"Flumbra" An Icelandic Folk Tale

For our Homeschool co-op's World Traveler's Day this week, I am sharing what I have learned about Iceland. One simple and fun way I'm going to do this is with a book called "Flumbra", which is written and illustrated by an Icelandic author and her artist. The story behind the main moral of the story shows, in a folkloric way, what Icelandic people believe cause their unique and powerful geological land turmoil, including volcanic eruptions, glaciers, land slides, and earthquakes. Icelandic people have many beliefs that surround Giants and Little People, such as Elves, Fairies, and Trolls. "Flumbra" is based on those beliefs.

Flumbra, An Icelandic Folktale, by Gudrún Helgadóttir
Illustrations by Brian Pilkington
Minnesota, Minneapolis: Carolrhoda Books, Inc., 1986

Ari is a little boy who lives in Iceland with his pappa, and Ari is afraid of giants -- especially the ones who might steal naughty children and carry them into the mountains! One day, Ari asks his pappa to tell him a story about giants. In his pappa's story, we learn all about Flumbra, the gentle giantess, who falls in love with a lazy giant, and has eight baby boys! What happens to Flumbra as she learns about love, being a mother, and traveling with her giant children helps Ari never to be afraid of giants again. A wonderful read for both humor and reassurance.

For the reading, I have gathered up or made items to help make the story more interactive and fun, too. I'll have a paper volcano with red volcanic rock, beans in a bottle to shake for the earthquake, some small boulders to shake for the landslide, a tiny stuffed sheep from Australia to sit in a "Giant Troll's hand, and a very large icicle to resemble a glacier.

I also got motivated to create some of my own artwork from the amusing pictures in the book. The troll faces have such texture and character that I was called to do a quick pen sketch of Flumbra's face.

The book "Flumbra"

The page that called me to get out some paper and a pen to create a quick ink sketch.

I left out the birds and added a few details and made a couple changes to make it mine. I really liked how my Flumbra turned out.