THE SCENE: When a shepherd named Glam went missing on Christmas Eve, Thorhall’s farmhands found the body in the mountains, along with evidence of a strange and supernatural battle. Things only get weirder from them.
THE TEXT: Then they found a huge trampled area toward the head of the valley, which looked as if a mighty skirmish had taken place there, because rocks and soil had been torn up in many places. They looked more closely and saw Glam lying a short distance away. He was dead, black as hell and bloated to the size of a bull. Although they were repulsed and shuddered at the sight of him, they tried to carry him to the church, but could only manage to move him as far as the edge of a chasm a short way above them. Having done this, they went home and told the farmer about the incident.
Thorhall asked what could have caused Glam’s death and they said they had traced some footprints which were as large as if a barrel had been slammed down in the slow, and they led up from the trampled ground to the crag at the head o the valley – splashes of blood ran alongside them. They concluded that the evil being, which was there before, had killed Glam, but that he must have dealt it a mighty, fatal wound, because no one has ever been aware of it since.
On the second day of Christmas, another attempt was made to take Glam’s body to the church. Oxen and horses were tethered to it, but could not budge it on flat ground, where there was no slope to go down. After that, the body was left there. On the third day a priest went with them and they searched all day, but could not find Glaum. The priest did not want to search again and the shepherd was found when the priest was not with them. They gave up trying to take him to the church and buried him in a shallow grave where he was.
Shortly afterwards, people became aware that Glam was not resting in peace. He wrought such havoc that some people fainted at the sight of him, while others went out of their minds. Immediately after Christmas, people thought they saw him at the farm and were so terrified that many of them fled. After that, Glam started straddling the roof at night until it was nearly smashed to pieces. Then his ghost roamed around by day and night. Even people with ample reason for going into the valley hardly dared to venture there. The local people thought that this was a terrible plague.
– The Saga of Grettir the Strong, 14th Century AD
