Móðir mín í kví, kví comes from an Icelandic folktale about an útburður, the ghost of a child abandoned and left to die. The story was published by folklorist Jón Árnason in 1862.
A young unmarried woman gives birth in secret and leaves her baby in the wilderness, wrapped in a rag. Later, she is invited to a vikivaki, a traditional dance gathering. She wants to go, but has nothing decent to wear. While milking sheep with another woman, she hears a child’s voice singing from beneath the sheepfold wall, offering her the very rag in which she left her baby. She recognises the voice and loses her mind.
Variations of the útburður tale appear across Scandinavian folklore, including the Swedish myling and Norwegian utburdghost stories. In some traditions, the restless child can be released through naming, baptism or proper burial.
