Overview
""Drawing on historical events, including King Olaf's reign in Norway and the burning of Chartres Cathedral, Laxness revises and renews the bloody sagas of Icelandic tradition, producing not just a spectacular historical novel but one of coal-dark humor and psychological depth."" - Publishers Weekly ""Drawing on historical events, including King Olaf's reign in Norway and the burning of Chartres Cathedral, Laxness revises and renews the bloody sagas of Icelandic tradition, producing not just a spectacular historical novel but one of coal-dark humor and psychological depth."" - Publishers Weekly First published in 1952, Halld r Laxness's Wayward Heroes offers an unlikely representation of modern literature. A reworking of medieval Icelandic sagas, the novel is set against the backdrop of the medieval Norse world. Laxness satirizes the spirit of sagas, criticizing the global militarism and belligerent national posturing rampant in the postwar buildup to the Cold War. He does that through the novel's main characters, the sworn brothers orm ur Bessason and orgeir Havarsson, warriors who blindly pursue ideals that lead to the imposition of power through violent means. The two see the world around them only through a veil of heroic illusion- kings are fit either to be praised in poetry or toppled from their thrones, other men only to kill or be killed, women only to be mythic fantasies. Replete with irony, absurdity, and pathos, the novel more than anything takes on the character of tragedy, as the sworn brothers' quest to live out their ideals inevitably leaves them empty-handed and ruined.
Reviews
<b>Praise for <i>Wayward Heroes</i> </b> A welcome, major contribution to modern Nordic literature in translation and a pleasure to read. -- <b><i>Kirkus Reviews</i> (Starred Review) Praise for Halldor Laxness: </b> Laxness is a beacon in twentieth-century literature, a writer of splendid originality, wit, and feeling. <b>-- Alice Munro </b> Laxness brought the Icelandic novel out from the sagas' shadow...to read Laxness is also to understand why he haunts Iceland--he writes the unearthly prose of a poet cased in the perfection of a shell of plot, wit, and clarity. <b>-- <i>The Guardian</i> </b> The qualities of the sagas pervade his writing, and particularly a kind of humor--oblique, stylized and childlike--that can be found in no other contemporary writer. <b>-- <i>The Atlantic Monthly</i></b> Laxness habitually combines the magical and the mundane, writing with grace and a quiet humor that takes awhile to notice but, once detected, feels ever present...All his narratives...have a strange and mesmerizing power, moving almost imperceptibly at first, then with glacial force. -- <i>LA Times</i> One of the world's most unusual, skilled and visionary novelists. <b>-- Jane Smiley </b>
Praise for Wayward Heroes Brilliant, bleak, uproariously funny, and still alarmingly prescient, Wayward Heroes belongs in the pantheon of the antiwar novel alongside such touchstones as Slaughterhouse-Five and Catch-22. . . . Wayward Heroes, with its despotic kings, hypocrite Christians, and bloodthirsty mercenaries, is not merely a medieval epic ... but a trenchant critique of that timeless avaricious urge we have grown regrettably accustomed to calling 'market forces.' ... Laxness looked from the ancient literature of his homeland to the novelties and cataclysms of the modern world around him, only to discover how little had changed in a thousand years. -- Harper's Magazine Two sworn brothers wage a quixotic battle against their time and place in Nobel-winner Laxness's rich, impressive novel... Laxness revises and renews the bloody sagas of Icelandic tradition, producing not just a spectacular historical novel but one of coal-dark humor and psychological depth. -- Publishers Weekly (Starred Review) A welcome, major contribution to modern Nordic literature in translation and a pleasure to read. -- Kirkus Reviews (Starred Review) Laxness is a beacon in twentieth-century literature, a writer of splendid originality, wit, and feeling. -- Alice Munro Laxness brought the Icelandic novel out from the sagas' shadow...to read Laxness is also to understand why he haunts Iceland--he writes the unearthly prose of a poet cased in the perfection of a shell of plot, wit, and clarity. -- The Guardian The qualities of the sagas pervade his writing, and particularly a kind of humor - oblique, stylized and childlike - that can be found in no other contemporary writer. -- The Atlantic Monthly Laxness habitually combines the magical and the mundane, writing with grace and a quiet humor that takes awhile to notice but, once detected, feels ever present...