Svava Jakobsdóttir: Leigjandinn (The Lodger)

The latest addition to my website is Svava Jakobsdóttir‘s Leigjandinn (The Lodger). This is a short but superb satire on the US bases in Iceland, which Jakobsdóttir and the left-wing political party to which she belonged and for which she was a member of parliament was bitterly opposed. It tells the tale of a couple, living alone. One day a man turns up, walking in, uninvited. He starts checking the house and then rearranging the furniture, to suit his taste, before settling down on the sofa (which he has moved). When the woman’s husband returns from work, he more or less accepts the situation, urging his wife to cooperate, even though they no longer have their sitting room to themselves. He seems to be staying there indefinitely, barely moving from the sofa, except to eat. They are building a new house and when it is finally finished, the lodger moves with them. Gradually, the husband and the lodger seem to merge into one person.