THE SCENE: If nothing else, this legend – about a man who was so wicked that even death could not keep his evil in check – demonstrates the importance of good burial practices. Less chance of zombies that way.
THE TEXT: It is said of Killer-Hrapp that he became more and more brutal; he molested his neighbors so relentlessly that they could scarcely hold their own against him.
Hrapp’s nature remained unchanged even when his strength began to fail with the onset of old age and he had to take to his bed. He then summoned his wife and said to her, “I have never been prone to ill-health, and it seems more than likely that this illness will put and end to our life together. So when I am dead I want my grave to be dug under the living-room door, and I am to be placed upright in it under the threshold, so that I can keep an even better watch over my house.”
Hrapp soon died and all his instructions were carried out, for Vigdis did not dare to do otherwise. And difficult as he had been to deal with during his life, he was now very much worse after death, for his corpse would not rest in his grave; people say he murdered most of his servants in his hauntings after death, and caused grievous harm to most of his neighbors.
And now as so often before, people went to see Hoskuld [the local chieftain] and told him of all the trouble Hrapp was causing, and asked him to do something about it. Hoskuld agreed. He went over to Hrappstead with several men and had Hrapp’s body dug up and taken to a spot far removed from any paths or pastures. After this, Hrapp’s hauntings abated a little.
– Laxdaela Saga, 13th Century AD
