People

Erlendur Haraldsson

Icelandic psychologist and professor emeritus at the University of Iceland whose research covered after-death communications, drop-in communicators, and child reincarnation cases.

University of Iceland · Professor emeritus of psychology

Erlendur Haraldsson is an Icelandic psychologist and professor emeritus at the University of Iceland¹, where he taught from 1973 to 1999² after completing a PhD in psychology at the University of Freiburg in 1972³. Since the 1970s he has researched apparitions, mediumship, and child reincarnation cases⁴. He was among a small group of researchers, alongside Ian Stevenson, Jürgen Keil, Satwant Pasricha, Antonia Mills and later Jim Tucker, who studied children reporting past-life memories in young children⁵; together they examined over twenty-five hundred such cases, identifying a matching previous person in roughly two-thirds⁶. Tucker reported that Haraldsson’s follow-up work found a surprising number of these children still recalled past-life details as adults⁷.

A major strand of Haraldsson’s work concerns after-death communication (ADC). In the mid-1970s he surveyed 902 Icelanders on whether they had ever sensed the presence of a deceased person⁸, an inquiry later published as The Departed Among the Living: An Investigative Study of Afterlife Encounters, in which thirty-one percent of respondents reported having had such an experience⁹. He went on to conduct in-depth interviews with over 450 people who described ADCs¹⁰, publishing findings including his paper “Alleged Encounters with the Dead: The Importance of Violent Death in 337 New Cases”¹¹. According to this research, in 86 percent of cases occurring within twenty-four hours of death the percipient had not known the person had died¹². About half of ADC events occurred within the first year after death, and three-quarters within four years¹³. He found that 28 percent of the deaths involved were sudden, unexpected or violent¹⁴, a rate far exceeding the 7.8 percent of violent deaths recorded in the general Icelandic population between 1941 and 1970¹⁵; he attributed the resulting male predominance among communicators to men being more likely to die violently than women¹⁶. He reported a similarly elevated proportion of violent deaths among apparition cases¹⁷, and stated that violent death features predominantly across apparitions, cases of the reincarnation type, and mediumship¹⁸, observing that such cases often have an invasive character since the deceased are frequently unknown to those who experience them¹⁹. He considered these findings, taken together, to support the survival hypothesis²⁰, while concluding more broadly that it seemed impossible to reject all the accounts he collected as deception or mistaken perception⁹. Separately, in 1987 work with Loftur Gissurarson, the Anomalica record on this research states no association was found between high-scoring Anomalous Cognition (AC) trials and low Geomagnetic Fluctuations (GMF)²¹.

Haraldsson also examined drop-in communicators¹, investigating, with Stevenson, the case involving Runolfur Runolfsson (“Runki”) as it emerged through the mediumship of Hafsteinn Bjornsson²², a case previously described by Alan Gauld²³. The two researchers judged it infeasible to attribute all the case’s information to any single source²⁴, and considered the simplest explanation to be that Runki had survived physical death and communicated through Bjornsson’s mediumship²⁵.

