Reykjavík Grapevine - 08.04.2016, Page 53

the Edda is more like a sort of an-
thology of several smaller collec-
tions of poems centering on differ-
ent themes and characters. They
range from Peter Jackson-status
apocalyptic fantasy to pagan dat-
ing advice to dumbshit slapstick
comedies to travel guides to sto-
ries of violence against women to
guessing games. For anyone look-
ing for a killer costume idea for
Drag-Súgur, there’s even a poem
where Þórr and Loki have to dress
in drag as bride and bridesmaid
to recover Þórr’s stolen hammer
from a giants’ wedding. Bring
the whole family because there’s
something for everyone.

What the Vulva Says
The most famous of them all is
Völuspá, the Prophecy of the Seer-
ess. In this one, an Icelandic for-
tune-teller known as a völva (why
yes it does sound like the English
word vulva, making any Norse
literature class a lot of fun) tells
Óðinn some stuff. She tells how
the world came from dwarves,
then she lists dwarves’ names for
several pages (many of the names
were later used in ’The Hobbit’—
including Gandalf). She’s just re-
ally into dwarves right now.
Then she tells him how his sis-
sy, pretty-boy son Baldur is gonna
get killed by mistletoe and then
all the gods will get killed by gi-
ants and a sea monster and a wolf
in the apocalypse known as Rag-
narök. There’s fire and blood and
all kinds of dope shit just waiting
to be turned into a narratively idi-
otic blockbuster film whose only
redeeming quality is amazing
special effects. I’d totally pay one
and a half Bryjólfurs to see that.
Racism and
Another Vulva
While the first half revolves
around the gods of Norse mythol-
ogy, the poems in the second half
of the Edda all tell the story of Sig-
urður, Brynhildur, and Guðrún,
which was turned into one of the
weirdest and best sagas, Völsunga
Saga, which I’ve already recapped.
There are also a few poems consid-
ered “eddic” by their meters and
content even though they aren’t
included in the main manuscript.
The weirdest of these is the su-
per white supremacist Rigsþula,
where some guy travels around
having threesomes with couples
of various socioeconomic classes,
whose women then beget the dif-
ferent races. The poor farmers
have black children with names
like “slave” and “servant,” the
middle-class people have ginger
children with names like “smith”
and “shepherd,” and of course the
rich couple beget blonde children
with names like “earl” and “noble-
man.” Yep. I’ll just leave that there.
On a happier note, there's also a
poem called Hyndluljóð in which an-
other, even sassier völva calls Frigg,
queen mother of the gods, a goat-slut,
and then sets her on fire. I always pre-
fer a sassy völva, don’t you?
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Although I’d like to think that ev-
ery month in Iceland is National
Poetry Month, the reality is that
Iceland doesn’t have an official
National Poetry Month. In lieu of
this, we’re going to take a break
from recapping the dusty, repeti-
tive Sagas in honor of April be-
ing National Poetry Month in the
United States and Canada because
why the hell not? This month, I’m
going to recap the crown jewel of
Icelandic literature and Norse my-
thology known mysteriously as
the Edda.
I mean, if you can drink a dis-
counted Guinness on St Patrick’s
Day to celebrate Irish culture even
though you live in Iceland, you can
read at least one goddamn poem in
all of April to celebrate poetry even
though it’s National Poetry Month
in another country. Or if not, you
can just read this article about po-
etry with unnecessary swearing. I
know you love that shit.

Dragons and
Drag Queens
The Edda is the name given to
a collection of poems, most of
which only exist in a single manu-
script from around 1270. No one
really knows where the name
Edda comes from, but it was first
used by that fat dude with the Far-
rah Fawcett beard on the 1,000
krónur bill. He gave away argu-
ably the most precious artifact in
all Icelandic history to the smelly,
witch-hating king of Denmark in
1643. It wouldn’t be returned for
over three hundred years. That
wasn’t very punk rock of him but
it got the sellout’s dumb face on
some money forever, so capitalism
or whatever. Congratufuckingla-
tions, Brynjólfur. You made it.
Anyway, don’t let anyone sell
you some dumb shit about the po-
ems all being connected because

1. Read a
fucking
poem. It
can be a
medieval
Icelandic
one or one
by Anne
Carson or
anything in
between.

2. Read another
one.
3. See how
great they
are? Shut up,
I know.
Morals of
the story: RECAP:
Episode 6 –
The Eddic
Poetry Special
TV ON THE
ANCIENT
MANUSCRIPT
WORDS: Grayson Del Faro
PHOTO: Aldís Pálsdóttir
When mothers expose their
newborn children, leaving them
where they will not be found, they
turn into a ghost known as útbur-
dur. When they are seen, their ap-
pearance resembles that of a bird,
such as a raven. They raise them-
selves up on one knee and one
hand and flutter about. Their co-
lour depends on the colour of the
rag in which they were wrapped.
Those who see an útburdur should
not hesitate to follow it, as it will
eventually flee to its mother. They
howl intensely during bad weath-
er, but rarely speak. An exception to
this is the tale of an útburdur visit-
ing its mother in a sheepfold and
reciting the following verse to her:
My mother in the fold of sheep,
Do not worry, do not weep,
I shall lend you my blood-red rag
For you to wear, for you to wear.
Jón Árnason, Íslenzkar þjóðsögur og
ævintýri III, bls.290
"Monster of the
Month" is a spin off
of 'The Museum of
Hidden Beings', by artist Arngrímur Sigurðsson. He
delved into Iceland´s mythological history, taking
creature encounters from across the centuries and
bringing them to life through painting in an act of
creative cryptozoology. Find the book at book-
stores, or order it online at arngrimur.com.
Útburdur
The Reykjavík Grapevine
Issue 4 — 2016
52
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Opening hours: Thu-Fri 12pm - 5pm, Sat 1pm - 4pm and by appointment +354 863 6860
TVEIR HRAFNAR
listhús, Art Gallery
offers a range of artwork by
contemporary Icelandic artists
represented by the gallery, se-
lected works by acclaimed artists
and past Icelandic masters.
Represented artists:
GUÐBJÖRG LIND JÓNSDÓTTIR
HALLGRÍMUR HELGASON
HÚBERT NÓI JÓHANNESSON
JÓN ÓSKAR
ÓLI G. JÓHANNSSON
STEINUNN THÓRARINSDÓTTIR
Also works by:
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HULDA HÁKON
NÍNA TRYGGVADÓTTIR
KRISTJÁN DAVÍÐSSON
– among others