Reykjavík Grapevine - 10.03.2017, Side 46

Books 46The Reykjavík GrapevineIssue 03 — 2017
Val-holla at cha girl!
Neil Gaiman’s Norse Mythology: The Greatest Hits
Words: Nanna Árnadóttir
The slow arc of a short-handled
hammer glinting in the never-
ending summer sunlight and
the flame of Thor’s golden beard
framing a terrible battle-cry. The
flash of cunning green eyes as
Loki schemes, slipping through
silt and slime as a salmon, hid-
ing from the wrath of the Gods in
the depths of a rock pool. Puffs of
sludge unsettling in the bottom
where he lurks, smug and plump.
Neil Gaiman, one of the world’s
most beloved genre-bending fic-
tion writers, evokes all these
scenes, and many more, in his
new book ‘Norse Mythology’. With
short sentences and purposeful
pared-back prose he reminds us
that, yeah, Nordic mythology is
bonkers, and preposterously vio-
lent—but not without humour.
His respectful retelling of the
Norse Gods’ greatest hits includes
how Thor got his hammer, how
the Mead of Poetry was made and
blown out of Odin’s ass, how Loki
became the source of earthquakes,
and much more. Gaiman gives the
reader a feel for the Norse Gods
through his trademark witty dia-
logue. The deities’ back and forth
exposes them as more human
than the mainstream gods of to-
day. These guys weren’t mysteri-
ous benevolent beings in the sky,
wielding their powers with infinite
wisdom—they had problems and
personality quirks, just like every-
day people.
Odin is the wily one. Thor,
frankly, is a dumb-dumb (maybe
even too stupid). Freyja is so over
the patriarchy. Kvasir definitely
registers on some kind of spec-
trum, and Loki is a gender-bending
genius with an eating disorder and
sociopathic episodes. To be hon-
est, if I saw any of these guys on
the street, I’d cross to the other
side. All of these Gods are doomed,
as anyone who knows anything
about Ragnarök will know, but
reading the stories you figure, hey,
they kind of deserve the end of the
world. The humanity of the Gods
in Gaiman’s rendering makes this
book an easy, enjoyable read that
I look forward to sharing with my
own kid when she’s a little older.
And I expect my daughter to share
in my passionate sense of injustice
over Lit the unfortunate dwarf. He
is to Norse mythology what Barb
was to ‘Stranger Things’.
‘Norse Mythology’ is out now
in respectable bookstores, and if
you’re in Iceland right now you
might even be able to snag a few
signed copies at Eymundsson, as
Neil Himself recently visited our
little rock.
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Get Your Read On:
The Indian
& Angels of the
Universe
Words: Björn Halldórsson
Each issue, we take a look at two
Icelandic titles old and new, avail-
able in English translation at most
Reykjavík bookstores. If you’d like
more ideas, or to read more on
Icelandic literature, head over
to gpv.is/lit for in-depth author
interviews, guides, and more
book reviews.
Jón Gnarr – The Indian
In this short and bittersweet liter-
ary autobiography, Jón Gnarr, an
Icelandic comedian and former
mayor of Reykjavík, recounts his
formative years as a child oddity
that no one—not his aging par-
ents, nor the staff of the psych
ward where he was sent as a child
on suspicion of being mentally
deficient—knew what to do with.
Saddled with the entire package
(ADHD, dyslexia and red hair), the
young Jón soon found himself un-
able to fit in among his peers at a
time when learning difficulties
were considered little more than
proof of genetic stupidity. The
tone is humorous, despite some of
the bleaker experiences it relates,
and refreshingly free of animos-
ity toward the peers and author-
ity figures responsible for his
ostracisation, while maintaining
a healthy dislike for inhumane
governmental systems unwilling
to adjust themselves to the needs
of those that fall outside the norm.
Einar Már Guðmundsson –
Angels of the Universe
Winner of the Nordic Council’s
Literary Prize in 1995, ‘Angels of
the Universe’ is still taught in Ice-
landic elementary schools today
due to its concise language and
startling vision into the lives of
those who walk among us carry-
ing the burden of schizophrenia
and other mental diseases. The
main character, Páll, narrates
his whole life, from birth and
a happy childhood through his
teen years, when the disease first
starts showing, to his joining the
hordes of people who spend their
lives in and out of mental insti-
tutions, never truly receiving the
resources they need but merely
being confined and drugged to re-
lieve their families of the burden
of their care. The true strength of
this harsh yet beautiful novel is
Páll’s voice as he narrates his life
with charm—even humor—and
blunt sincerity.
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