Haraldsson personally investigated in detail the physical mediumship of Indridi Indridason²⁶, researching Indridason’s work at the University of Iceland²⁷ and publishing on drop-in communicators connected to it over more than forty years²⁸. Central to this work was the case of Emil Jensen, a communicator he considered comparable to the “Runki’s leg” case described by Gauld²⁹, and one he regarded, together with a case of independent voices singing in a language unknown to Indridason, as among the best evidence for human survival he had encountered³⁰. He argued that telepathy or clairvoyance among living persons could not adequately explain the strongest drop-in cases³¹. His records indicate that the 63 Store Kongensgade fire, Copenhagen likely began after nine o’clock, eleven o’clock Danish time³². He did not closely examine the rediscovered Minute books of the Experimental Society (Iceland) until 2008, an event he described as perhaps the most memorable finding of his life³³, noting that no attempt had previously been made to verify the Jensen communicator’s biographical statements³⁴. In 2009 he visited the Royal Library in Copenhagen, where he found annual volumes listing nineteenth-century businesspeople and, in the 1890 volume, a single manufacturer named Emil Jensen registered at Store Kongensgade 67, two doors from the fire at number 63³⁵. Later that year he searched Copenhagen census records³⁶, which showed Jensen living with four unmarried sisters at the same address³⁷. He also checked the Copenhagen newspapers Politiken and Berlingske Tidende for an obituary of Jensen and found none³⁸. All seven statements attributed to the Jensen communicator in the minute book of 1905-12-11 were subsequently verified³⁹. Haraldsson concluded that identifying Jensen more than a century later confirmed him as an actual person, unknown to Indridason, who had died before appearing in Indridason’s séance room⁴⁰; author Leslie Kean similarly described Jensen as a drop-in communicator whose biographical details allowed him to be identified as someone who had genuinely lived⁴¹, an account documented in Emil Jensen’s probate court document referenced in Haraldsson’s research alongside the Death of Emil Jensen (1898).

References (43)

