Þórbergur Þórdarson's works occupy a distinctive place in twentieth-century Icelandic literature. His was a versatile personality: besides being an author, he was something of a philosopher, an ardent socialist, a grammarian and linguist, a collector of folktales, and a devotee of spiritualism and theosophy. He had a rational turn of mind as well as being a romantic. Writing occupied him all his life, but his books were diverse in both subject and style. He was one of the first modernists in Iceland and had an immense influence on both contemporary authors and younger writers. His first works were books of poetry, which he published at his own expense. Later works included two multivolume biographies, essays, a series of books on Esperanto (a universal language constructed for people who do not speak the same native language), and six volumes of folktales (compiled with author and...