In Search of the Bear King Part 2

In my last post, I left events with the entry of the Bjarndýrakóngur.

So what exactly is this creature? 

According to the sources I was finding the Bjarndýrakóngur, or “Bear King”, was described as a polar bear of immense size that had red cheeks and a single, glowing, golden horn protruding from his forehead. Supposedly Icelandic in origin, this beast was a monarch over other bears that seemed to dictate their comings and goings. 

I started with five primary sources: this blog article from 2011,  which referenced but did not link this article from 2009, this more recent and lovely article, this fandom Wiki entry, and a furaffinity entry.

To summarize the materials:

1. 2011 Karl Shuker Blogspot Article, my initial exposure – article summarizes the findings of Glen Vaudrey (Item 2) and directly quotes his article. Features an unknown illustration. Provides no source material besides Item 2
2. 2009 Glen Vaudrey Article – describes it as the result of a union of a female polar bear with a walrus or bull, red cheeks, glowing horn. Provides no source material.
3.  2017 Michael Engelhard Article – this author appears to have commented on Vaudrey’s post looking for reference material but there are no posted replies. He adds to the original description that the beast understands speech and only uses his horn in self defense or when angered. Provides interesting commentary about mythology of the area and the impacts of Christianity in “domesticating” what may be an older bear deity. Provides no source material, makes no mention of the Vaudrey post. Features an illustration by Jon Baldur Hlidberg that I have come to discover is an illustration from this book.
4. Fandom Wiki Entry – no available date. Also describes a large polar bear with red cheeks and a single horn born of a bear and a walrus or bull. Differs in describing the horn as amber rather than gold. Has one source with no link – Jón Árnason. Íslenzkar þjóðsögur og ævintýri. vol 4. p. 3
5. FurAffinity 2012 – References the Shuker article (Article 1). Does not provide a reference. Features an illustration of the Bear King.

If you’ve made it this far you’re probably picking up on the issue I did – no one lists source material except for the wiki article, which provides no link. Additionally, the source was in Icelandic. It translates as “Icelandic Legends and Adventures” and mentions a volume 4, page 3.

I could locate scanned copies of a book by Áranson*, but the english versions only had one volume and no mention on page 3 (or in the table of contents, or anywhere else I looked) of the creature.

Let me clarify that I make it a point of pride to find solid sources verifying the historical legitimacy of myths and legends from across the world, out of a respect for the scholarly efforts of the men and women who have strived to preserve these cultures and stories. Last year I faced a similar challenge with the Al-mi’raj. I could find no sources beyond RPG and DND websites.

After a day combing through scanned copies of Zakariya Al-Qazwini’s Wonders of Creation I found several images verifying the creature was included in the work. I’m still on the hunt for a translated copy.

Eventually I would find a scanned copy of the correct volume** I was looking for. And there on page 3 was the word: Bjarndýrakongur. After some back-and-forth with google translate the text came out to what you see below.

“In the year 1848 I heard it said in Grimsey that once in the time of Rev. Arni (Illugason?) the Bear King came up to Grimsey with other bear animals. It is said in Grimsey about the Bear King that there was one corner out of his head and in that corner was the pale gold stone. But from this king it is said that he came to Midgard when a priest went to church, bowed to a priest, and went his way south to Borgamó and the bear beast killed them. The king looked around, grabbed the beast and killed it, then went harmlessly with his animal group south of Grenvik and a c in to the sea. These bear kings were very big and big-boned.”

You can see the untranslated document here.

So the mystery of the Bear King was finally solved. It appears to be an old folk legend collect by Áranson in his attempts to preserve the oral culture of Iceland. I could not find any other sources. The island of Grimsey itself is incredibly isolated, even by Icelandic standards, and Atlas Obscura has a brief but interesting article about it here.

Perhaps one of the strangest mythical creatures I have encountered to date. This mystery was an incredibly satisfying one to unravel.

*Áranson, Jón. “Icelandic Legends : Jón Árnason, 1819-1888 : Free Download, Borrow, and Streaming.” Internet Archive, London : Richard Bentley, 1 Jan. 1864, archive.org.

**Áranson, Jón. “Bækur.Is.” Leita – Bækur.Is, 1956, baekur.is.