Chapters
Shownotes Transcript
Seriously?
Anyway, sit back, relax, and get delivery in as fast as 30 minutes. Starring your favorite snacks, drinks, and more. Download Instacart for free delivery on your first three orders. Rated H for hungry audiences. Offer valid for a limited time. Minimum $10 per order. Excludes restaurants. Additional terms and fees apply. Hey,
Hey, I'm Ryan Reynolds. Recently, I asked Mint Mobile's legal team if big wireless companies are allowed to raise prices due to inflation. They said yes. And then when I asked if raising prices technically violates those onerous two-year contracts, they said, what the f*** are you talking about, you insane Hollywood a**hole?
So to recap, we're cutting the price of Mint Unlimited from $30 a month to just $15 a month. Give it a try at mintmobile.com slash switch. $45 upfront payment equivalent to $15 per month. New customers on first three-month plan only. Taxes and fees extra. Speeds lower above 40 gigabytes in details. At bluenile.com, you can find endless ways to make your moments sparkle. From classic and timeless jewelry gifts to creating the custom engagement ring of her dreams. All at prices you won't find at a traditional jeweler.
And right now, you can save up to 40% on fine jewelry and 25% on engagement ring settings during the Blue Nile Anniversary Sale. Going on now. Go to BlueNile.com to shop the Blue Nile Anniversary Sale and save up to 40%. That's BlueNile.com. ♪♪♪
Welcome to the Serial Killer Podcast. The podcast dedicated to serial killers. Who they were, what they did, and how. Episode 171. I am your Norwegian host, Thomas Roseland Weyberg Thun.
We have spent so many hours on the northwest coast of America lately that I thought it apt to change venue. So, allow me to take you on a journey back in time, across the Atlantic Ocean to the east of America. Through icy waves, wet fog and howling winds, a land emerges. An island, in fact. The year is 1555.
and the place is the very home to the word saga. Iceland. The island nation of Iceland has a special place in the hearts of your humble host. From age eight until I was thirty-four years old, I travelled to Iceland with my father and two friends to fish trout.
We went to the same place every time, a place with many freshwater lakes deep inside the Icelandic interior, just southwest of the massive glacier Vatnajökull. Once there, we would live in a Spartan cabin, get up early in the morning, head out to the lakes to fish, return for dinner, then head out again until the sun went down around 11 p.m. For me, it was a magical experience that I never grew tired of.
Someday, I hope to bring my son to Iceland to fish, just as my father did with me. When it comes to serial killers, however, Iceland does not have many in its history. In fact, only one serial killer has ever been confirmed to have existed on the island. In turn, this killer was a bona fide psychopath and a brutal man whose name still evokes fear and loathing among Icelanders.
Tonight's subject was in fact suggested to me by an Icelandic listener, so a big thank you to Ivar. I am, of course, talking about none other than Axlar Bjorn, the axe murderer of at least 18 human beings. And this is his saga. Enjoy.
As always, I want to publicly thank my elite TSK Producers Club. Their names are...
Thank you.
I am forever grateful for my elite TSK Producers Club, and I want to show you that your patronage is not given in vain. All TSK episodes will be available 100% ad-free to my TSK Producers Club on patreon.com slash the serial killer podcast. No generic ads, no ad reads, no jingles. I promise.
And of course, if you wish to donate $15 a month, that's only $7.50 per episode, you are more than welcome to join the ranks of the TSK Producers Club too. So don't miss out and join now. Imagine, if you will, the Alizana, a land of ice and fire, an island surrounded on all sides by thousands of kilometers of open ocean.
1,472 kilometers to the east, lies most of its inhabitants' original homeland, Norway. To the south, 1,233 kilometers away, lie Scotland. To the west, 1,210 kilometers away, lies Greenland. And finally, about 2,500 kilometers to the north, the Arctic ice cap surrounding the North Pole.
During the Viking era, around 800 AD, thousands of Norwegians fled and or emigrated from Norway to Iceland. At the time, only a handful of fishermen and seal hunters knew of the isolated island. The journey across the Norwegian Sea to Iceland was and is one of the most tumultuous and dangerous stretches of water in the world.
