Iceland: The Widow and the Sending
In Iceland, sorcerers were believed to have the ability to conjure ghosts from human bones. These entities, known as Sendings or "messengers," were primarily used to commit murders.
Once upon a time, there lived a beautiful widow who was sought after by many suitors, yet she refused them all, including one who lost his life during a sorcery experiment. One summer afternoon, while she was alone in the pantry preparing dinner for the farmhands, a peculiar sense of unease made her turn toward the door. There, she saw a shadow, black and formless like smoke, except for a single white spot at its center. The shadow glided through the door and into the pantry walls. Realizing it was the sorcerer’s Sending, she instinctively struck it with her knife, aiming at its only vulnerable spot—the white mark. Both the knife and the ghost vanished from sight.
The next morning, she found the knife outside in the yard, embedded in a chipped human bone. Her bravery and the steel blade had broken the spell. From that day forward, no one dared to trouble her again.