[A]ll his narratives...have a strange and mesmerizing power, moving almost imperceptibly at first, then with glacial force. -- Richard Rayner, LA Times One quality that makes Laxness's novels so morally uplifting is their air of tender but urgent gratitude. While his tone can vary widely from book to book...the reader consistently feels that the books are conceived in a spirit of homage; they are some of the world's most substantial thank-you notes. -- Brad Leithauser, The New York Review of Books An impressive translation of eleventh-century diction steeped with kennings, Wayward Heroes is a journey in its own right. -- Harvard Review [A] remarkable feat of both authorship and translation... It's this excellent translation that allows Wayward Heroes to find relevance with contemporary readers and ring true -- politically and socially -- as it did in 1955 and medieval Iceland. The naivety of youthful arrogance, the irredeemable quest for glory through bloodshed and senseless violence, the power games of relationships, are all a testament to the magic and sadness of Laxness' storytelling abilities. -- The Culture Trip Praise for Halldor Laxness: - Laxness is a beacon in twentieth-century literature, a writer of splendid originality, wit, and feeling. -- Alice Munro - Laxness brought the Icelandic novel out from the sagas' shadow...to read Laxness is also to understand why he haunts Iceland--he writes the unearthly prose of a poet cased in the perfection of a shell of plot, wit, and clarity. -- The Guardian - The qualities of the sagas pervade his writing, and particularly a kind of humor--oblique, stylized and childlike--that can be found in no other contemporary writer. -- The Atlantic Monthly - Laxness habitually combines the magical and the mundane, writing with grace and a quiet humor that takes awhile to notice but, once detected, feels ever present...All his narratives...have a strange and mesmerizing power, moving almost imperceptibly at first, then with glacial force. -- LA Times - One of the world's most unusual, skilled and visionary novelists. -- Jane Smiley Praise for Wayward Heroes -Brilliant, bleak, uproariously funny, and still alarmingly prescient, Wayward Heroes belongs in the pantheon of the antiwar novel alongside such touchstones as Slaughterhouse-Five and Catch-22. . . . Wayward Heroes, with its despotic kings, hypocrite Christians, and bloodthirsty mercenaries, is not merely a medieval epic ... but a trenchant critique of that timeless avaricious urge we have grown regrettably accustomed to calling 'market forces.' ... Laxness looked from the ancient literature of his homeland to the novelties and cataclysms of the modern world around him, only to discover how little had changed in a thousand years.- -- Harper's Magazine -Two sworn brothers wage a quixotic battle against their time and place in Nobel-winner Laxness's rich, impressive novel... Laxness revises and renews the bloody sagas of Icelandic tradition, producing not just a spectacular historical novel but one of coal-dark humor and psychological depth.- -- Publishers Weekly (Starred Review) -A welcome, major contribution to modern Nordic literature in translation and a pleasure to read.- -- Kirkus Reviews (Starred Review) -Laxness is a beacon in twentieth-century literature, a writer of splendid originality, wit, and feeling.- -- Alice Munro -Laxness brought the Icelandic novel out from the sagas' shadow...to read Laxness is also to understand why he haunts Iceland--he writes the unearthly prose of a poet cased in the perfection of a shell of plot, wit, and clarity.- -- The Guardian -The qualities of the sagas pervade his writing, and particularly a kind of humor - oblique, stylized and childlike - that can be found in no other contemporary writer.- -- The Atlantic Monthly -Laxness habitually combines the magical and the mundane, writing with grace and a quiet humor that takes awhile to notice but, once detected, feels ever present...[A]ll his narratives...have a strange and mesmerizing power, moving almost imperceptibly at first, then with glacial force.- -- Richard Rayner, LA Times -One quality that makes Laxness's novels so morally uplifting is their air of tender but urgent gratitude. While his tone can vary widely from book to book...the reader consistently feels that the books are conceived in a spirit of homage; they are some of the world's most substantial thank-you notes.- -- Brad Leithauser, The New York Review of Books -[A] remarkable feat of both authorship and translation... It's this excellent translation that allows Wayward Heroes to find relevance with contemporary readers and ring true -- politically and socially -- as it did in 1955 and medieval Iceland. The naivety of youthful arrogance, the irredeemable quest for glory through bloodshed and senseless violence, the power games of relationships, are all a testament to the magic and sadness of Laxness' storytelling abilities.- -- The Culture Trip Praise for Halldor Laxness: - -Laxness is a beacon in twentieth-century literature, a writer of splendid originality, wit, and feeling.- -- Alice Munro - -Laxness brought the Icelandic novel out from the sagas' shadow...to read Laxness is also to understand why he haunts Iceland--he writes the unearthly prose of a poet cased in the perfection of a shell of plot, wit, and clarity.