Groke´s story

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• published: 19 Nov 2014
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The Groke - The Myth: The Groke, its original name is Mårra and comes from the Swedish, its Finnish name is Mörkö. Also known in Norway as Hufsa, in Japan and Poland as Buka, in Iceland as Morrinn, in France as La Courabou and in Mexico as La Coca. The Groke belongs to a Nordic folk myth, and is a phantasmagoric entity that appears in the woods, and it represents the incarnation of death. It appears as a ghost-like entity, hill-shaped body with two cold eyes and a wide row of white shiny teeth. Wherever it stands, the ground below it freezes and plants and grass die. It leaves a trace of ice and snow when he walks the ground and anything he touches will freeze. It´s said that it seeks friendship and warmth, but he is declined by everyone and everything, leaving him in his cold cavern on top of the Lonely Nordic Mountains. The Groke is an ominous creature whose frightening presence scares everyone wherever he goes. He turns up uninvited and rarely says anything. A chilly aura surrounds the Groke and the ground freezes beneath it. Little is known about the Groke’s life, as he likes no one and no one really likes him. Usually, he simply stares threateningly with his round eyes and disappears as soon as he gets what he came for. Although the Nordic countryside people fear the Groke, they also pity his desperate loneliness. - Incarnation of death: You never actually see the Groke move: It slips between the seconds, its gaze fixed on your soul, as it emits a low, horrid breathing sound, like a recording of death itself. It kills everything it touches. - Nordic Culture: It appears in the Finish animated series called Moomins, and in one episode, we see a butterfly approaching it, and just after that, the poor butterfly falls down touched by the death. The same happens to the plants and trees surrounding it. Every other character in the show is terrified of the Groke to the point of hysteria. Another episode shows the Moomins panicking and barricading themselves into their house because they know the Groke is coming that night. Desperate, the dad runs to the attic and grabs a shotgun, but nothing happened. The next morning, when they head out to investigate the spot in the garden where the Groke was, they find it dead and frozen, as if the warmth of a loving God just blew away like leaves in the wind. Then the narrator says, "Oh, what could they do? The terrible Groke would surely return" -- and then the credits roll. That's how the episode ends, with the lingering thought that it's still out there. It's never explained what the Groke is or where it comes from. It seems specifically designed to teach kids about the randomness of death. As we can see, the Groke image, is well known in the Nordic culture, specially in Finland, Norway and Iceland. and it basically appears representing the death itself. We can find visual material about the Groke, but as an important Nordic folk myth, it also has presence in books and music. The Norwegian Metal band “Arcturus”, write their songs based on supernatural, astronomy and literature topics, and they dedicated one song to the Groke, or Hufsa, as is the Groke named in Norway. The lyrics of the song is something like this: I move with shouts and screams Wherever I go I bring cold I "stay" eternally both day and night Cold sterile rivers Towards the light I'm going Every men close their door Alone forever Looking for someone to stay with I am the eternal winter You are scared when I'm close Looking for eternal warmth My torment is greater than words Credits: Hattifatteners group Anon Devian art artists http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Groke Groke cartoon character designed by Tove Jansson 1st Track: Behold the Darkness, By Medwyn Goodall 2nd Track: Arcturus - Hufsa(The Groke) is track #9 2005 album Sideshow Symphonies – Mist Records