A Modern-Day Saga in Fancy Dress: Contemporary Social Critique in Halldór Laxnessʼs Gerpla

Abstract

ABSTRACT: This article was written by literary scholar, publisher, and socialist parliamentarian Kristinn E. Andrésson (1901–1973) shortly after Gerpla’s publication in 1952. However, it was only published nearly twenty years later, on the occasion of Halldór Laxness’s 70th birthday. It situates the novel within its sociohistorical context and reads it as an incisive critique of its contemporary milieu, rather than simply a brilliant reimagining of the sagas. “A reevaluation of the past is a stipulation of the book, but not its goal,” Kristinn writes. Rather, by casting the romanticized heroes and ideals of the Viking age in a harsher light, Halldór not only reclaims the sagas, “allowing Icelandic literature to stand for peace instead of war, for life instead of death,” but also consolidates his longstanding role as a vocal opponent of the American military presence in Iceland and global nuclear proliferation.