Although the National Day has passed, let's talk about other historical facts of Iceland. Like other nations, the land of ice and fire also has different symbols and images that represent the country and identify it according to its values and cultural aspirations. Today we will talk about one that I find quite interesting and enigmatic: The Woman of the Mountain. This instalment is part of the continuation of two series on this site: Icelandic Icons and Konur: Icelandic Women (you know, killing two birds with one stone).
The representation of the Woman of the Mountain, or Fjallkona in Icelandic, dates from 1752, in the poem "Visions at the funeral of Louise of Great Britain" by Eggert Ólafsson. Unfortunately, there is no trace of the image itself, except the description that was traced from the translations made of Ólafsson's poem. Other European nations have shared this type of allegories or representations of national identity using a female figure since the 18th and 19th centuries. For example, the allegory of Hispania from Spain or the figure of Marianne from France. In Mexico, the allegory of the homeland is not so well known (at least it does not have the same symbolic meaning), but perhaps the most widespread is the work of Jorge González Camarena called - surprisingly - "La Patria", by the request of Adolfo López Mateos and which would be the image of the famous books of the Ministry of Public Education, which is represented as a mestizo woman who ... let’s leave it at that.
Let's go back to the Fjallkona
The earliest recorded example of this symbol is a poem by Bjarni Thorarensen. From then on, the Woman of the Mountain would become a recurring symbol in Icelandic poetry. In 1866, Eiríkur Magnússon and G. E. J. Powell published the second edition of Icelandic Legends, an English translation of a compilation of Icelandic folk tales, originally made by Jón Árnason, which illustrated the Fjallkona for the first time. The image was made by the German painter Johann Baptist Zwecker, under the specifications made by Eiríkur himself in a letter detailing the symbols and their meanings, this time I will let him explain:
The image of the woman represents Iceland, since she has an ice crown on her head, from which lava erupts. On her shoulder sits a raven, Iceland's most characteristic bird, Odin's old friend and favorite of poets, a great bird, bearer of news. A seagull stirs over the seas, but through the swell of history and time they carry their rune-written scrolls to earth and end up in the arms of this woman, and she chooses one of them. This serves as a symbol of our literature and of our history. It is night, with a starry sky and you can see the moon. Behind lie mountains, moonlight illuminates the ridges.
The figure of the Woman of the Mountain would have a greater importance in 1944 since, if you have paid attention to our site, it is the year in which Iceland obtained its independence from Denmark. Since then it was established that, as part of the celebrations of this day, a woman would represent her, dressed in the typical Icelandic costume, and read a poem in front of the parliament. Usually the woman is a public figure or with a certain degree of importance. The most peculiar thing about the matter is that the Woman of the Mountain is a strong, empowered woman, who opposes the image of the Danish king as "father" (thus considered during the 19th century), this woman is the representation of the " motherland” with a feminist perspective, which also has a significant cultural impact within the country, since much of the political, social and cultural life has had a vision that is aimed at gender equality. As a curious fact, among the women who have been the Fjallkona, there is not only the first president Vigdís Finnbogadóttir, also, in 2018, the famous (at least locally) drag queen Gógó Star represented her in the parade, while in 2017, in the municipality of Hafnarfjörður, Eva Ágústa Aradóttir, was the first trans woman to represent her. As you can see, the Fjallkona is a current, symbolic figure, who not only keeps the ideal of the nation from which she arose, but also adapts to the times.
This allegory has also been a symbolic motif in Canada, specifically in Manitoba, where Icelandic immigrants settled. The inhabitants of the region, known as New Iceland, maintain great cultural traits to this day, including the image of the Fjallkona as part of the celebrations that recall their Icelandic roots. Since 1924, an elderly woman has been chosen, who has done "something" for the Icelandic community in the region, as it is the way of representing their Iceland, the "old nation" from which they started.
Researching on the subject I came across a lot of extremely interesting details about allegories and the construction of national identity. Perhaps I will return to this theme in the future or perhaps I will leave you only with an open invitation to search for the story of the allegories from different countries, the different versions and the contexts with which they have been elaborated. It is a fascinating subject, especially if you like to learn history through painting.
