EEV: Edited to contain the whole video
- The Museum of Icelandic Sorcery & Witchcraft in Holmavik houses the only known intact pair of necropants
- In order to make the necropants, or nábrók, an individual had to get permission from a living man to use his skin after his death
- According to legend, the trousers brought their wearer wealth and luck, but had to be passed on to a future generation before his own death
PUBLISHED: 07:33 EST, 25 October 2013 | UPDATED: 10:18 EST, 25 October 2013
Many people will be planning scary costumes for Halloween, but nothing is likely to compare to this pair of macabre trousers.
In 17th century Iceland, sorcerers wore ‘trousers’ made of a dead friend’s skin that were said to bring them wealth.
According to legend, a morbid deal was struck between two friends to arrange who became the trousers or ‘necropants,’ which were used for purposes of traditional magic at the time.
Scroll down for video and an audio explanation of the trousers…
The only surviving pair of Necropants (pictured). They were made by skinning a dead man and according to legend, were worn by a friend to bring him wealth and luck. The coin and piece of paper with a magical symbol drawn upon it is shown to the right of the ‘trousers’
The Museum of Icelandic Sorcery & Witchcraft in Holmavik, Iceland, houses the only known intact pair of necropants, that were meant to be worn day and night by their owner.
In order to make the necropants (called nábrók in the naive tongue) an individual had to get permission from a living man to use his skin after his death.
The surviving member of the pact had to dig up his dead friend’s body and peel off the skin of the corpse from the waist down in one piece without any holes or scratches, to make the magical trousers.
The wearer of the pants had to steal a coin from a widow and place it in the scrotum of the trousers, along with the magical sign called nábrókarstafur, (pictured) drawn on a piece of paper
As soon as they stepped into the pants, the skin of the corpse stuck to theirs own, according to the museum, which documents 17th century occult practices.
A spokeman for the museum told MailOnline: ‘They would immediately be stuck with your own flesh and be part of your body.’
To make the grim garment, the wearer of the pants had to steal a coin from a poor widow at Christmas, Easter or Whitson and place it in the scrotum of the trousers, along with the magical sign called nábrókarstafur, which is drawn on a piece of paper.
The coin is a ‘tool to gather wealth by supernatural means,’ according to the spokesman.
It drew money into the scrotum from living people so ‘it will never be empty’ as long as the original coin is not removed, according to folklore.
The spokesman told MailOnline the wearing of the necropants was ‘unusual behaviour’ and reports are ‘pure folklore’ but the stories say that people could wear them for as long as they lived – but had to pass them on to a willing recipient before they died.
If the sorcerer wearer of the pants did not pass them on before his own death, it was said that his body would be infected with lice as soon as he passed away, but if the trousers were passed on, they could bring wealth to future wearers.
To ensure the transmission of fortune, the future wearer of the pants had to put his leg into the right leg of the necropants before the original owner stepped out of the left one.
According to the legend, the necropants would keep the money-gathering nature for generations and produce an endless flow of coins.
HOW NECROPANTS WERE MADE
- An individual was granted permission from a living man to use his skin after his death
- The surviving individual dug up his dead friend’s body and peeled off the skin of the corpse from the waist down in one piece
- He stepped into the necropants, which stuck to his own skin and then stole a coin from a poor widow to keep in the scrotal area of the trousers, along with a piece of paper bearing a magical sign
- It was thought the ‘trousers’ brought their owner luck and prosperity
The spokesman said: ‘People would be able to use them as long as they lived, but they would have to get rid of them before they die. If they would find someone to take them over the could last forever.’
17th century Iceland was a tough place as it suffered harsh trade restrictions from Denmark as well as natural disasters including a huge volcanic eruption that killed half of the country’s livestock in years that followed and led to widespread famine.
Coastal settlements were also raided by pirates, locals sold into slavery in the Arab world, while a giant smallpox epidemic in the 18th century wiped out a third of the struggling population.
Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-2476512/Are-terrifying-trousers-The-17th-century-NECROPANTS-corpse-legs–supposed-lucky.html#ixzz2ikzmvmPG Follow us: @MailOnline on Twitter | DailyMail on Facebook