Reykjavík Grapevine - apr. 2021, Side 26

It’s a brutal truth, but as a whole,
most Icelandic writers have two
relatively boring characteris-
tics in common. First, they take
themselves way too seriously.
And second, they are still kind
of chasing the glorious shadows
of our only Nobel Prize win-
ner Halldór Kiljan Laxness—
though they’d never admit it.
Although this is changing, the
repercussions of these two char-
acteristics are that most Icelandic
writers haven’t really ventured
beyond the “serious novel” genre.
The anomaly perhaps is crime
fiction, which became popular in
the late 90s when former journal-
ist Arnaldur Indri!ason began
tackling the genre after he lost
his job. While at first his novels
didn’t score particularly high with
critics, readers quickly caught on
and his works were a cherished
relief from the seriousiousness
of Icelandic literature, ending
up making Arnaldur the most
popular writer in Iceland today.
But the genre that very few
writers in Iceland have explored
is fantasy, which is borderline
dumbfounding when you con-
sider how rich in fantasy stories
Icelandic history is. You can find
remnants of it in Tolkin’s ‘Lord Of
The Rings,’ countless video games,
movies and so much more, but not
very many Icelandic books. Like
Arnaldur, it’s clear we need a trail-
blazer. That said, there are some
candidates, so here is a rundown
of our top fantasy writers paving
the way for the genre in Iceland.
A metal fantasy
First we have Alexander Dan Vil-
hjálmsson. He’s possibly the most
internationally well-known Ice-
landic fantasy writer, as his books
have been successful commercial-
ly. Alexander Dan’s debut ‘Shad-
ows of the Short Days’ was trans-
lated and published by Gollancz,
a widely known and respected
publisher in the fantasy genre.
The book’s stage is an alternative
magical Reykjavík city with wiz-
ards and half-elves-half-humans
striving for a revolution. It’s a well
thought-out, deep and inventive
world, and what more do we re-
ally need from a fantasy novel?
Oh yes, and did we mention
that Alexander Dan is also a hard-
core metal guy who is the front-
man and writes the lyrics for
the beloved black metal project
Carpe Noctem? Well, now we did.
Horror (for kids?)
Within Iceland though, Hildur
Knútsdóttir is probably the most
successful and widely-respected
fantasy writer. In 2017, she won
the Icelandic Book Prize for her
young adult novel ‘Vetrarhörkur’
(‘Winter Frost’). The novel told
the story of a devastating alien
attack on Earth that destroyed
our entire civilization, forcing
humanity to reckon with their
new post-apocalyptic reality.
The main characters are teen-
age siblings, who live a relatively
normal life until the aliens attack.
So far the book might sound pretty
conventional, but there is a twist,
as in the second novel in the series,
the story quickly turns into a bru-
tal splatter horror story. Therefore,
to call it different from other young
adult books on the Icelandic mar-
ket would be an understatement.
The core of Hildur’s works is a
brutal criticism of modern people
and the numbness in our daily
lives. It’s also an exploration of
selfishness and how easy it is to
forget the importance of not taking
others for granted. Hildur is truly a
unique writer, and ‘Winter Frost’
is a great start for anyone that
wants to enter Icelandic fantasy.
Crime Cthulhu fantasy
Ok, it’s a damn shame that no
one has translated Emil Hjörvar
Petersen’s fantasy novels, but
he’s so great—and potentially if
we talk him up enough, he will
get translated—that we are go-
ing to mention him anyway. Emil
is one of the most prolific writ-
ers in the fantasy genre and he’s
put in the effort to not only pro-
mote Icelandic fantasy domesti-
cally, but also internationally.
Emil’s book, ‘Nornasveimur’
(‘The Swarming Witches’) is a su-
pernatural thriller that’s sort of
like if an old Icelandic saga was
crossed with H.P. Lovecraft. Emil
often writes crime fiction where
the detectives have to cross worlds
to solve despicable crimes. He’s
the only writer in Iceland who
focuses primarily on the crime
fantasy novel while also featur-
ing your classic Icelandic charac-
ters: elves, trolls, ghosts, and, of
course, the horrific human be-
ings that in the end are always the
most cruel creatures of them all.
The younglings
There are of course more fantasy
writers in Iceland, and many more
to come, we’re sure. It’s interest-
ing to point out that all of these
writers are younger than 40 and
considering the high quality of
work they are putting out, we’re
certain the genre will blow up one
day in Iceland. In fact, in our opin-
ion, it’s only a matter of time.
26The Reykjavík Grapevine
Issue 04— 2021
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SÆTA SVÍNI$ / Hafnarstræti 1-3 / Tel. 555 2900 / saetasvinid.is
ICELANDIC GASTROPUB
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The Generation
Shapin$ Icelandic
Fantasy
Icelandic sa!as are full of fantasies, but not so
much the modern novel
Words: Valur Grettisson Photo: Shutterstock/Tithi Luadthong
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