Haraldsson is professor emeritus of psychology at the University of Iceland
“Erlendur Haraldsson is a professor emeritus of psychology at the University of Iceland, where he taught from 1973 to 1999.”
Surviving Death ch36:138-255
He taught at the University of Iceland from 1973 to 1999
“where he taught from 1973 to 1999”
Surviving Death ch36:226-255
He received his PhD in psychology from the University of Freiburg in 1972
“received his PhD in psychology from the University of Freiburg in 1972”
Surviving Death ch36:360-426
He has researched psychic phenomena, apparitions, child reincarnation cases, and mediumship since the 1970s
“Haraldsson has been researching psychic phenomena, apparitions, child reincarnation cases, and mediumship since the 1970s.”
Surviving Death ch36:432-548
Stevenson interested Haraldsson, Keil, Pasricha, Mills and later Tucker in studying past-life cases
“He was able to interest a small number of other researchers in studying cases—psychologists Erlendur Haraldsson, Jürgen Keil, and Satwant Pasricha, anthropologist Antonia Mills, and later me as a child psychiatrist”
Surviving Death ch11:3683-3885
Together they studied over twenty-five hundred cases, with a matching previous person identified in two-thirds
“Together, we have studied over twenty-five hundred cases, and in two-thirds of them, a previous person has been identified whose life matches, to a greater or lesser degree, the statements the child made.”
Surviving Death ch11:3980-4179
Tucker said Haraldsson's follow-up studies found children still remembered past-life details as adults
“Most children in these cases seem to lose the apparent past-life memories, though Haraldsson found in follow-up studies that a surprising number reported as adults that they still remembered some details of a past life.”
Surviving Death ch11:7405-7619
In the mid-1970s he surveyed 902 Icelanders on awareness of a deceased person's presence
“In the mid-1970s, Erlendur Haraldsson, professor emeritus of psychology at the University of Iceland, conducted surveys asking 902 Icelanders whether they had ever been aware of the presence of a deceased person.”
Surviving Death ch30:8371-8576
Thirty-one percent answered yes to having had an after-death communication
“Thirty-one percent answered yes”
Surviving Death ch30:8584-8612
He conducted in-depth interviews with over 450 people who reported after-death communications
“In the years following his survey, Haraldsson conducted in-depth interviews with over 450 people who had had ADCs.”
Surviving Death ch30:8810-8919
He concluded it seems impossible to reject all such accounts as deception or mistaken perception
““When all the accounts we have collected are considered, it seems impossible to reject all of them as deceptions and mistaken perceptions,” Haraldsson concludes. “Something real is there, at least in some of the accounts.””
Surviving Death ch30:9547-9758
About half of ADC events occur within the first year after death, three-quarters within four years
“Haraldsson discovered that about half the events occur within the first year after the death, and three-quarters before the end of the fourth year,”
Surviving Death ch30:9770-9912
In 86 percent of cases within twenty-four hours of death, the percipient did not know the person had died
“What’s most interesting is that for 86 percent of the cases occurring within twenty-four hours of death, the percipient did not know that the perceived person had died or was dying.”
Surviving Death ch30:10088-10263
His paper studied 337 cases of encounters with someone not known to have died
“encounters with someone they had not known had died”
Surviving Death ch30:10352-10399
28 percent of the deaths involved in his Iceland surveys were sudden, unexpected or violent
“In the Iceland surveys, 28 percent of the deaths of both males and females who ostensibly provided ADCs was due to sudden, unexpected, and violent causes, mostly accidents.”
Surviving Death ch30:10406-10568
This proportion of violent deaths was far higher than the 7.8 percent in the general Icelandic population, 1941-1970
“This is much greater proportionally of violent deaths for that country than occurred in the general population (only 7.8 percent from 1941 to 1970).”
Surviving Death ch30:10579-10721
He attributes the male predominance among communicators to men being more likely to die violently
“Most of these communicators are men, which makes sense, because men are more likely to die violently than women.”
Surviving Death ch30:10728-10834
He also found apparition cases showed a much higher proportion of violent deaths than the general population
“In addition, after many years of research, Haraldsson found that apparition cases also contained a much higher percentage of appearances from those who had suffered a violent death, when compared with the general population.”
Surviving Death ch30:11443-11656
He states violent death features predominantly in apparitions, reincarnation cases, and mediumship
“Persons suffering a violent death feature predominantly in cases of apparitions of the dead and in cases of the reincarnation type, as well as in mediumship, including both direct communicators and drop-ins.”
Surviving Death ch30:11722-11925
He observes violent-death cases have an invasive character, with the deceased often unknown to the percipient
“The cases tend to have an invasive character, in that the deceased persons are frequently unknown to those who experience them and thus seem to assume an active role in their appearance.”
Surviving Death ch30:11930-12105
He considers these findings to support the survival hypothesis
“All of these findings tend, in my view, to support the survival hypothesis.”
Surviving Death ch30:12117-12183
Haraldsson and Gissurarson found no association between high-scoring anomalous cognition trials and low geomagnetic fluctuations in 1987
“while Haraldsson and Gissurarson (1987) and Nelson & Dunne (1986) did not.”
Remote Viewing Secrets ch31:2827-2897
Haraldsson, a University of Iceland professor, researched the mediumship of Indridi Indridason
“Professor Erlendur Haraldsson of the University of Iceland researched the work of Indridi Indridason.”
Surviving Death ch32:3078-3168
