Gunnlöd

Anders Zorn's 'Gunnlöd' (1886) depicts the Norse mythological figure — the giantess who guarded the mead of poetry in the Eddic stories. Zorn's engagement with Norse mythology was relatively unusual in his oeuvre, which was primarily devoted to observational subjects — portraits, nudes, and Swedish genre scenes. His treatment of Gunnlöd reflects the broader Scandinavian Romantic nationalism that identified with Norse mythological heritage, though Zorn's approach would naturally be more figural and less purely symbolic than painters like Munch or Thoma.

Zorn renders the mythological figure with his characteristic virtuosic figure technique — the giantess depicted with the physical presence and atmospheric lighting that he developed through his extensive practice with the female figure. His mastery of skin tone, muscle tension, and the atmospheric conditions of the figure's environment are fully engaged, even in this unusual mythological subject.