Learn your fate at the Museum of Prophecies in Skagaströnd

Have your fortune told in the old Icelandic way in a museum dedicated to the medieval prophetess, Þórdís.

Should you find yourself in Skagaströnd on a rainy north Icelandic afternoon, you could do worse that visit the local Museum of Prophecies.

The museum is dedicated to Þórdís the fortune-teller. Þórdís lived in Skagaströnd in the late 10th century and was the first named inhabitant of the area. 

Þórdís wasn’t fond of company. Indeed, these days she’d probably be described as ‘difficult.’

She moved to Skagaströnd to get away from people and wasn’t averse to using the dark arts to keep locals away from her prime grazing land.

The museum is run by Sigrún Lárusdóttir.

It is set in an old Nissan hut that was built by the British and served as a theatre to entertain troops stationed there during World War II.

Sigrún will take you around the mural telling the story of Þórdís’s extraordinary life.

She embellishes the incredible tale with a theatrical flourish. You can’t help but be captivated by Þórdís’s vengeful nature and relentlessness.

Sigrún is also a bit of a clairvoyant herself, or a spákona as they are known in Iceland. As part of the experience you can have your own fortune told through runes, Norse oracle cards, palm reading and other methods favoured by medieval Icelanders. 

Sadly, the era’s most popular option – reading sheep intestines – is not offered.

Sigrún said one of the most simple and accurate ways of telling the future was using knuckle bones. 

She handed me one and told me to lean my head back rest it on the bridge of my nose.

Then she instructed me to lean forward and ask the question I wanted answered as it fell. 

Depending on the way the knuckle landed, I’d get an answer of yes, no or maybe.

I asked the knuckle if I was going to win Euromillions that night. 

It said ’No.’

And you know what? The knuckle was right.