Now, tonight's saga does not take place in the Viking era. We fast forward a few hundred years to 1555. Vista-wise, little has changed. The lava still flows from its many volcanoes. Its massive glaciers still loom over vast stretches of the island's interior. Hot springs can be found almost everywhere on the island, and most people know how to make good use of them.
However, the 1500s was a brutal time to be alive on Iceland. The temperature was far colder than it had been during the Viking era. Farming was extremely hard, finding food for oneself and one's livestock even harder. There were few cities at the time, aside from the capital Reisevik, only tiny hamlets and scattered farms were found across the island.
Crime in such conditions was not unheard of, especially robbery. One thing that still occasionally took place was the old Viking tradition of blood vengeance. Blood vengeance was closely connected to honor, to the necessity of re-establishing the honor of a man or a family if it had been damaged.
Blood vengeance was also closely connected to a certain kind of society, one where the central power or authority of the state was weak and the families had to rely on themselves to protect their lives and property. The latter was very much the case in Iceland, especially in the rural countryside during the 1500s.
Christianization, which took place in Norway and Iceland at about the same time, would over time change ideologies with roots in the heathen culture. The opinion that all injustice should be avenged to protect one's honor, and if necessary by killing, would come in conflict with Christian ideas such as forgiveness, humility, and the commandment, thou shalt not kill.
We must assume that from the very beginning the Church worked against blood vengeance, but with what vigor we do not know. While both Norway and Iceland were Christianized around the year 1000, and the Church was established in both countries with bishoprics in the 11th century,
Only Norway was a kingdom at the time of Christianization. Iceland continued to be a free state without an executive power until the union with Norway in 1262-64. The fact that blood vengeance continued to flourish in Iceland, though probably more in literature than in reality, has often been seen in connection with the absence of an executive power. Harsh weather?
Harsh conditions to make a living and a harsh society make for harsh men who do not shy away from violence. That is not to say that Iceland at the time was a lawless bloodbath of a place. Far from it. There were so few people living there that the general understanding was that the best way to survive was to work together and to trust each other.
But if someone broke the rules and became a danger to their fellow man, harsh action was taken. Which brings us to a small farm on the western tip of Iceland. There was a man named Peter from Kraunkreppur in Myrar. He married in Breidhavik on Snafellsnes in the days of Bishop Gudbrandur. Peter worked as a ploughman for a man who owned a farm in Knarrr.
Peter first had two children with his wife, a son and a daughter. Their names were Magnus and Sigrid. After that, Peter's wife became pregnant for a third time. Björn Petersson was thus born in 1555. It is commonly stated that while pregnant, Sigridur would suffer from severe nightmares and develop a craving for human blood.
Pétur, who loved his wife and could not refuse any of her wishes, would indulge this craving and offer up some of his blood for his wife to drink, which seemed to work. However, Sigridur would start to feel uneasy and told a female farmhand that she believed her child would grow up to be a monster. Pétur's employer was named Ormur. He was known as a hard businessman.
For some reason, he liked Petur and his wife quite a lot, and treated them very well. He even built their house for them in Husanes. When the brothers, Magnus and Björn, were six and five years old, Ormur once rode on a drift and saw the brothers playing on a reef. It was clear that Björn bullied his younger brother violently.
Ormur then rode around in Husanes and offered to take Magnus into foster care, because it was a hard year. But their mother begged him to take Björn instead, for he was unruly and hardly human, and she hoped that Ormur would grow him up to be a proper man. Ormur agreed, and Björn went with him home to Knör. Björn befriended a teenager.
Ormur's cowherd, and they spent almost all nights and days in the cowshed. It was a large house with thirty oxen. Björn developed quickly after he came to Ormur, but he was considered secretive and hard-hearted. Ormur had a son out of wedlock, named Gudmundur. He was the same age as Björn, and at an early age was very capable and athletic.
He excelled in wrestling and other sports, which were not common at the time, but he was not well behaved at work. Björn and he got on well. The church was then, as it is now at Knorr and Ormur, accustomed to the fact that the family had a good reputation. However, it happened once that Björn slept in bed during mass, against the will and consciousness of Ormur.
He then dreamed that a stranger came to him and held a plate with a chain on it, with meat cut into pieces, and offered it to Björn. Björn accepted the pieces of meat and ate eighteen, and thought each tasted more delicious than the last. But at the nineteenth he became nauseous and ill, and then gave up eating. The stranger then said, and I quote, Well,
You did well to accept my food, but now I want to contribute more to you. Go to Morosa, no one knows, up to Axlarhirna. There you will see two strange stones, quite large. Lift up the smaller stone a little, and what you find under it you should own and use well. It is your fate that you will become a well-known man."