He has published on after-death communications, drop-in communicators and other areas for over forty years
“He has published on after-death communications, drop-in communicators, and many other areas in scientific journals and books for over forty years.”
Surviving Death ch32:3180-3320
Haraldsson personally investigated in detail the physical mediumship of Indridi Indridason
“I will present two incidences within the physical mediumship of Indridi Indridason of Iceland, whom I have personally investigated in great detail.”
Surviving Death ch36:990-1130
He considers the Emil Jensen and independent-voice cases among the best evidence for survival he has encountered
“In fact, these two events within Indridi's mediumship are among the best evidence I have ever encountered for that possibility.”
Surviving Death ch36:1363-1478
The investigators of the Runolfur Runolfsson drop-in case through Hafsteinn Bjornsson were Haraldsson and Stevenson
“and the investigators were Erlendur Haraldsson and Ian Stevenson.”
Surviving Death ch28:42569-42624
They considered it infeasible to attribute all the case's information to any single source
“…it does not seem feasible to attribute all of this information to any single person or any single written source. And this would be true, we believe, whether the medium acquired the information normally or by extrasensory perception.”
Surviving Death ch28:46401-46623
They considered the simplest explanation to be that Runki survived death and communicated through Hafsteinn Bjornsson
“It may be simplest to explain this integration as due to Runki's survival after his physical death with the retention of many memories and their subsequent communication through the mediumship of Hafsteinn.”
Surviving Death ch28:46800-46996
The case, previously described by Alan Gauld, was investigated by University of Iceland psychologist Haraldsson and psychiatrist Stevenson
“The case of Runki’s leg that Alan presented, investigated by University of Iceland psychologist Erlendur Haraldsson and psychiatrist Ian Stevenson, is a case in point.”
Surviving Death ch29:2540-2701
He considers Emil Jensen a drop-in communicator similar to the Runki's-leg case described by Gauld
“He could therefore be categorized as a drop-in communicator, similar to that of the case of "Runki's leg," which I investigated and was described previously by Alan Gauld.”
Surviving Death ch36:4339-4504
He considers telepathy or clairvoyance among the living inadequate to explain the strongest drop-in cases
“The hypothesis of telepathy among living persons and/or clairvoyance does not adequately explain the strongest drop-in cases, thus establishing them as being of particular significance for the question of the survival of the human personality past death.”
Surviving Death ch36:4511-4759
His records indicate the Store Kongensgade fire likely started after nine o'clock (eleven o'clock Danish time)
“our records indicate that the fire is likely to have started sometime after nine (eleven Danish time)”
Surviving Death ch36:6233-6329
He did not carefully examine the rediscovered minute books until 2008, calling the resulting finding perhaps his most memorable
“It was not until 2008 that I took a careful look at them. I then made an unexpected discovery, perhaps the most memorable finding of my life.”
Surviving Death ch36:7143-7279
No attempt had been made to verify the Jensen communicator's statements before his investigation
“Apparently no attempt was ever made to verify any of this.”
Surviving Death ch36:7963-8016
In 2009 he visited the Royal Library in Copenhagen and found annual volumes of nineteenth-century businesspeople
“In 2009, I went to the Royal Library in Copenhagen, and found a series of annual volumes listing businesspeople there in the nineteenth century.”
Surviving Death ch36:8022-8158
In the 1890 volume he found one manufacturer named Emil Jensen, at Store Kongensgade 67, two doors from the fire
“I looked up Jensen in the volume for 1890. There were hundreds listed, but there was only one manufacturer named Emil Jensen. And his address? Store Kongensgade 67, which is two doors away from number 63 where the fire broke out.”
Surviving Death ch36:8167-8392
Later in 2009 he searched Copenhagen census documents
“Later that year, I searched census documents in Copenhagen.”
Surviving Death ch36:8446-8494
All seven of the communicator's statements in the 1905-12-11 minute book were verified
“Jensen's statements given in the minute book on December 11, 1905, were all verified: 1. My Christian name is Emil. (Various documents) 2. I was a bachelor. (Certificate of burial) 3. I have no children. (Probate court) 4. I was not so young when I died. (Certificate of burial) 5. I have siblings. (Census records, probate court) 6. My siblings are not in heaven (are living). (Probate court) 7. I was a manufacturer. (Various documents)”
Surviving Death ch36:9486-9921
He checked Danish newspapers Politiken and Berlingske Tidende for an obituary and found none
“I checked this possibility. No obituary of Emil Jensen was found in Politiken or Berlingske Tidende, the papers of that time.”
Surviving Death ch36:10638-10762
He considers the identification of Emil Jensen a century later confirms an actual person unknown to Indridason
“Furthermore, the identity of the communicator Emil Jensen was established over a century later. He was an actual living person, who died prior to his visits in Indridi's séance room and was never known to Indridi.”
Surviving Death ch36:12765-12970
As described by Kean, Jensen provided enough biographical detail to be identified years later as someone who really lived
“Emil Jensen, as described by Erlendur Haraldsson, was a drop-in communicator who provided enough details to be identified years later as someone who actually lived.”
Surviving Death ch40:3926-4084
His census research found Jensen living with four single sisters at Store Kongensgade 67, near the fire at number 63
“I also learned that at that time he was living with four single sisters at Store Kongensgade 67, again close to number 63 where the fire broke out.”
Surviving Death ch41:58534-58677

Erlendur Haraldsson

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