- -- The Guardian - -The qualities of the sagas pervade his writing, and particularly a kind of humor--oblique, stylized and childlike--that can be found in no other contemporary writer.- -- The Atlantic Monthly - -Laxness habitually combines the magical and the mundane, writing with grace and a quiet humor that takes awhile to notice but, once detected, feels ever present...All his narratives...have a strange and mesmerizing power, moving almost imperceptibly at first, then with glacial force.- -- LA Times - -One of the world's most unusual, skilled and visionary novelists.- -- Jane Smiley Praise for Wayward Heroes Brilliant, bleak, uproariously funny, and still alarmingly prescient, Wayward Heroes belongs in the pantheon of the antiwar novel alongside such touchstones as Slaughterhouse-Five and Catch-22. . . . Wayward Heroes, with its despotic kings, hypocrite Christians, and bloodthirsty mercenaries, is not merely a medieval epic ... but a trenchant critique of that timeless avaricious urge we have grown regrettably accustomed to calling 'market forces.' ... Laxness looked from the ancient literature of his homeland to the novelties and cataclysms of the modern world around him, only to discover how little had changed in a thousand years. -- Harper's Magazine Two sworn brothers wage a quixotic battle against their time and place in Nobel-winner Laxness's rich, impressive novel... Laxness revises and renews the bloody sagas of Icelandic tradition, producing not just a spectacular historical novel but one of coal-dark humor and psychological depth. -- Publishers Weekly (Starred Review) A welcome, major contribution to modern Nordic literature in translation and a pleasure to read. -- Kirkus Reviews (Starred Review) Laxness is a beacon in twentieth-century literature, a writer of splendid originality, wit, and feeling. -- Alice Munro Laxness brought the Icelandic novel out from the sagas' shadow...to read Laxness is also to understand why he haunts Iceland--he writes the unearthly prose of a poet cased in the perfection of a shell of plot, wit, and clarity. -- The Guardian The qualities of the sagas pervade his writing, and particularly a kind of humor - oblique, stylized and childlike - that can be found in no other contemporary writer. -- The Atlantic Monthly Laxness habitually combines the magical and the mundane, writing with grace and a quiet humor that takes awhile to notice but, once detected, feels ever present...[A]ll his narratives...have a strange and mesmerizing power, moving almost imperceptibly at first, then with glacial force. -- Richard Rayner, LA Times One quality that makes Laxness's novels so morally uplifting is their air of tender but urgent gratitude. While his tone can vary widely from book to book...the reader consistently feels that the books are conceived in a spirit of homage; they are some of the world's most substantial thank-you notes. -- Brad Leithauser, The New York Review of Books [A] remarkable feat of both authorship and translation... It's this excellent translation that allows Wayward Heroes to find relevance with contemporary readers and ring true -- politically and socially -- as it did in 1955 and medieval Iceland. The naivety of youthful arrogance, the irredeemable quest for glory through bloodshed and senseless violence, the power games of relationships, are all a testament to the magic and sadness of Laxness' storytelling abilities. -- The Culture Trip Praise for Halldor Laxness: - Laxness is a beacon in twentieth-century literature, a writer of splendid originality, wit, and feeling. -- Alice Munro - Laxness brought the Icelandic novel out from the sagas' shadow...to read Laxness is also to understand why he haunts Iceland--he writes the unearthly prose of a poet cased in the perfection of a shell of plot, wit, and clarity. -- The Guardian - The qualities of the sagas pervade his writing, and particularly a kind of humor--oblique, stylized and childlike--that can be found in no other contemporary writer. -- The Atlantic Monthly - Laxness habitually combines the magical and the mundane, writing with grace and a quiet humor that takes awhile to notice but, once detected, feels ever present...All his narratives...have a strange and mesmerizing power, moving almost imperceptibly at first, then with glacial force. -- LA Times - One of the world's most unusual, skilled and visionary novelists. -- Jane Smiley Praise for Wayward Heroes A welcome, major contribution to modern Nordic literature in translation and a pleasure to read. -- Kirkus Reviews (Starred Review) [A] remarkable feat of both authorship and translation...It s this excellent translation that allows Wayward Heroes to find relevance with contemporary readers and ring true politically and socially as it did in 1955 and medieval Iceland. The naivety of youthful arrogance, the irredeemable quest for glory through bloodshed and senseless violence, the power games of relationships, are all a testament to the magic and sadness of Laxness storytelling abilities. The Culture Trip Praise for Halldor Laxness: Laxness is a beacon in