Trio of important Nordic playwrights
This trio of Icelandic dramas highlights three important figures in the history of Icelandic theatre. In his general introduction to the book, Haugen explains that Icelandic culture was dominated by Danish influences early in the twentieth century, when Denmark ruled Iceland as a colony. Iceland gained partial independence from Denmark in 1918 and full independence in 1944. During these decades of transition, Icelandic playwrights worked to come out from under the shadow of Danish literature, build an Icelandic theatre scene, and develop a national literature. Despite Iceland’s small population, these Icelandic-born stage productions found a respectably large and supportive audience in the country’s very literate population.
The first selection, The Wish (original title: Galdra-Loftur) by Jóhann Sigurjónsson premiered in 1915. It is a Faust-like tale of a studious young man with a thirst for arcane knowledge who dabbles in black magic. The second play, Davið Stefánsson’s Golden Gate (Gullna hliðið), debuted in 1941. It is about an old woman determined to get her recently deceased husband into Heaven by carrying his soul to the Pearly Gates. Both of these plays are based on Icelandic folktales, not pagan folklore but Christian folklore. From these two works, one gets the idea that Christianity was a prominent force to be reckoned with in Icelandic society during this time period. The Wish, being the earlier of the two productions, takes itself seriously as a moral drama. Golden Gate, on the other hand, treats its religious subject matter with much irreverent humor that would have likely been considered scandalous a couple decades earlier. The humor, however, is pretty obvious and grows rather tedious, making Golden Gate the least successful entry in the volume.
The final selection, Agnar Þórðarson’s Atoms and Madams (Kjarnorka og kvenhylli) from 1955, is an Icelandic pony-sized horse of an entirely different color, being a secular political satire. A scientist from Canada, sent by the International Scientific Commission, discovers uranium in an Icelandic mountain. A local senator schemes to swindle the valuable land away from his farmer friend. Through satire, Þórðarson expresses the reality of Iceland’s newfound independence, in which America and the larger European nations meddle in the island nation’s post–war future, covet its natural resources, and infect the Icelandic populace with contagious opportunism. This is quite a clever and entertaining comedy.
Because of its tripartite structure and Haugen’s informative contextual introductions, Fire and Ice is one of the more successful books in the Nordic Translation Series at educating the reader about the history and literature of the nation in question. And although Stefánsson’s less impressive offering drags on far too long, the other two plays make for gratifying reading.
Plays in this collection
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