Deacon of Myrká
The Deacon of Myrká is Iceland's best-known tale of the returning dead. A drowned clergyman rides out of his grave on Christmas Eve to collect the woman he had promised to bring to the feast, and tries to drag her into the grave with him. It is a local form of the international 'dead bridegroom' story, but the deacon is a solid corpse with a smashed skull. The tale remains a fixture of Icelandic art and literature.1
- ringing the church bell
- an exorcist, who finally laid him
When did it first appear?
1860First printed in Konrad Maurer's Isländische Volkssagen der Gegenwart (1860), then in Jón Árnason's collection (1862)
What the sources say
His fiancée Guðrún had not heard that he was dead1
As they ride, his hat tips forward and she sees the bare skull through the wound1
He calls her 'Garún' because the Icelandic dead cannot pronounce Guð, 'God'1
At the open grave he seizes only the empty sleeve of her coat1
She saves herself by hauling on the bell rope until people come1
Could you outrun it?
Speed class from how the sources describe it (runs), not a measurement.
Sources
Every fact on this page comes from these sources, written in our own words. Spotted a mistake? Tell us at hello@zombiewiki.app.
Draugr
Glámr
Asvith
Haugbúi
Hjaðningavíg
Hrappr
Jiangshi
Zombi (Haitian)
Strigoi
Vampir (South Slavic)
Abhartach
Arnold Paole