Icelandic E-Journal of Nordic and Mediterranean Studies
where one is to find many of the characters who appeared in Jakhelln‟s poems and in Solefald‟s albums (for example Adamat from Yggdraliv, The Silver Dwarf from Black for Death, and of course the Norse gods). After the dawn of Christendom in Norway, the Norse gods did not disappear, but had to move underground. They lead quite an apathetic life, playing blodball, a rather violent version of rugby, smoking cigars, discussing philosophy, having sex and playing music. Odin is planning a comeback on the Earth together with his friend, the silver dwarf Hornbore. Unfortunately, also the evil dwarf Regin has plotted to take control of the planet, which he plans to do using an army of robots. This will lead, inevitably, to a new ragnarök. In spite of the simple plot, Gudenes Fall is extremely rich in themes and subplots, blending Wagner, Nietzsche, Christendom, paganism and Islam, Robbie Williams and black metal. The book also features a distinctively experimental use of language, as Jakhelln transcribed the characters‟ oral speeches into written language. Different characters speak in different Norwegian varieties or even in slang (for instance, Odin speaks a mixture of Oslo urban dialect and „Norwegianized‟ English, while Loki speaks Danish).
In particular, one of Odin‟s favourite subjects of disputation is black metal. He
elaborates on that in the following passage, in which I have maintained the original
spelling for „Norwegianized‟ English words:
There are two types of føkking sjittmettell: Blækk and ublækk. I think I prefer the
blækk variant, but there is also much appreciable music in the ublækk. Ignorant
outsiders say that føkking sjittmettell is only noise. I don‟t agree with them, as my
point is that føkking sjittmettell is noise and music in proportional quantities. […]
Some of the føkking sjittmettallera wanted to add keyboards to their bands; among
experts, they are called „vimps‟ and „påosers‟. These expressions have no positive
connotation. Having keyboards in a føkking sjittmettell-bænn, or even worse in a
blækk føkking sjittmettell-bænn makes you lose recognition and prestige. In ublækk
metal keyboards mean that you play too well. In blækk metal they mean that you play
too bad.[1]
In the essay I mentioned at the beginning of my article, Keith Kahn-Harris has tried
to describe the black metal scene by using Pierre Bourdieu‟s concept of „field‟, i.e.
basing his analysis on the recognition or „cultural capital‟ individuals and bands
acquire from recognized institutions in the field.[2] Within this framework, Jakhelln
is referring to quite a hot debate in the black metal scene of the early Nineties, when
more radical bands were accusing other members of the scene of corrupting black
metal‟s „trueness‟ and „evilness‟ by the use of keyboards, and were therefore
considered as „posers‟.[3] On the contrary, in the ublækk metal scene (which
probably refers to other subgenres), keyboards were less controversially accepted and
typically used by extremely technical bands (this is why they „mean that you play too
well‟). Let us consider another excerpt:
Making pussies piss their pants in horror, this is what føkking sjittmettell is about,
both blækk and ublækk. But there is a difference: […] the ublækk metaler contents by
31
- ↑ Jakhelln, Gudenes Fall, pp. 104-105. Both translation and italics are mine.
- ↑ For more information see my review of the book in Nordicum-Mediterraneum, 3(1): http://nome.unak.is/nome2/issues/vol3_1/damico.html (site last checked on 17th January 2009)
- ↑ See, among others, Moynihan/Søderlind, op. cit., pp. 59-60 and 75-76.
