The names of the accused in witchcraft cases give little information about them. In some cases we know where they lived and hence we can ascertain that they were tenant farmers or farm labourers. Their lives can best be described as constant strife. On some farms the total number of stock was one cow, ten sheep or less, and a horse. This was hardly enough for a family of four when part of the produce had to be paid to the landowner.

Farming land is limited in all the Westfiords and if fishing failed the population decreased rapidly as it did in times of sickness or in unusually cold years. It is therefore not surprising that some witchcraft cases seem to have started with competition for better farms. In others magic was used as an aid to farming practices, or illegal ways were used to make the neighbour�s task more difficult.

Almost all work on the farms was done by hand with primitive tools. The peat for heating was carried by hand from the wetlands and so was the manure on the fields, and other tasks were even more wearying. Surprisingly wheelbarrows were unknown in Iceland before the 19th century. In these conditions it is not difficult to understand that, as long as people believed in the power of certain words and magical signs, illegal and magical ways were used to ease their burden. Haymaking was easier if the scythe kept a good edge and hence it could be worthwhile to get assistance from the dark powers.