ELDARNIR (THE FIRES) by Sigrídur Hagalín Björnsdóttir

This article analyses how Sigríður Hagalín Björnsdóttir’s Eldarnir - The Fires (2020) represents volcanic risk as a cultural, emotional, and existential experience shaped by the interaction between geological reality, mythology, and Icelandic identity. Set on the Reykjanes Peninsula during an escalating seismic crisis, the novel follows volcanologist Anna Arnardóttir as she confronts the limits of scientific rationalism and predictive models in the face of volcanic uncertainty. The analysis argues that Björnsdóttir contrasts technoscientific approaches to risk management with a more embodied and narrative perception of environmental danger grounded in memory, emotions, storytelling, and sensory experience. Through metaphors that depict the earth as a living body, the novel suggests that intuitive and affective forms of knowledge may reveal truths inaccessible to scientific instruments and simulations alone. The article also explores how Icelandic volcanic mythology, historical accounts of Hekla, poetic intertexts, and geocultural memory contribute to constructing volcanoes as ambivalent forces of both creation and destruction. While volcanic activity is presented as central to Icelandic national identity, the novel simultaneously critiques the complacency and reduced risk awareness generated by this cultural familiarity with catastrophe. By combining scientific discourse with poetic and symbolic language, Björnsdóttir develops a hybrid narrative mode that frames volcanic disaster as both a material and psychological event, ultimately questioning humanity’s faith in rational control over nature.