SÆKÝR

Film by Edith Morris

Performed by Annika Johnston

SÆKÝR (Sea Cow), a creature from folklore that roams the hills and fjords of Iceland. It uses a bladder between its nostrils to breathe both in and out of water. 

DAGTRÖLL (Day Troll), can move through day light. Enraged that the land has been defiled, seeks revenge. 

DÖKKÁLFUR (Dark Elf), like all the hidden folk of Iceland, can become visible at will.

ÚTBURDUR, the spirit of the abandoned newborn, takes on the colour of the rag in which they where wrapped and haunts their mother. 

I traveled to Iceland with a clockwork Super 8 camera, a roll of film, a cassette recorder and a book on Icelandic folklore. I went to the East Fjords, one the most isolated parts of Iceland during a harsh winter and the lowest temperatures since 1948. Flash flooding and avalanche warnings followed the thaw. The country's extreme landscape and climate have influenced its mythology and its need for story.