I exorcise thee gout and colic away to flee, I dare thee, I subdue thee, kill thee, colic.
Gunnar Marel Hinriksson, a specialist at the National and University Library of Iceland, will give a guided tour through the exhibition Colic Leaf at the Culture House on the occasion of the International Museum Day. The Tour is in English and free of charge.
In the manuscripts collection at the National and University Library of Iceland, you may find a 400 year old vellum, dark and obscure with age, with the shelfmark Lbs fragm. 14. This vellum is now exhibited at the Culture House. Gunnar Marel will especially discuss the Colic Leaf and the works on the exhibition that are related to magic and the 17th century, but Jón lærði Guðmundsson which was an Icelandic autodidact, poet, and alleged sorcerer will also be involved. The tour will be at 3.pm in English and 2. pm in Icelandic. The guide is free of charge.
I exorcise thee gout and colic away to flee, I dare thee, I subdue thee, kill thee, colic. The text written on the vellum is in both Icelandic and Latin containing scripture in Latin with incantation in Icelandic in between. The text is an exorcism against colic and gout. Exorcisms have existed in all religions since prehistoric times when access to health care was scarce to say the least. Almost all vellum's of this nature were destroyed in the witch hunts of the 17th century. The Colic Leaf is therefore a unique testament to people´s attempts to cure diseases with methods the authorities sought to eradicate.