Warning: This article contains spoilers for Red One
Jake Kasdan Red is a creative take on a holiday movie that finds an unexpected group banding together to find Santa Claus after he’s been kidnapped. Red follows characters Callum Drift (Dwayne Johnson), the North Pole’s Enforcement Logistics and Fortification (ELF) security chief, and Jack O’Malley (Chris Evans), a naughty list hacker, as they search for Santa Claus and examine their own beliefs about Christmas along the way.
Despite RedWith mediocre reviews and box office returns, it features several Christmas characters that audiences may not be familiar with. Similar to Santa Claus’s original mythical origins, other characters from Red come from folklore around the world, including Gryla, RedThe villainous wizard responsible for kidnapping Santa Claus. Although it is interesting to see how Red incorporated this legend into its story, its real origins are a little different from those presented in the film.
Gryla’s story and plan in Red One explained
She hopes to end Christmas
In RedGryla is the villain who kidnaps Santa Claus in hopes of ruining Christmas. After kidnapping Santa Claus at the beginning of the film, she steals a toy duplicating machine from Santa’s workshop along with a magical artifact, a snow globe, that will help her carry out her evil plan. The snow globe’s magic will allow her to trap someone inside, and Red describes that Gryla hopes to trap all the naughty children in the world using the duplication device.
All over Redthe audience learns several pieces of Gryla’s history as the Winter Witch. Although Gryla appears as a young girl throughout the film, it is revealed that she is actually an ogress who has the ability to shapeshift. Likewise, Gryla is seen ordering her shape-shifting children throughout the film. Red also connects Gryla and Krampus, another mythical creature, as former love interests, although Callum and Jack discover that Krampus did not help kidnap Santa. Put Red’At the end of the film, Gryla has her plan in place and Callum and Jack must fight to stop her.
Gryla is an ogress from Icelandic folklore
The name appears for the first time in a 13th century work
The name Gryla first appeared in medieval Icelandic literature in the 13th century. While it appears that Gryla was always a variation of monster, little else is known about the figure from that time. Gryla was first associated with Christmas during the 17th century when several poems outlined their description, their goals, and their husbands and children. From the 17th century onwards, Gryla was described as an ugly and evil ogress who stalks cities during the winter asking for charity.
According to myths, Gryla toured Icelandic cities to find mischievous children whom she would kidnap in a sack that she was portrayed carrying. The mischievous children would be taken back to the remote cave, where Gryla supposedly lived with her husband and many children, to be turned into stew. The myth states that to get rid of Gryla, she must be chased away or given another source of food. Gryla’s stories continue to be told in Iceland today, although less frequently and with less emphasis on the more violent details.
Gryla’s powers and appearance in red compared to the myths
His appearance is much scarier in folklore
Grila em Red is played by 25-year-old actor Kiernan Shipka, and looks very different from what is portrayed in Icelandic myths. RedGryla is young and beautiful and uses her magical powers to her advantage. In contrast, the Gryla of Icelandic myth is older and uglier. They say that the mythical Gryla is horrible to look at and very greedy when it comes to asking for charity and stealing children. Legend has it that she is never satisfied and always carries a bag on her back to carry as many children as possible.
…both in myths and RedGryla’s main goal remains the same: to punish naughty children.
Additionally, Red changes Gryla’s powers and backstory to better fit the film’s plot. In RedGryla is a very powerful witch whose abilities are associated with winter. She is able to transform into any figure she desires and can easily track people across the world. In contrast, In the myths, Gryla does not appear to be a witch. She is referred to only as an ogress who tries to steal from naughty children and lives in a remote cave. However, both in myths and in RedGryla’s main goal remains the same: to punish naughty children.
Are Gryla and Krampus connected in real myths?
Their myths originated in different places
To find Gryla, Callum and Jack decide to speak to Krampus (Kristofer Hivju), another Christmas monster who they believe may be helping her. In folklore, Krampus is a creature who is a demonic counterpart to Saint Nicholas and punishes children on the eve of the feast of Saint Nicholas. He is often depicted as a goat-like demon with horns, a long, pointed tongue, and sometimes cloven hooves. In some legends, Krampus punishes bad children with birch rods, stealing their gifts or kidnapping the children themselves.
In RedGryla and Krampus previously dated and are both mythical Christmas creatures. Likewise, its objectives, both in Red and in myths, both have largely to do with punishing naughty children. However, in addition to his contrasting goals with Santa Claus, Gryla and Krampus have no connection in their real myths. The myth of Gryla originated in Iceland and spread very little beyond there. In contrast, the myths of Krampus originated in the Alpine region of Europe, with written sources mentioning the figure dating back to the 16th century. Throughout Europe, the description of Krampus changes, but Gryla is never mentioned.
How the Red One changes Gryla
Gryla’s appearance and motives are exclusive to the Red One
From the Icelandic myths surrounding Gryla, it is clear that her main intention is to scare children. While Gryla’s character in Red is the villain, their appearance and goals are greatly toned down compared to their origins. She appears to be young and attractive compared to the much older and uglier version of Gryla who appeared in the myth. In the same way, RedGryla is not portrayed as wanting to eat the children she traps in snow globes. These changes were likely made simply to prevent the film from being too scary for young audiences.
Likewise, although the original Gryla is said to live in a cave, Gryla in Red is seen in a lair beneath Santa’s workshop. She is also given a past relationship with another character to humanize her and relate her to other plot elements. In short, the film changes Gryla to make her origins and motives more suitable for young 21st century audiences. This releases Red to focus more on the lighthearted and fun dynamic between Dwayne Johnson’s Callum and Chris Evans’ Jack as they try to weave action with Christmas spirit.