Of Heroes and Cods’ Heads: Saga Meets Film in Gerpla

Abstract

ABSTRACT: Halldór Laxness’s satirical novel Gerpla (1952) is a socially analytic work that lays bare various misconceptions about Icelandic medieval literature celebrated by the Nazis as well as many Icelanders in the first half of the twentieth century. When it first appeared it was considered by many to have been written in medieval Icelandic and some argued that Halldór Laxness had become “the most conservative” of Icelandic writers (Pétursson 40). In reality, the language of the novel is Halldór’s own creation. This article reviews the narrative construction of Gerpla, considering changes in Halldór’s literary career as he began to address the ancient Icelandic narrative tradition (Íslandsklukkan) as well as film (Atomstöðin) in the nineteen forties. This reveals how Gerpla uses methods of both modern film and medieval literature, such as quotation, montage, and shock effect, to present readers with a defamiliarized saga world.