His case illustrates the survival of the pre-Christian pagan Norse religion in Sweden as late as in the 15th century.
Clauesson worked as a servant to Hans Persson on the Swedish island of Värmdö.
In 1492, he was put before the court in Stockholm, where he confessed that he had sworn himself to the old Nordic god Odin to escape poverty and that he had stolen from his master several times.
While Swedish law did not actually mention such crimes at the time, the verdict can be seen as a sign that the Catholic Church at that point held a strong position in Sweden, similar to that of the continent, where cases of heresy were more common.
On 27 October 1484, Ragvald Odenskarl (Ragvald The Follower of Odin, as the court called him) was put on trial in Stockholm for theft from several churches in Uppland; he claimed to have served Odin for seven years and named an accomplice, Johan Land.