Iceland (Lonely Planet, 7th Edition) - Fran Parnell [23]
Skaldic poetry was developed and composed by skalds (Norwegian court poets) in veneration of heroic deeds by the Scandinavian kings, but other themes were introduced as the genre grew in popularity. The most renowned skald was Egill Skallagrímsson – he of Egil’s Saga – who amid his other exploits ran afoul of Eirík Blood-Axe, king of Jorvík (modern-day York), in 948. After being captured and sentenced to death, on the night before his execution Egill composed an ode to Eirík. The flattered monarch released Egill unharmed, and the poem is now known as the Höfuðlausn (Head Ransom).
Skaldic poems are mainly praise-poems, with lots of description packed into tightly structured lines. As well as having fiercely rigid alliteration, syllable counts and stresses, they’re made more complex by kennings, a kind of compact word-riddle. Blood, for instance, is ‘wound dew’; an arm might be described as a ‘hawk’s perch’; and battle is often referred to as ‘the Valkyries’ glorious song’.
20TH-CENTURY LITERATURE
Nobel prize–winner Halldór Laxness is Iceland’s undoubted literary genius. His work is magnificent – for more details, see the boxed text, opposite.
Other authors you may come across are the early-20th-century children’s writer Reverend Jón Sveinsson (nicknamed Nonni), who grew up in Akureyri. Although he mostly wrote in German, his old-fashioned tales of derring-do have a rich Icelandic flavour, and they were translated into 40 languages. At Skipalón is the only one readily available in English. Just after him, Jóhann Sigurjónsson wrote Eyvind of the Hills, a biography of the 18th-century outlaw Fjalla-Eyvindur, which was later made into a film. Two other masters of Icelandic literature are Gunnar Gunnarsson (1889–1975) and Þórbergur Þórðarson (1888–1974), who was beaten to the Nobel prize by Laxness. You’ll have to look out for their work in secondhand bookshops.
For more up-to-date and easily available fare, try Einar Kárason’s outstanding Devil’s Island, about Reykjavík life in the 1950s; it’s the first of a trilogy, but unfortunately the other two haven’t been translated into English. 101 Reykjavík, by Hallgrímur Helgason, is the book on which the cult film was based. It’s a dark comedy following the torpid life and fertile imagination of out-of-work Hlynur, who lives in downtown Reykjavík with his mother. Even more black, with flashes of humour, is the strange Angels of the Universe, by Einar Már Gudmundsson, about a schizophrenic man’s spells in a psychiatric hospital.
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You might think Icelandic Folktales, translated by Alan Boucher, is just a collection of children’s tales, but these light-hearted little gems encompass Icelandic history, humour and belief; they’re the stories the country has been telling itself for hundreds of years.
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Currently surfing a tidal wave of success is Arnaldur Indriðason, whose Reykjavík-based crime fiction permanently tops the bestsellers list. Six of his novels are available in English, including Voices, the award-winning Silence of the Grave, and our favourite, Tainted Blood (also published as Jar City).
Music
POP
Internationally famous Icelandic musicians include (of course) Björk. In Reykjavík, look out for the bestselling Gling Gló, a collection of Björk-sung jazz standards and traditional Icelandic songs that’s quite difficult to find outside the country. Sigur Rós are following Björk to stardom with their strange, ethereal sound; their biggest-selling album Takk (2005) garnered rave reviews around the world. It was followed by the more accessible Með suð í eyrum við spilum endalaust (2007); and the band were just wrapping up a sixth studio album at the time of writing, due to be released in 2010. You may also be familiar with Emiliana Torrini, the Icelandic-Italian singer who sang the spooky Gollum’s Song in the Lord of the Rings film The Two Towers.
Back home, Reykjavík’s music scene continues to flourish – at times it seems the whole city acts as a dizzying music-producing machine, with everyone under 30 playing an instrument or singing in a band. (Something