Like mentioned we did a little photoshoot at the summer cabin. There was this abandoned, half-rotten playground that was quite eerie so here you go - one more addition to the "Supernatural Creatures of Iceland series, the afturgöngur. The name translates as "walks again" and although it's technically speaking a ghost, it's more zombie-like with a physical body and capability of causing all kinds of harm. The difference might be that they don't eat humans and that they aren't contagious in the same way as zombies are.
Stories of how they begin vary but they often have a theme: either an afturgöngur bears a grudge and follows a person everywhere they go, some even follow that person's whole family for generations to come or they can be made by a person who knows magic. This usually requires a murder - you make the afturgöngur by killing a person and adding some magic to the mix. These ones have a chance of backfiring because if the magician then runs out of tasks to give them (tasks you can give them are usually only one: go follow this person I want to destroy until they die) they'll turn on their maker.
Some clever magicians managed to lock their creations inside small containers, often made of sheep bone. So just in case you find a sheep bone with a cork in it... might be a good idea to leave the cork in. Just saying.
Two typical types of afturgöngur are móri and skotta. Móri is male, skotta female, both are usually linked with the colour rust red. The skotta often wears a traditional Icelandic dress with the spoon of the headdress either bent out of shape or pointing backwards. For examples of Icelandic ghosts Draugasetrið in Stokkseyri has lots of interesting ones! Visiting the place remember a few things: it'll be cold in there. There may be ghosts walking around, actors or otherwise since the site is near an old haunted bridge and has a graveyard right next to it. The owner said that after the opening hours none of his workers are too keen on staying inside the building.
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Outfit rundown:
JSK: selfmade
All else: vintage/offbrand
For more photoshoots of Icelandic creatures:
Oooh, what a haunting looking place...! I so like it, yes I do Öuö.
ReplyDeleteI know right! Abandoned places are awesome, but an abandoned playground is something you don't come across every day! I was especially fond of the swing set.
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