After that, the stranger disappeared, but Björn woke up and was very eager to look for what the stranger had suggested he look for. The next day Björn got up early, went up to Axlarhirna and found the stones. Axlarhirna is a real mountain, and if you, Dælesna, so wish, you can hike it to the top. It's not very high, only 433 meters above sea level.
The mountain, like most other mountains on Iceland, is covered in volcanic ash on all sides. Solidified magma, rocks, jut up from the top in a jagged manner, not dissimilar to ragged teeth protruding from the ash. Once Björn reached the top, it was foggy, but he quickly saw what he was looking for. Two large lava rocks, one huge and one far smaller right next to it.
Under the smaller stone was an axe, not a large but a powerful weapon. When he picked it up, he felt very motivated to use it for violence. He then turned from there and went down to a fish factory in Frambuðir. He hid the axe in his clothes and did not let anyone see it as he approached. Then he hid it among the petrified lava stones. Later in the day he rode out with the sailors to fish.
To his shipmates, he explained that he had found treasure on top of Axlarhirna. Furthermore, he said he would be willing to sell it for the right price. His shipmates were not impressed. They knew Björn to be a scoundrel, and no one trusted him. Instead, they mocked him, and said the price of his treasure was insignificant.
Hey, I'm Ryan Reynolds. At Mint Mobile, we like to do the opposite of what Big Wireless does. They charge you a lot, we charge you a little. So naturally, when they announced they'd be raising their prices due to inflation, we decided to deflate our prices due to not hating you.
That's right. We're cutting the price of Mint Unlimited from $30 a month to just $15 a month. Give it a try at mintmobile.com slash switch. $45 upfront payment equivalent to $15 per month. New customers on first three-month plan only. Taxes and fees extra. Speeds lower above 40 gigabytes. See details.
Millions of people have lost weight with personalized plans from Noom. Like Evan, who can't stand salads and still lost 50 pounds. Salads generally for most people are the easy button, right? For me, that wasn't an option. I never really was a salad guy. That's just not who I am. But Noom worked for me. Get your personalized plan today at Noom.com. Real Noom user compensated to provide their story. In four weeks, the typical Noom user can expect to lose one to two pounds per week. Individual results may vary.
This episode is sponsored by BetterHelp. As a family man with three kids, I know firsthand how extremely difficult it is to make time for self-care. But it's good to have some things that are non-negotiable. For some, that could be a night out with the boys, chugging beers and having a laugh. For others, it might be an eating night.
For me, one non-negotiable activity is researching psychopathic serial killers and making this podcast. Even when we know what makes us happy, it's often near impossible to make time for it. But when you feel like you have no time for yourself, non-negotiables like therapy are more important than ever.
If you're thinking of starting therapy, give BetterHelp a try. It's entirely online, designed to be convenient, flexible, and suited to your schedule. Everyone needs someone to talk to, even psychopaths, even your humble host. Never skip therapy day with BetterHelp.
Visit BetterHelp.com slash SerialKiller today to get 10% off your first month. That's BetterHelp, H-E-L-P dot com slash SerialKiller. In the evening, when they had landed, Bjorn ran from the ship but soon returned.
he then had an axe in his hand and when he came to the crew he rose it in the air with a fighting spirit and said with a cold laugh and i quote which of you now wants a place to sleep under this the sailors were rather frightened at this display and no one wanted to fight
One of the crew, an old man and a wise man, said to his co-workers, but did nothing to Björn. Again I quote, Take the axe from him, because that is a dangerous and unlucky tool. End quote. Björn did not wait around for anyone to act on this, and instead mocked the people for their cowardice. Afterwards, he turned around and went on his way home to Knorr.
Shortly afterwards, a cowherd disappeared on Knorr, and he was nowhere to be found. It would turn out that Björn had chopped down the cowherd with his axe and buried the young man under a pile of manure. This is thought to be Björn's first murder. There was a maid at Knorr named Steinun. She served Björn and ended up marrying him.
