THE SCENE: In this passage, King Hakon IV of Norway describes to his son the wonders of the undead residents of Ireland.
THE TEXT: There is a little island in Ireland. Which the natives call Inhisgluer. There is a large village on this island and also a church; for the population is about large enough for a parish. But when people die there, they are not buried in the earth but are set up around the church along the churchyard fence, and there they stand like living men with their limbs all shriveled but their hair and nails unmarred. They never decay and birds never light on them. And every one who is living is able to recognize his father or grandfather and all the successive ancestors from whom he has descended.
– The King’s Mirror, King Hakon Hakonarson, 13th Century AD
