As promised, a quick thread on medieval ghost lawsuits. So. Those were a thing. I know of examples from Scandinavian and Chinese literature.
Two forms: suing ghosts and being sued by ghosts.
Let's dive in! #MedievalTwitter #MedievalGhostStories
Two forms: suing ghosts and being sued by ghosts.
Let's dive in! #MedievalTwitter #MedievalGhostStories
First up! Viking ghost lawsuits. This is a famous story from Eyrbyggja Saga, whose ghostly events are SUPER complicated. The relevant part is pretty simple: a fishing ship goes down at sea & everyone is drowned.
Then the drowned men come home.
Then the drowned men come home.
Surprisingly, everyone is ok with this at first! It's good luck for dead people to drink their own funeral booze.
The problem is that they KEEP coming back. Night after night. Wet & dead & crowded round the fire.
The problem is that they KEEP coming back. Night after night. Wet & dead & crowded round the fire.
![Translation of saga reads "mony. But on the first evening of the feast, when the guests had arrived and were taking their places, Thorod and his men came into the hall, all of them dripping wet. The company gave Thorod and his men a hearty welcome, for their arrival was thought to be a good portent: people believed they would have the favour of Ran [the goddess of the sea] if they came to drink their own burial ale. In those days very little of the old beliefs had been abandoned, although men had been baptised and called themselves Christians. Now Thorod and his men walked down the len...](https://pbs.twimg.com/media/FADVlIXXsAAjDYv.jpg)
Then a second group of ghosts starts coming (there is a COMPLICATED backstory that you don't really need to know). The two groups of ghosts start fighting and throwing mud. Every. Single. Night.
So the poor living people consult a wise man, who suggests that they have a Christian rite performed, they burn some bedding that one ghost is really attached to (LONG story), and that they sue the ghosts.
They perform a "door doom" in which they formally summon the ghosts to trial, charge them with trespassing and causing problems. There is a trial, then they are found guilty and sentenced (presumably to leave).
!["So he took down Thorgunna’s bed-gear, went into the fire-hall and gathered up embers from the fire to take outside, and in this way burned all of the bed-furnishings that Thorgunna had owned. After that Kiartan summoned Thorir Wooden-leg, and Thord Kausi 156 MEDIEVAL GHOST STORIES summoned Thorodd and they formally charged them with coming and going about the household without permission, and with despoiling men of their lives and their good fortune. Every one of those [the companies of the ‘undead’] who had sat by the fire was charged in this way. A door-doom was assembled, and the c...](https://pbs.twimg.com/media/FADVuF_XMAAkhfg.png)
The ghosts grumpily leave, all complaining about it, but they never return.
Second lawsuit story! This is from Shuyi ji 述異記
[Records of Strange Things], by Zu Chongzhi 祖沖之 (429–500).
Basically Hu Bizhi & his family move into a house, & after a while, mysterious ghost things begin to happen. Phantom footsteps, etc.
[Records of Strange Things], by Zu Chongzhi 祖沖之 (429–500).
Basically Hu Bizhi & his family move into a house, & after a while, mysterious ghost things begin to happen. Phantom footsteps, etc.
Eventually, a new spirit appeared and spoke to them, sent on behalf of Bizhi's old deceased friend, Tao Jingxuan, who now worked as a censor in the heavens.
The spirit explained everything: their ghost was Sire Shen, the house's previous owner, who got mad at the foul language.
The spirit explained everything: their ghost was Sire Shen, the house's previous owner, who got mad at the foul language.
Shen was even angrier that they'd sent petitions to heaven about him, so that now he had charges brought against him there.
So, Shen countersued them with a serious greivance. They were instructed to recite sutras and keep precepts, & Shen would leave them alone.
So, Shen countersued them with a serious greivance. They were instructed to recite sutras and keep precepts, & Shen would leave them alone.
[CW for third lawsuit: sexism, slavery, questionable consent]
[Third lawsuit] This is from Zhi guai 志怪 [Accounts of Anomalies], by Zu Taizhi 祖台之 (fl. ca. 376–410)
Xiahou Hong could see ghosts and intercede with them, leading to a number of adventures. In one, he tried to figure out why General Xie Shang could not have kids.
Xiahou Hong could see ghosts and intercede with them, leading to a number of adventures. In one, he tried to figure out why General Xie Shang could not have kids.
ANYWAY, ghost lawsuits. More common than you might think!
I don't know anything specific about the cultural backgrounds of these or whether anyone has written about them.
I don't know anything specific about the cultural backgrounds of these or whether anyone has written about them.
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