[Two wooden legs.]

The physical aids of a one-legged male farmhand, a cane, a crutch and two wooden legs, are preserved at the local history museum Hnjótur in the West Fjords of Iceland, along with a number of his everyday possessions. The older wooden leg was made by a farmer in the year 1910 and the younger by a machinist in 1935. There is no proof that either of the builders had any special knowledge or a model to follow but comparison with similar wooden legs in use on the Continent indicates some foreign influence on the construction of the Icelandic wooden legs. Each leg was used for at least 25 years, one after the other. The older leg shows signs of much wear but the younger one is in good shape. Most important for the life-time of an artificial leg is that the body weight should rest in balance over the centre of the wooden peg and that the weight does not fall outside the longitudinal axis of the peg. The medical history of the patient concerned was investigated, and compared with the tale which circulated locally, which claimed that wearing fisherman's boots which were too tight had caused the injury to his foot. The medical records of the hospital reveal, however, that the ankle was infected with tuberculosis. An attempt was made to treat this by resecting the ankle joint, which is likely to have been only the second time that such an operation was performed in Iceland. Gangrene developed in the surgical area and the leg had to be amputated.