The Dead Bridegroom' (ATU 365) in Iceland

Abstract

The tale is familiar: A young woman is collected from her home and taken on horseback by a male figure known to her, but subsequently discovers that the rider is his ghost, and that the grave is their destination. While AUT 365 is known throughout Europe, this article traces the form and details of the story as they were localised to reflect the social reality of Iceland. Beginning with ‘The Deacon of Myrká’, collected by Konrad Maurer and included in his 1860 collection of Icelandic tales, the article discusses five further variants published by Jón Árnason beginning in 1862, and one collected in Canada by Torfhildur Hólm from a fellow Icelandic settler sometime after 1876. After discussing how these variants reflect the Icelandic context, the author suggests that they may ultimately derive from oral traditions disseminated by trade between Iceland and England during the fifteenth century.