Kristinsson

The aftermath

When the family had moved out that same spring, their son, Benedikt, stayed behind to tend the farm. A few years later, it became uninhabitable and a new farm house was built in its stead.

The new Saurar farm, built in 1967 on the left and the old Saurar farm on the right. GFr

Soon after the poltergeist experience, a new house was built and the old Saurar farm left desolate. When reporters visited the farm in 1983, the old farm had collapsed. GFr