Grýla was one of the first poems I wrote for my upcoming poetry collection. For those unfamiliar with Icelandic Christmas lore, Grýla is an ogress who comes down from her cave on Mt Esja (the mountain range that watches over Reykjavik) at Christmas time to steal and devour disobedient children. You can read much more about her in my previous blog post.
The threat of Grýla has been much softened over the years, and children aren’t as scared of her as they used to be. There’s even been a rumour going around Iceland for years that she died of starvation. However, not everyone agrees with this, including Terry Gunell, a professor in Folkloristics at the University of Iceland. In an article for the Iceland Monitor, he said, ‘She’s living a great life in the mountains still eating her human sushi…’
This ‘softening’ didn’t sit comfortably with me, and I felt I needed to write something that would hopefully capture the essence of her horribleness. To listen to my poem, just click the art work below. I wrote a post all about her on my other blog, A Nordic Fever, if you’re interested in delving deeper into her history. Other than that, I hope you enjoy (?) listening to the poem!
*The art you’re looking at was made by the humongously talented artist Kim Holm. You can see more of his work here.
Northern Fever 