The Legend of Gunna

The story about Gunnuhver is a folk tale that has been passed down over the centuries by word of mouth. This Icelandic folk tale involves a former resident of Reykjanes called Gudrun Önundardottir, or Gunna for short..

Gunna rented her house from a local lawyer named Vilhjálmur Jónsson. One day, she didn’t have enough money to pay the rent but her landlord wasn’t sympathetic to her plight and demanded that she pay up.

But Gunna didn’t have the cash to do this. In place of money, Jónsson took her cooking pot instead, which was probably the only thing of value that she owned. Angry at losing such a precious object, Gunna flew into a rage and cursed him. She also placed a curse over the area itself, which turned the land into a barren and infertile place. 

Gunna was one angry woman!

Shortly after all of this and perhaps due to exhaustion from all the cursing, Gunna passed away. The pallbearers who carried her coffin at her funeral noted that it felt surprisingly light. The fearful locals were even more concerned when they claimed to have heard a woman’s voice saying: “No need to dig deep. No plans to lie long“. The already rattled people were then further freaked out when events took another sinister turn and Vilhjálmur Jónsson dropped dead.

The rumours flew. What if Gunna was a witch?  These events surely couldn’t be a coincidence. Without any credible explanation, the people were seriously spooked and no one that had crossed Gunna wanted to be her next victim. Drastic action was needed and they called for a pastor by the name of Eirikur, hoping that the power of religion could lift the curse and they could all get on with their lives.

Eirikur’s had a crazy idea. He was going to set a trap for Gunna’s ghost using a ball of yarn. His plan was to unravel the string and use it to lure Gunna to a nearby hot spring. If you are a believer of such stories, you won’t be surprised to hear that this worked. 

Legend has it that her spirit fell into the boiling water where it met a steamy fate, with an alternative version stating that she couldn’t let go of the rope, and instead paces endlessly around the rim of the mud pit. Unable to get out, the ghost of Gunna remains there today, giving the place its name: Gunnuhver. 

Is it a true story? There might be some basis in fact for some of it. A woman named Gudrun Önundardottir is mentioned on a census return from the period. Even now, some people let their imagination run wild – at Gunnuhver, they say that they can hear the sound of her falling, and others claim to have seen a shadowy figure running along its edge. The steam seems to hang here, no matter what the weather is doing. Perhaps it’s hiding Gunna’s ghost. Maybe it’s just the wind.

But who wants to take that chance?

A UNESCO World heritage site makes the area a little complicated for filming.  But its a great place anyway.