Steindór Andersen

Born in 1954, Steindor Andersen ranks among the few surviving masters of rimur, the Icelandic tradition of epic song and chant. An early affinity for the poetry that underpins these chants led him to join IDUNN, the society committed to preserving rimur, and he soon began chanting himself. His abilities quickly drew notice, yielding concerts, recordings, and appearances mainly throughout Iceland, highlighted by a collaboration with the Icelandic supergroup Sigur Rós that brought unexpected visibility to the otherwise neglected form. In parallel with traditional epic song, Andersen works extensively to fuse rimur with contemporary styles in order to reach wider listeners. Alongside his performances and his regular livelihood as a fisherman and ship captain, he has served as president of IDUNN since 1997. His largest and most recent solo recording to date is Rimur, issued in 2003 on Naxos World.