Gerdur Kristny

This is Gerður Kristný's third collection from Arc and the third of the trilogy which already comprises the highly-acclaimed Bloodhoof and Drápa. In all three poetic sequences, the poet employs the archaic form of the saga to conjure up razor-sharp dark and bewildering images of the fates of women in a world where the boundaries between life and death and what lies beyond are unclear. In this particular sequence, Gerður Kristný gives a voice to a woman whose story was one that society was not ready to hear at the time, a woman who was abused as a child but who committed suicide before her own account of what had taken place was published. At its heart is the very notion of articulation, of how our language and culture determine what stories we can tell and what words we can use.

Celebrated Icelandic writer Gerdur Kristny's Drapa is a novel-poem which takes its form from Old Norse shield poetry and its mood from modern Nordic crime. But the poem is no fiction: it is about a real woman's murder in the city of Reykjavik, and, through this lens, about all women's deaths. This is Viking poetry at its most contemporary.

Celebrated Icelandic writer Gerdur Kristny's Drapa is a novel-poem which takes its form from Old Norse shield poetry and its mood from modern Nordic crime. But the poem is no fiction: it is about a real woman's murder in the city of Reykjavik, and, through this lens, about all women's deaths. This is Viking poetry at its most contemporary.

Den islandske forfatter Gerdur Kristnys Drapa er et langdigt, der henter sin form fra den oldnordiske skjaldedigtning og sin stemning hos den moderne nordiske krimi. Men digtet handler om et virkeligt kvindemord i Reykiavik, og, gennem det, om alle kvindedrab. Det er vikingepoesi - bogstavelig talt skrevet i Ingmar Bergmans seng. Gerdur Kristny har på Vandkunsten tidligere udgivet ungdomsbogen Kirkegården (2014) , samt digtkredsen Blodhingst (2011), hvor et af gudedigtene fra Den Ældre Edda, ”Skírnismál” eller ”Skirners rejse”, omtolkes feministisk, fra munter mandig forførelseshistorie til grum beretning om seksuelle overgreb. Der går en myte- og maskulinitetskritisk linje fra Blodhingst til Drapa, hvor Gud sammenlignes med månen og Odin, og hvor Djævelen går lyslevende rundt i Reykjavik – og dræber. Med et efterskrift af oversætteren.

I Den poetiska Eddan berättas om hur guden Frej förälskar sig i jättekvinnan Gerður, och sänder sin dräng Skírnis, som med bevekelser och hot förmår henne att lämna sitt hem i Jötunheim och bosätta sig med honom. I Blodhov återdiktar Gerður Kristný berättelsen på en ordknapp vers, som ansluter nära till den fornnordiska förlagans metrik och klang, med Gerður i centrum. Gerður Kristný är född 1970 och bosatt i Reykjavík. Boken Blodhov utkom 2010, och belönades samma år med Isländska litteraturpriset. I svensk översättning och med efterord av John Swedenmark.