Few match wits with the Devil and win. Unless, of course, you’re Kitta Grau, then you stand undefeated.
The legend of Kitta Grau originates from Swedish folklore. According to the tale, Kitta was a very clever woman with the uncanny ability to see through the Devil’s disguises and even knew him by his true name. She was so clever that not only did she beat the Devil in his game of deception, she did so three times.
On the first occasion, Kitta came across the Devil wringing his hands in frustration outside the gate of her neighbor’s house, a newly married couple.
“What Vexes you, dark one?” She asked.
“I’ve been trying to cause discord in this marriage, though I failed.”
“You’re a fool, I could see this easily done!”
“I’ll wager these beautiful shoes against your soul that you cannot!”
Kitta agreed to the terms and went to work. First, she visited the wife, congratulating her on what a wonderful husband she had and how he was perfect in nearly every way. However, one piece of wickedness remained in him, which resided in the whiskers under his chin. She advised her that she should shave that patch if she truly wanted happiness.
Then, she went to the husband and praised the beauty of his new bride but warned him to be wary because she was a murderess and planned to cut his throat while he slept. The man laughed and shrugged off the warning. Later that night, he awoke to find her standing above him with a razor. The ensuing battle caused a riff between the newlyweds, and they swiftly divorced.
Astonished, the Devil delivered the shoes.
In her second encounter with the fallen one, Kitta plays an interloper in one of his bargains. As she passes a shop, she notices the deeply distressed merchant frantically praying.
“What’s the matter?” She asked.
“The Devil comes for my soul!”
“Tell me what you have agreed to?”
“He promised seven years of prosperity, where I would sell every piece of merchandise that came to my store. It’s been seven years, and everything has sold. I have only 3 weeks left until I must pay my due.”
“I know something that no one will buy,” she said.
“What’s that?”
“Me. Purchase me, and I swear, no one will buy me again!”
The merchant agreed. Kitta removed her clothes, rolled herself in mud, dung, and tar, and then covered herself in feathers. Then she sat in a large cage outside the merchant’s store, advertised at a reasonable rate. After three weeks, not one person considered buying the curiously foul “bird” on display.
When the Devil returned to claim the merchant’s soul, he examined his inventory and discovered Kitta Grau to be the solitary item remaining for sale. Furious as he was, he acknowledged defeat and left the merchant in peace.
In their third meeting, Kitta passes the Devil on the road. Feeling mischievous, she challenges him to a foot race. Satan, thoroughly frustrated with the woman, agrees, confident that he will seize her soul this time. With the terms decided, the race begins. Satan vanishes in a fiery flash, arriving at the finish line in an instant. However, to his dismay, Kitta Grau was standing there waiting for him. The Devil departs in fury, never knowing that it was Kitta’s twin sister that he met at the finish line.
Kitta Grau is a morally ambiguous character. Some versions paint her even more wicked than the Devil, accounting for her superior guile. It’s one of my favorite tales from Scandinavian folklore. Readers of my Dead Wind Trilogy might recognize a version of her in the mysterious Kitty Gray, the vexing paranormal muse of Thomas Rodgers.
Jason Roberts is a Seattle-based author noted for his acclaimed Western Horror series The Dead Wind Trilogy and other works of cosmic horror infused with historical fiction. His web-based series, Dark Distractions, examines paranormal mysteries, unexplained phenomena, and all things strange.
