Stirring up controversy

At my book club last night, we were considering reading something by Halldor Laxness, and the one Icelander in the group mentioned how hard he is to read in Icelandic, because he made up many words on his own, refused to adopt standard orthography. I would say he was but one in a long-line of Icelanders who had a penchant for stirring up controversy, or just for doing exactly what he liked without caring what others thought. To have this type of character in Icelandic society must be a necessary corrective, since most everyone else seems highly conformist.  

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