Jón Rögnvaldsson

Jón Rögnvaldsson (died 1625) was an alleged

.

The

, he had neither the strength nor the intelligence to succeed. But Magnus Björnsson judged Jon as guilty of sorcery and sentenced him to death. He was one of the first people to be executed for sorcery in Iceland.

Iceland, which was under the jurisdiction of the

ship in search of slaves turn from the island, had been accused of sorcery by the authorities several times but been acquitted every time.

In 1630, the union Denmark-Norway's witch law from 1617 was proclaimed on Iceland. Between 1625 and 1686, Iceland was to see 120 witch trials. The majority of people accused of sorcery on Iceland were male; only ten women were accused, and of these, only one was burned alive. Women were normally drowned, while men were burned. In 1678, the widow Thuridur Olafsdottir and her son were burned at the stake accused of having made the wife of a priest sick by magic, after the son had claimed that his mother could walk on waterfalls by use of galdrar. The most famous Icelandic witch trial took place in 1656, when a man and his son were burned at the stake for sorcery after a conflict with a priest.

See also

• Kirkjuból witch trial

References

• Jan Guillou, Häxornas försvarare, Piratförlaget 2002 (
  ISBN 916420037X
  ) (in Swedish)
• Ólína Þorvarðardóttir: Brennuöldin. Galdur og galdratrú í málskjölum og munnmælum. Háskólaútgáfan. Reykjavík, 2000