Resolving Power ////////////////// +Kris Graves

THE CHURCH-BUILDER OF REYNIR - PART II / II

“…..The man paid no attention to anything but his work and hardly said a word, and indeed he worked with astonishing speed. The farmer saw that the church would be completed by about the end of haymaking. Now he grew very unhappy but could do nothing about it. In the autumn, when the church was almost finished, the farmer strolled beyond the homefield and lay down by the hillock. Then he heard a chanting inside the hillock, as if a mother were chanting to her child:

Finnur soon will come, your father from Reynir, to fetch his darling son.

This was chanted over and over again, and the farmer memorised the verse. Now far more cheerful he walked back to the church. The builder had finished planing the last plank which was to go above the altar and was about to fix it in place. The farmer came to the doorway and said: “So you’re almost done, Finnur.” The man was so taken aback that he dropped the plank and vanished; he has never been seen again.”

THE CHURCH-BUILDER OF REYNIR - PART I / II

“Once upon a time a certain farmer lived at Reynir in Myrdalur. He was to build a church there but he was short of timber for the structure. Haymaking season had arrived, so he had no builders for the work, as he feared that the church would not be completed before winter. One day he was wondering in the fields in a dismal mood, when a man came to him and offered to build the church for him. In return, the farmer was the say what the man’s name was before the construction was completed; otherwise, the farmer must hand over his only son, who was six years old. They agreed on these terms and the stranger set to work…..”

JOKA AND THE PASTOR - PART III / III

“…..Once a ship went out to the Westman Islands, as usual. When the skipper was about to call for the boar to be launched from land, one of the crew said to him: “Are you planning on taking the Devil out to the Islands?” The skipper said he wasn’t and asked the crewman what he meant. The man replied that Joka was on her way out to sea with them. But when this was said, Joka left the ship; on this occasion no one had seen her but that one man.

When Porsteinn had been in the Westman Islands for nineteen years, he had had enough and went to the mainland in the spring. This was the time of year when people were flocking to the Westman Islands, among them was the above-mentioned Rev. Magnus. But as soon as Porsteinn stepped ashore on the mainland, Joka was there. She grabbed Porsteinn and tore him to pieces. Just as she finished that task, the Rev. Magnus arrived and Joka said: “You’re late, though you rode hard.” The pastor replied: “That’s true, but now I intend to see the end of you.” The pastor then started to exchange verses with Joka and his verses were not very polite. One of them was as follows:

Hekla’s split is a hellish pit, where raging infernos spit; I’ll show you the door to that great floor, there’s no place that you merit more.

Before long, Joka vanished, never to be seen again.

JOKA AND THE PASTOR - PART II / III

“…..Now the story returns to Jorunn; though she died, her ghost was restless. She was seen doing housework at Hofdabrekka and she was often in the larder serving food but she usually added dirt to it. Otherwise she did no harm to anyone but she walked around with her headdress dangling between her shoulders, which made her look different from other women. she was known by the diminutive of her name: “Joka.”

People often thought they saw her, in various places. Once she met the Rev. Magnus on the road and leant on one of his horses. The pastor said to her: “You did yourself harm, Joka.” But she answered: “Say naught of that, Pastor Mangi. Once you’re dead, it’s too late to repent.” At that moment she vanished but the horse she had leant on had its shoulder broken.

Once two girls stayed up at night in a cowshed. They had a light, and were up on the wooden platform. One said; “How do you think we would react, if Joka on Hofdabrekka cane to us?” At that very moment, Joka’s head appeared over the edge of the platform and she placed her hand on it. She said: “How do you suppose you would react?” She stood there for a while, then vanished, without doing the girls any harm…..”

JOKA AND THE PASTOR - PART I / III

“Long ago, a woman named Jorunn lived at Hofdabrekka. She was a woman of violent temper and harsh character, but other than this she did not have a bad reputation. She had a grown-up daughter, who was a promising woman.

Also at Hofdabrekka lived a man named Porsteinn, a good man of excellent character. He fell in love with Jorunn’s daughter, but she did not like this, and some say that she wanted him for herself but Porsteinn thought she was too old. Now it happened that Porsteinn fathered a child on Jorunn’s daughter. Jorunn was very angry and said that they should never marry. Many people spoke in Porsteinn’s favour but this only made things worse. Finally, it was agreed that Porsteinn should go away from Hofdabrekka and have no more to do with the mother of his child.

At Hofdabrekka, the beasts were taken to summer pasture, where they were milked and dairy products were made, and Jorunn’s daughter normally went along as housekeeper for he workers. Porsteinn could not forget the mother of his child, and he seized the opportunity to visit her secretly at the summer pastures and bring her gifts. Jorunn received an exaggerated account of this. She was so irate that she said she would be revenged on Porsteinn after death, if not in life, and this brought her to her grave. Magnus Petursson was pastor at Horgsland at that time and he was regarded as having many supernatural skills. Porsteinn consulted him and the pastor advised him to go immediately to the Westman Islands. He provided him with an escort all the way and told him not to come back to the mainland for twenty years…..”

JFK Taxi, New York, 2012

*goodbye my love, see you in july

©Kris Graves

FIRE & ICE, Iceland, 2012

*Early this year, me and Sarah went to Iceland, and I was fortunate enough to make a dope series of work there. She will be working in Hong Kong for the next 60 days, and since she wont be here for the summer, I have decided to post one new image from our Iceland trip per day, along with a weekly Iceland folk tale, until we are together again.

STARTING MAY 30.

Airport, Richmond, Virginia, 2012

*such a thorough security check, then I walk into an empty airport, in the middle of the afternoon, on a weekend.

©Kris Graves

Matt Pre Jamaican Food, Richmond, Virginia, 2012

©Kris Graves

Matt, Richmond, Virginia

©Kris Graves

Row Houses, Richmond, Virginia, 2012

©Kris Graves

Strange Cargo, Richmond, Virginia, 2012

©Kris Graves

River, Richmond, Virginia, 2012

*this was taken before we saw the snake in the water

©Kris Graves

It’s Fleet Week, Y’all !!!!!

*this is for you, scorpion.

©Kris Graves

Matt Photographing, Richmond, Virginia, 2012

©Kris Graves