In 2013, the Icelandic publisher Mál og menning released “Hnefi eða vitstola orð,” translated by the author as “Fist or words bereft of sense.” This was the sixth poetry collection by Eiríkur Örn Norðdahl, a writer known for his playful approach to language and form. The book stands out as a literary reaction to a defining moment in recent Icelandic history: the financial crash of 2008 and the public demonstrations that followed, often referred to as the Kitchenware Revolution.
A literary record of economic turmoil
The structure of the book is as much a part of its subject as the words themselves. Áll but the opening poem, which serves as a foreword in the form of a sonnet and is titled “Formáli: kreppusonnettan” (“Prologue: The Crisis Sonnet”), are simply called “X.” Each page displays the exchange rate between the Icelandic króna and the Euro, reflecting the dramatic change during the crisis. The figure falls from 81.98 to 172.76 over the course of the book, documenting the króna’s steep decline from late July 2008 to mid-May 2009. This ongoing tally turns each poem into a marker of economic time as well as artistic expression.
Eiríkur Örn writes in free verse, forgoing traditional forms except in the opening, and according to critic Jakob Bjarnar, he both challenges the conventions of poetry and draws attention to the collapse being experienced across the country. The poems stand as snapshots of distress, confusion and absurdity as Icelanders reckoned with the aftermath of a national financial disaster.
Poetry echoed across languages
Many of the collection’s poems reached audiences beyond Iceland, both before and after the book appeared in print. Individual works appeared in journals and magazines in Icelandic, English, Slovak, Slovenian, Polish, Estonian, German, Danish, and Finnish, reflecting a widespread engagement with the events they describe. Some poems appeared in English in publications such as 3AM Magazine and Rattle, while others found homes in various European literary journals.
A video adaptation of selected poems was created by Eiríkur Örn for Litla ljóðahátíðin, a poetry festival held in 2009. This brought the collection into the realm of performance and multimedia, suggesting the flexibility with which both the poet and his work responded to the times.
Reviews appeared in Icelandic media, with one reviewer describing the reading experience as lively and entertaining, even as it deals with themes of money losing value, and social confidence being shaken. Eiríkur Örn’s book represents more than personal or political expression; it is also a document of how Icelanders processed crisis, anger and uncertainty through art.
