The workings of monsters : of monsters and humans in Icelandic society

Vestfirðir(Westfjords of Iceland) is the large north-western peninsula of Iceland, which consists of high mountains and deep fjords. It is the most isolated and sparsely populated part of Iceland. Geographically the oldest part of the country, it is also the place which Icelanders see as the perfect environment for trolls and giants. For over 1,100 years, Icelanders have amassed a plethora of diverse monsters, good, bad, and in-between; this diversity can be tested against Cohen's (1996) Seven Theses categorization. These monsters live on the land, within the land (and water); and they are the land. They also live within Icelanders, at times in the form of protectors, at times as adversaries. Such monsters enter the lives and minds of Icelanders in different ways and their place, meaning, and effectiveness are diverse. On the one hand, the powers of Icelandic monsters can be displayed and affected through fear, deceit, and natural catastrophes, while on the other hand their powers can be negotiated and leveled to the benefits of human and “monsterkind.” Like the land, these monsters cannot easily be categorized (Cohen's Thesis III) and at the same time they both represent and reveal Icelandic history, culture, and society (Cohen's Thesis I). As a child growing up in Iceland, I learned about the four Vaettir ­(protectors) of Iceland. They come in the shape of Gridingur (bull), Gammur (griffin), Dreki (dragon), and Bergrisi (rock-giant) and are entrusted with the task of protecting the land—north, south, east, and west respectively—from external forces. Over the years, the symbolic meaning of the Vaettir, and their place in Icelandic mythology, history, and psyche, have settled in my mind, but my earliest feeling for them was awe of their size, for they are all giants.