In the 17th Century, Icelandic mystics believed an endless supply of money could be had by flaying a corpse from the waist down and wearing its skin like pants. They called the skin-slacks nábrók, or "necropants." Pictured above: not necropants. Actual NSFW dead-person leggings (& penis) appear below.

Via Strandagaldur, The Museum of Icelandic Sorcery & Witchcraft, which houses perhaps the world's only intact pair of necropants:

If you want to make your own necropants... you have to get permission from a living man to use his skin after his death. After he has been buried you must dig up his body and flay the skin of the corpse in one piece from the waist down. As soon as you step into the pants they will stick to your own skin. A coin must be stolen from a poor widow and placed in the scrotum along with the magical sign, nábrókarstafur, written on a piece of paper. Consequently the coin will draw money into the scrotum so it will never be empty, as long as the original coin is not removed. To ensure salvation the owner has to convince someone else to overtake the pants and step into each leg as soon as he gets out of it. The necropants will thus keep the money-gathering nature for generations.


Alongside the necropants in the photo above there appears a magical "stave." This sigil corresponds specifically to necropants, though similar symbols (each credited with its own, specific magical effect) are preserved in assorted books of Icelandic grimoires dating from the 17th Century onward. Via Strandagaldur:

The origin of this peculiar Icelandic magic is difficult to ascertain. Some signs seem to be derived from medieval mysticism and renaissance occultism, while others show some relation to runic culture and the old Germanic belief in Thor and Odinn... The purpose of the magic involved tells us something of the concerns of the lower classes that used them to lessen the burden of subsidence [sic.] living in a harsh climate.


I mean, we knew Icelanders were hardcore. But damn.

Oh, and for those wonderings, the meat-pants in the top photo are from Blackmilk. See also.



[Strandagaldur via disinfo via boingboing]