Icelandic ogress Grýla eats your babies.





Icelandic ogress Grýla by Þrándur Þórarinsson (2009). She only eats bad children, which could be seen as providing a service, in its own grim way.

[Þrándur Þórarinsson, Gryla, 2009.]

"Grýla is a mythical giantess living in the mountains of Iceland. Most of the stories told about Gryla were to frighten bad children, and her name is mentioned in Snorri Sturluson's thirteenth century Edda.
Grýla was not directly linked to Christmas until the 17th century. By that time she had become the mother of the Yule Lads. Terry Gunnell hypothesizes that the medieval custom of dressing as Grýla may be related to other visiting traditions such as Julebukk or the Yule Goat and that her name may mean 'threat' or 'threatening'.
She has the ability to detect children who are misbehaving year-round. During Christmas time, she comes from the mountains to search nearby towns for her meal. She leaves her cave and hunts for the children. She devours children as her favorite snack. Her favorite dish is a stew of naughty kids for which she has an insatiable appetite. According to legend, there is never a shortage of food for Gryla."
~ Wikipedia

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Guillermo Maytorena IV knew there was something special in the Norse Lore when he picked up a copy of the d'Aulaires' Norse Gods and Giants at age seven. Since then he's been fascinated by the truthful potency of Norse Mythology, passionately read & studied, embraced Ásatrú, launched the Map of Midgard project, and spearheaded the neologism/brand NorsePlay. If you have employment/opportunities in investigative mythology,  field research, or product development to offer, do contact him.

Comments

  1. Skarphéðinn Án Runólfsson: Does her cave in the Dimmuborgir lava fields have an actual location? If so, been? #MapOfMidgard

    ReplyDelete

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