The recent literature of Iceland has been in a more flourishing state
than ever before since the 13th century. Lyrical poetry is by far the
largest and the most interesting portion of it. The great influence of
Jónas Hallgrímsson (1807-1845) is still felt, and his school was the
reigning one up to the end of the 19th century, although then a change
seemed to be in sight. The most successful poet of this school is
Steingrímr Thorsteinsson (b. 1830). He is specially famous for his
splendid descriptions of scenery (_The Song of Gilsbakki_), his
love-songs and his sarcastic epigrams. As a translator he has enriched
the literature with _The Arabian Nights_, _Sakuntala_, _King Lear_ and
several other masterpieces of foreign literature. Equal in fame is
Matthías Jochumsson (b. 1835), who, following another of Jónas
Hallgrímsson's many ways, has successfully revived the old metres of the
classical Icelandic poets, whom he resembles in his majestic, but
sometimes too gorgeous, language. He is as an artist inferior to
Steingrímr Thorsteinsson, but surpasses him in bold flight of
imagination. He has successfully treated subjects from Icelandic history
_Grettisljóð_, a series of poems about the famous outlaw Grettir. His
chief fault is a certain carelessness in writing; he can never write a
bad poem, but rarely a poem absolutely flawless. He has translated
Tegnér's _Frithiofs Saga_, several plays of Shakespeare and some other
foreign masterpieces. The great religious poet of Iceland, Hallgrímr
Pétursson, has found a worthy successor in Valdemar Briem (b. 1848),
whose _Songs of the Bible_ are deservedly popular. He is like Matthías
Jochumsson in the copious flow of his rhetoric; some of his poems are
perfect both as regards form and contents, but he sometimes neglects the
latter while polishing the former. An interesting position is occupied
by Benedict Gröndal (b. 1826), whose travesties of the old romantic
stories,[7] and his Aristophanic drama _Gandreiðin_ ("The Magic Ride")
about contemporary events, are among the best satirical and humorous
productions of Icelandic literature.
Influenced by Jónas Hallgrímsson with regard to language and poetic
diction, but keeping unbroken the traditions of Icelandic medieval
poetry maintained by Sigurðr Breiðfjörð (1798-1846), is another school
of poets, very unlike the first. In the middle of the 19th century this
school was best represented by Hjálmar Jónsson from Bóla (1796-1875), a
poor farmer with little education, but endowed with great poetical
talents, and the author of satirical verses not inferior to those of
Juvenal both in force and coarseness. In the last decades of the 19th
century this school produced two poets of a very high order, both
distinctly original and Icelandic. One is Páll Olafsson (b. 1827). His
songs are mostly written in the medieval quatrains (_ferskeytla_), and
are generally of a humorous and satirical character; his convivial songs
are known by heart by every modern Icelander; and although some of the
poets of the present day are more admired, there is none who is more
loved by the people. The other is Þorsteinn Erlingsson (b. 1858). His
exquisite satirical songs, in an easy and elegant but still manly and
splendid language, have raised much discussion. Of his poems may be
mentioned _The Oath_, a series of most beautiful ballads, with a
tragical love-story of the 17th century as their base, but with many and
happy satirical allusions to modern life; _Jörundr_, a long poem about
the convict king, the Danish pirate Jörgensen, who nearly succeeded in
making himself the master of Iceland, and _The Fate of the Gods_ and
_The Men of the West_ (the Americans), two poems which, with their
anti-clerical and half-socialistic tendencies, have caused strong
protests from orthodox Lutheran clergy. Near to this school, but still
standing apart, is Grímur Thomsen (b. 1820).
In the beginning of the 'eighties a new school arose--having its origin
in the colony of Icelandic students at the University of Copenhagen.
