South Iceland

On Christmas Eve 1780, a young deacon named Jón rode through a snowstorm to fetch his beloved Guðrún for midnight mass. When he attempted to cross the Myrká River, his horse stumbled on the ice. Jón fell, struck his head on a rock, and drowned in the freezing water beneath the ice.

But that night, Guðrún heard hoofbeats outside her window. A dark figure on horseback appeared, and believing it to be Jón, she climbed on behind him. As they crossed the river, moonlight struck the rider's face — and Guðrún saw not the living, but the pale, bloated features of a drowned corpse.

The deacon spoke a chilling verse: "Tunglið lýsir, dauðinn ríður, séður andlit á dauðum manni?" ("The moon shines, death rides, do you see the face of a dead man?")

The revenant rode on to Hruni church graveyard and began clawing at the frozen earth, trying to drag Guðrún into the grave with him. She grabbed the church bell cord and rang it desperately — the sound broke the spell. The deacon sank into the earth. Guðrún was found the next morning, still clutching the bell rope, her hair turned completely white. She never fully recovered her mind.