Starting in October, folklorist Dagrún Ósk Jónsdóttir will lead a course at the University of Iceland’s Continuing Education program on the subject of cannibalism, reports Vísir.
“Cannibalism is a phenomenon that horrifies most of us; it’s taboo. At the same time, it also seems to arouse our curiosity,” states the course website, which specifically notes that this is not a cooking course.
“It’s the same with cannibalism as with many other horrifying things,” Dagrún told Vísir. “What scares us also fascinates us. We see this, for example, in the crazy popularity of crime stories and all these ‘true crime’ podcasts, as well as horror movies.”
As Dagrún points out, cannibalism and human flesh have been popular topics in contemporary pop culture, appearing in novels, poetry books, theatre, countless TV shows, and movies. Famous examples include the movie The Silence of the Lambs and the TV series Santa Clarita Diet.
But cannibalism also features in many myths, folktales, and fairy tales, such as Hansel and Gretel and Jack and the Beanstalk. In folktales, the story of the serial killer Axlar-Björn is one example; when Axlar-Björn’s mother is pregnant with him, she craves human blood, showing that he is evil from the very beginning. In older versions of Little Red Riding Hood, the wolf makes sausages out of the grandmother and gives them to Little Red Riding Hood, who eats her grandmother with great appetite.
Dagrún also mentions the Icelandic version of Cinderella as an example, which is mildly disgusting and quite different from the version most people know.
“There, the main character is not called Cinderella but Mjaðveig Mánadóttir,” she says. “The prince in the story comes by ship from abroad, as there was no kingdom in Iceland. The story ends with Mjaðveig’s stepsisters being killed and salted in barrels. The stepmother eats them and then transforms into a terrifying troll woman. These are the dark sides of fairy tales that have been made more child-friendly over the years, as fairy tales weren’t particularly intended for children in the past, but also for adults.”
Dagrún has a PhD in folklore and has researched cannibalism with a special focus on its representation in Icelandic folktales and fairy tales. Her BA thesis in folklore dealt with cannibalism in Icelandic legends.
“I’ve always been very interested in folktales; the stories we tell, why we tell these stories, and what meaning they have,” she says. “I’ve also always been interested in things that are a bit creepy and disgusting, I’ll admit that. And when it came to choosing a topic for my final thesis, it occurred to me to look at this phenomenon, cannibalism, and I started by researching it in folktales.”
Dagrún points out that cannibalism can actually be approached from many angles, such as ethics, anthropology, religion, and history.
The course titled “Cannibalism and Culture” will be held this coming autumn through the University of Iceland’s Continuing Education program. It consists of two evening sessions, on October 29 and November 5. The course will suitable for all those interested in history and culture, human behaviour, literature, and folklore.
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