Arnäs · Täfteå · 1917
The Death of the 'Wise Woman'
Den "klokas" död
- Parish
- Arnäs
- Village
- Täfteå
- Year
- 1917
- Collector
- Levi Johansson
- Informant
- Gästgiverska, Hustru Frida Maria Bylund
- Record no.
- LMV-M790b
English translation
It was about 20 years ago that 'Little Brita', an old maiden, died in the poorhouse down in Vallen. She had been much involved with all sorts of incantations and fortune-telling arts. Now, when she lay at her last, it became very difficult for her. It looked as if she was tormented by something nasty, 'invisible'. At times she stared straight ahead, at other times she screamed, kicked, hit, and flailed. It was believed that she saw the evil spirits she had had as helpers. They had now come to take her.
Original transcription (Swedish)
Det är c:a 20 år sedan "Lill Brita", en gammeljänta, dog på fattigstugan nere på Vallen. Hon hade sysslat mycket med allehanda signerier och spådomskonster. När hon nu låg på sitt yttersta, blev det mycket svårt för henne. Det såg ut som hon anfäktades av något styggt, "osynligt" Emellanåt stirrade hon framför sig, skrek än utöver sig, sparkade, slog och fäktade. Det troddes, att hon såg de onda andar, som hon haft till medhjälpare. De kom nu och skulle ta henne.
Included courtesy of © 2016 Länsmuseet Västernorrland.
Source: Murberget Länsmuseet Västernorrland, folk memory collection. These records were written down in the first half of the 1900s; the collectors' language and values are of their own time.