They had all attended the lectures of Georg Brandes, the great reformer
of Scandinavian literature, and, influenced by his literary theories,
they chose their models in the realistic school. This school is very
dissimilar from the half-romantic school of Jónas Hallgrímsson; it is
nearer the national Icelandic school represented by Páll Olafsson and
Þorsteinn Erlingsson, but differs from those writers by introducing
foreign elements hitherto unknown in Icelandic literature,
and--especially in the case of the prose-writers--by imitating closely
the style and manner of some of the great Norwegian novelists. Their
influence brought the Icelandic literature into new roads, and it is
interesting to see how the tough Icelandic element gradually assimilates
the foreign. Of the lyrical poets, Hannes Hafsteinn (b. 1861) is by far
the most important. In his splendid ballad, _The Death of Skarphedinn_,
and in his beautiful series of songs describing a voyage through some of
the most picturesque parts of Iceland, he is entirely original; but in
his love-songs, beautiful as many of them are, a strong foreign
influence can be observed. Among the innovations of this poet we may
note a predilection for new metres, sometimes adopted from foreign
languages, sometimes invented by himself, a thing practised rarely and
generally with small success by the Icelandic poets.
No Icelandic novelist has as yet equalled Jón Thóroddsen (1819-1868).
The influence of the realistic school has of late been predominant. The
most distinguished writer of that school has been Gestur Pálsson
(1852-1891), whose short stories with their sharp and biting satire have
produced many imitations in Iceland. The best are _A Home of Love_ and
_Captain Sigurd_. Jónas Jónasson (b. 1856), a clergyman of northern
Iceland, has, in a series of novels and short stories, given accurate,
but somewhat dry, descriptions of the more gloomy sides of Icelandic
country life. His best novel is _Randiðr from Hvassafell_, an historical
novel of the middle ages. Besides these we may mention Torfhildur Hólm,
one of the few women who have distinguished themselves in Icelandic
literature. Her novels are mostly historical. The last decade of the
19th century saw the establishment of a permanent theatre at Reykjavik.
The poet Matthías Jochumsson has written several dramas, but their chief
merits are lyrical. The most successful of Icelandic dramatists as yet
is Indrði Einarsson, whose plays, chiefly historical, in spite of
excessive rhetoric, are very interesting and possess a true dramatic
spirit.
In geography and geology Þorvaldr Thoroddsen has acquired a European
fame for his researches and travels in Iceland, especially in the
rarely-visited interior. Of his numerous writings in Icelandic, Danish
and German, the _History of Icelandic Geography_ is a monumental
work. In history Páll Melsteð's (b. 1812) chief work, the large _History
of the World_, belongs to this period, and its pure style has had a
beneficial influence upon modern Icelandic prose.
Of the younger historians we may mention Þorkell Bjarnason (_History of
the Reformation in Iceland_). Jón Þorkelsson (b. 1822), inspector of the
archives of Iceland, has rendered great services to the study of
Icelandic history and literature by his editions of the _Diplomatarium
Islandicum_ and _Obituarium Islandicum_, and by his _Icelandic Poetry in
the 15th and 16th Century_, written in Danish, an indispensable work for
any student of that period. A leading position among Icelandic
lexicographers is occupied by Jón Þorkelsson, formerly head of the Latin
school at Reykjavik, whose _Supplement til islandske Ordbøger_, an
Icelandic-Danish vocabulary (three separate collections), has hardly
been equalled in learning and accuracy. Other distinguished philologists
are his successor as head of the Latin school, Bjôrn Magnússon Olsen
(_Researches on Sturlunga_, _Ari the Wise_, _The Runes in the Old
Icelandic Literature_--the last two works in Danish); Finnur Jónsson,
professor at the University of Copenhagen (_History of the Old Norwegian
and Icelandic Literature_, in Danish, and excellent editions of many old
Icelandic classical works); and Valtýr Guðmundsson, lecturer at the
University of Copenhagen (several works on the old architecture of
Scandinavia) and editor of the influential Icelandic literary and
political review, _Eimreiðin_ ("The Locomotive").
See J. C. Poestion, _Islandische Dichter der Neuzeit_ (Leipzig, 1897);
C. Küchler, _Geschichte der isländischen Dichtung der Neuzeit_
(Leipzig, 1896); Ph. Schweitzer, _Island; Land und Leute_ (Leipzig,
1885); Alexander Baumgartner, _Island und die Faroer_ (Freiburg im
Breisgau, 1889). (S. Bl.)