A Norse Contribution to the History of Neurological Diseases. 

 
'Viking gene' hypothesis has been suggested for the dissemination of the disease.  It is therefore, relevant to search Norse (from West Scandinavian (Norwegian, Icelandic, and Faeroese) sagas (stories or legends) for descriptions of clinical pictures which could have been MS. 

The saga of Bishop Thorlak describes a woman named Halldora, who suffered from transient (not permanent) paresis (partial or slight paralysis) between 1193 and 1198.  The diagnosis is uncertain, but the story shows that symptoms associated with MS were known in Iceland at the end of the 11th century.

Department of Neurology,

Ulleval University Hospital,

Oslo, Norway.