Features of the saga intertext in the novel “Anhedonia” by Runar Helgi Vignisson

The paper is a case-study of the reception of “the sagas of Icelanders” in the Icelandic novels of the 1990s. Rùnar Helgi Vignisson’s novel “Anhedonia” (Nautnastuldur, 1990) proceeds with the tendency of an ironic or parodying attitude towards the Old Icelandic literature, which has a high status in modern Icelandic culture. The novel is set in modern times, the main character is a frustrated irresolute young man, named after Egill Skallagrimsson, the famous Icelandic scald. The main part of the intertextual level of the novel consists of allusions to “Egils saga” and partly “Njals Saga”. But allusions to these two most famous sagas in the novel are not plot-forming. Strictly speaking, the subject of perception here are merely the well-known common places from the famous sagas, and the connection to these Old Norse texts in the novel is rather vague. The subject of reception here is obviously not the Old Icelandic sagas as such, and not even any previous perception of them, but just some common ideas of the sagas. But even being so vague, these saga allusions in the novel are too conspicuous to be completely ignored. Even this vague presence of the saga literature in this novel is significant, as it forms a necessary perception of the reader and creates a tension between the saga heroes (who have received positive attitude in the Icelandic culture through centuries) and the “antihero” Egill Grimsson and his environment. These allusions are also used to mark the main character’s Icelandic identity.