About this time Ormur died, but his son Gudmundur inherited him on Knorr and soon became a rich man in the district. For his stepbrother Björn, he bought a farm named Axlarland. What is highly fascinating is that this farm exists to this day. Now, the original buildings are long gone, but there has been a farm there continuously since the late 16th century.
It lies at the bottom of Mount Axlarhirna, in very picturesque environs. Just a few hundred meters away from the farm, one can see a glorious waterfall, and the farm itself proffers a stunning vista of the surrounding landscape with the ocean as a backdrop. This farm is where Björn would continue his killings. He would mainly target travelers and anyone coming by to be a farmhand.
The reason why most travelers and farmhands were attracted to his farm was due to where it was located, as it offered a beautiful view. As time went by, people noticed that Björn and his wife often walked around in clothes they should not have been able to afford. The number of horses in their stable also steadily increased. It was clear that something nefarious was occurring with regularity at Axlarland.
Although there was a lot of rumors locally about Björn's conduct, no one dared to speak out about it. Björn was well known for being a good friend of Gudmundur Ormsson, the most powerful man in the district. For some unknown reason, however, Björn had started to dislike Gudmundur.
It might have been jealousy. It might simply have been that Björn was a narcissistic psychopath killer who did not like anyone, except perhaps his wife. Late in the evening, Gudmundur came home to Axlarland and asked to have a drink. Björn invited him in, but Gudmundur said he preferred to stay outside. Then Björn's wife came out with a jug and gave it to Gudmundur on horseback.
But when he was about to take drink, Bjorn came rushing out in a big coat. Gudmundur saw that the end of the axe poked out from under it. Gudmundur was quick-witted and threw away the jug and started to ride off as fast as he could. At that, Bjorn brought out the axe from his coat and struck at Gudmundur. He narrowly missed him and instead wounded the horse badly. It was a narrow escape for Gudmundur.
The next day Bjorn's wife went out to Knorr and pleaded with Gudmundur for forgiveness for what had happened. Gudmundur promised her he was willing to forgive and forget, but said that Bjorn's madness would bring the authorities down on him even if he held his tongue. On Wednesday, in the Easter week of the same year, two siblings came to Axlarland. The weather was very humid.
They asked for accommodation, and it was willingly provided. They had their wet clothes taken away and given new dry garments. Then they were served food. Afterwards, the siblings went to the bathhouse, where an old crone was sitting there, rocking a baby to sleep in her arms. It is said that she wanted to warn the siblings of the danger that loomed over them, and hummed an old verse every time Bjorn's wife left.
The verse goes something like this. I apologize for the poor translation. No one stayed with Gunnbjörn, who has the good clothes. He drives them to Egilskjörn. Trails of blood flows. End quote. When the siblings had finished eating, the girl left the room. But a little later, her brother heard a noise and was startled. He ran out to look for his sister.
He saw Bjorn standing over her, and just then Bjorn turned and ran after the boy as well. Luckily, the boy was fast on his feet. The boy ran into the rugged and craggy petrified lava field and hid in a ravine close to the farm while Bjorn searched. Then the boy went out of the gorge and came down to Roundland during the night. The farmer in Roundland
followed him to Helnar to Ingemundur, the district manager in Brekkubær, who was both a rich man and a hard worker. On an early Easter day, Ingemundur took two men with him and rode to Knorr. Although Gudmundur was rich, Ingemundur was equally as powerful, and Gudmundur knew he could no longer protect Bjorn. After Easter in 1596,
More than twenty years after Björn initially had started killing, Ingi Mundur arrived at Axlarland, went up to Björn and asked where the hood he had on his head came from. He then unbuttoned the hemp he was wearing in his outer garment and asked where he got the silver-buttoned sweater and shirt he wore.
bjrn answered that such questions were rather indecent and that he did not remember anything particularly special about it ingimundur said he did not need to called his escorts and asked them to look at bjrn's clothes and see if his worker
who had left Ingimundur two years ago and had disappeared, so no one knew what had happened, had not these clothes and be in them when he had left Ingimund. His men quickly confirmed that the clothes Björn was wearing were indeed those of Sigurdur. Ingimundur then called on Gudmundur Ormsson to arrest Björn as a villain, but Gudmundur refused,
Ingi Mundur then took Björn by the hand and described him as the killer of Sigurdur and the girl mentioned before and moved him out to Arnarstapi. Steinun, Björn's wife, was then picked up and placed in custody at Stapi. Björn then confessed to a lawyer that he had killed 18 men in all, including the first cowherd on Knarr.
