SUÐURNES - GUNNUHVER - Gunna's Chants

GUNNUHVER - Gunna's Chants

Gunnuhver is a hot spring located on the Reykjanes peninsula in Iceland. It is named after the ghost witch Gunna.

Story goes that about 400 years ago, a woman named Gudrun “Gunna” lived on this peninsula in a small house owned by a lawyer named Vilhjalmur Jonsson. The locals suspected her of being a witch because of a mysterious pot in her house that was always brewing something. Unfortunately, when Gunna failed to pay her rent, Jonsson took away her cooking pot. Enraged with fury, Gunna starved herself to death. During her funeral, the men who were carrying her coffin to the cemetery, realized that the coffin was oddly lighter.

As the men were digging her grave, they heard Gunna’s specter scream “No need deep dig, no plans long to lie”. The next day, Jonsson was discovered dead, his body was bruised with broken bones. Gunna had got her revenge. The angry poltergeist wasn’t content at that. Her hateful specter continued to haunt and terrorize everyone living in the peninsula. Frustrated, the locals sought the help of a priest who had an interesting solution to trap Gunna forever. The villagers under the priest’s advice, left a loose end from a ball of twin for the ghost to grab. Luckily, she did and was dragged along as the ball rolled into the hot spring, trapping her in it for eternity. Since then, the hot spring came to be known as Gunnuhver, or Gunn’s hot spring. Some believers of the legend claim that Gunna’s ghost never did fall into the infernal pit, but continues to hang on its edge.

(original article here)

One of the most surprising things about driving through the SUÐURNES region along the west coast of the island is the sight of these columns of smoke that can be seen from a distance due to the flat geography.

An urban eye will instantly see factories spewing polluting smoke into the atmosphere, a sight we may be used to on a daily basis, and a country person will think the same as they are not used to such sights. Once again, this island makes us rethink our understanding of the world, for these are simply natural factories at work. Columns of steam emanating from an opening in the ground that spits out sulphurous water that can sometimes reach 300°C.

The visit of this place was done as usual. I was driving without any real objective and I decided to get closer to this scene which challenged me (I also followed the sign). Everything is done to help the tourist, so no long walk to get to the attraction. Wooden installations allow us to get as close as possible to the main source.

I was lucky enough to meet a family of four who, once away, allowed me to take all the time I needed to record the impressive bubbling.

Quietly placed on the wooden ledge of the installation, sheltered from possible projections, my faithful H2h was able to serenely capture this melody of the earth.

Because of its location, the wind was quite present in this place, so we had to find a way to avoid as much as possible the interference in the microphone. Finally, the hardest part was to get past the smell of sulphur near the source. But anyone who has ever set foot in Iceland and taken a shower there will have gotten used to it.

Stereo type : MidSide

Accessibility:	☆☆☆☆☆
All you have to do is follow the instructions. Everything has been done to make your visit to the site easier.
Recording:	★★☆☆☆
The wind that is brought to hit the capsule, despite the windjammer. But also to find the right location to avoid occasional saturation. Everything that comes from the earth is unpredictable.
Overall rarity:	★☆☆☆☆
More unusual than actually rare. This sound is valuable mainly because of its volcanic and earthy character as a tribute to the land of fire and ice.

You can buy this sound in our official shop:

https://jordsoundscapes.com/b/6hcfn

You can also send it to your friends and family in the form of postcards with a one-minute sound: https://jordsoundscapes.com/b/W57U1

To support us : 

Utip : https://utip.io/jordsoundscapes

Links : 

Youtube Channel : https://www.youtube.com/@jordsoundscapes

Shop : https://jordsoundscapes.com
Linktree : https://linktr.ee/jordsoundscapes