An Icelandic classmate mentioned a story to me, apparently from a stage drama, which I shall investigate further, when I asked about Norse horror. It is a Christian story, from the nineteenth century, somewhat resembling the tale of Faust. It seems the plot is this: a wicked man goes to the diocese and, entering the crypt, takes a book of spells from a bishop's corpse. With this, he sells his soul to the devil, whom eventually he tries to flee. The climax is this: the man takes a boat onto the water, intending to sail westward to safety, when a great, hairy hand emerges from the water and pulls the boat and the man under.
I try to picture, whether the devil be a brachiate sea monster, or a hairy amphibian, or simply a swimming land mammal. My favorite image, is of the seafloor opening and an great, long arm reaching from the fissure, like a pole, until the gaunt, hair-covered hand clamps around the boat and pulls it violently to the black depths.
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