He explained how he had buried the cowherd under manure, where it was now a beautiful flowerbed. The other seventeen, he explained, lay hidden in igulcharn, and that he had tied stones to the corpses. Also, he explained that his wife not only knew what he had been doing, but had cooperated with him in the murders.
Björn and Steinun were both sentenced to death at Laugarbrekuthing in 1596. Björn was sentenced to be broken on the wheel, for then to be beheaded, but Steinun's death was postponed because she was pregnant. A young man named Olafur, who was closely related to Björn, was hired to break his bones.
Being broken on the wheel was not a common way to execute criminals in medieval Europe, but it was far from unheard of. Only those convicted of the most heinous crimes suffered such a fate. The way it would happen varied from country to country. No one knows with exact certainty which method of wheel-breaking Axel Björn suffered.
Usually the term "broken on the wheel" indicated that the condemned would have his limbs broken, for then to have them interlaced through the spokes of a carriage wheel, before the latter was hoisted in the air with the condemned man on it, exposed to the elements until he died. However, after reading the legends and historical writings on Axlarbjörn, it would appear that no wheel was in use at all.
This is due to the fact that he was not to be strung up, but his body was to be quartered and sent to various parts of Iceland after his death. In any case, Björn was laid naked on a wooden construction, probably a large axe. His arms and legs would be tied firmly in place. Two notches were carved underneath each limb to mark where his bones were to be broken.
Once securely in place, Olafur would use a large hammer to methodically smash every major bone in all of Bjorn's limbs. The pain of such an ordeal is difficult to imagine. However, Bjorn faced his torture and execution in a manly way. He did not pass out nor complain until he was dead. Once, while his bones were broken, he said, and I quote:
Uncle Ulafur seldom breaks a bone well in secret." After all his limbs had been broken, the executioner was about to castrate him as well. His wife told everyone gathered around, and I quote, "'It should be me that cuts off my Björn's privates.'" When she had indeed done so, the executioner chopped off Björn's head.
When Björn was dead, people feared that he might return as a draugr, the Icelandic folkloric version of the undead. So they quartered his body and buried the pieces in three different locations. One of the burial mounds can still be seen today. It lies just off the road to Helnar in Snafellsnes. Björn's wife Steinen was also sentenced to death. She was just as evil as her husband and often acted as his accomplice.
But her sentence was, as I said, postponed and ultimately not carried out because she was carrying child at the time and the difference in the genders regarding sentencing was quite unequal in the late 1500s on Iceland. Far later on Bjorn's son was hanged for attempted rape. His grandson also died by the noose.
Whoa, easy there. Yeah.
applies to online activations, requires port in and auto pay. Customers activating in stores may be charged non-refundable activation fees.
Need new glasses or want a fresh new style? Warby Parker has you covered. Glasses start at just $95, including anti-reflective, scratch-resistant prescription lenses that block 100% of UV rays. Every frame's designed in-house, with a huge selection of styles for every face shape. And with Warby Parker's free home try-on program, you can order five pairs to try at home for free. Shipping is free both ways, too.
Go to warbyparker.com slash covered to try five pairs of frames at home for free. warbyparker.com slash covered. As dawn broke over the seven seas, the pirates of the Crimson Galleon set sail for adventure. But there was one problem. Paperwork. Mountains of it. Filing, invoices, you name it. This work ain't fit for a pirate.
Luckily, their captain had an idea. She used the smart buying tools on Amazon Business so they could work more efficiently and get back to doing what they do best. I know, right? Amazon Business, your partner for smart business buying. And so it is that we come to the end of the saga of Axel Arbjörn. I hope you enjoyed listening to me telling it to you.
Next episode will feature a fresh new Serial Killer Exposé. So, as they say in the land of radio, stay tuned. Finally, I wish to thank you, dear listener, for listening.
If you like this podcast, you can support it by donating on patreon.com slash theserialkillerpodcast, by leaving a review on Apple Podcasts, facebook.com slash theskpodcast, or by posting on the subreddit theskpodcast. Thank you. Good night, and good luck.