twentieth-century literature, a writer of splendid originality, wit, and feeling. -- Alice Munro Laxness brought the Icelandic novel out from the sagas' shadow...to read Laxness is also to understand why he haunts Iceland--he writes the unearthly prose of a poet cased in the perfection of a shell of plot, wit, and clarity. -- The Guardian The qualities of the sagas pervade his writing, and particularly a kind of humor--oblique, stylized and childlike--that can be found in no other contemporary writer. -- The Atlantic Monthly Laxness habitually combines the magical and the mundane, writing with grace and a quiet humor that takes awhile to notice but, once detected, feels ever present...All his narratives...have a strange and mesmerizing power, moving almost imperceptibly at first, then with glacial force. -- LA Times One of the world's most unusual, skilled and visionary novelists. -- Jane Smiley A welcome, major contribution to modern Nordic literature in translation and a pleasure to read. -- Kirkus Reviews --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Laxness is a beacon in twentieth-century literature, a writer of splendid originality, wit, and feeling. -- Alice Munro Laxness brought the Icelandic novel out from the sagas' shadow...to read Laxness is also to understand why he haunts Iceland--he writes the unearthly prose of a poet cased in the perfection of a shell of plot, wit, and clarity. -- The Guardian The qualities of the sagas pervade his writing, and particularly a kind of humor--oblique, stylized and childlike--that can be found in no other contemporary writer. -- The Atlantic Monthly Laxness habitually combines the magical and the mundane, writing with grace and a quiet humor that takes awhile to notice but, once detected, feels ever present...All his narratives...have a strange and mesmerizing power, moving almost imperceptibly at first, then with glacial force. -- LA Times One of the world's most unusual, skilled and visionary novelists. -- Jane Smiley Laxness is a beacon in twentieth-century literature, a writer of splendid originality, wit, and feeling. -- Alice Munro Laxness brought the Icelandic novel out from the sagas' shadow...to read Laxness is also to understand why he haunts Iceland--he writes the unearthly prose of a poet cased in the perfection of a shell of plot, wit, and clarity. -- The Guardian Science fiction. Table, fable, allegory. Philosophical novel. Dream novel. Visionary novel. Literature of fantasy. Wisdom lit. Spoof. Sexual turn-on. Convention dictates that we slot many of the last centuries' perdurable literary achievements into one or another of these categories. The only novel I know that fits into all of them is Halldor Laxness's wildly original, morose, uproarious Under the Glacier. -- Susan Sontag The qualities of the sagas pervade his writing, and particularly a kind of humor--oblique, stylized and childlike--that can be found in no other contemporary writer. -- The Atlantic Monthly Laxness habitually combines the magical and the mundane, writing with grace and a quiet humor that takes awhile to notice but, once detected, feels ever present...All his narratives...have a strange and mesmerizing power, moving almost imperceptibly at first, then with glacial force. -- LA Times One of the world's most unusual, skilled and visionary novelists. -- Jane Smiley Laxness is a poet who writes at the edge of the pages, a visionary who allows us a plot: He takes a Tolstoyan overview, he weaves in a Waugh-like humor: it is not possible to be unimpressed. -- Daily Telegraph More than any other novel I know, Iceland's Bell recreates a world Pieter Brueghel would have felt right at home, not merely in its fascination with bumblers (petty thieves, purblind watchmen) and grotesques (faceless lepers, hanging corpses), but also in its unearthly ability to find beauty in a landscape of destitution, wisdom in a congress of fools. -- The New York Times Book Review One quality that makes Laxness's novels so morally uplifting is their air of tender but urgent gratitude. While his tone can vary widely from book to book...the reader consistently feels that the books are conceived in a spirit of homage; they are some of the world's most substantial thank-you notes. -- Brad Leithauser, The New York Review of Books
<b>Praise for <i>Wayward Heroes</i> </b> Brilliant, bleak, uproariously funny, and still alarmingly prescient, <i>Wayward Heroes</i>belongs in the pantheon of the antiwar novel alongside such touchstones as<i>Slaughterhouse-Five</i>and<i>Catch-22</i>. . . .<i>Wayward Heroes</i>, with its despotic kings, hypocrite Christians, and bloodthirsty mercenaries, is not merely a medieval epic ... but a trenchant critique of that timeless avaricious urge we have grown regrettably accustomed to calling 'market forces.' ... Laxness looked from the ancient literature of his homeland to the novelties and cataclysms of the modern world around him, only to discover how little had changed in a thousand years. -<b>- <i>Harper's </i>Magazine</b> Two sworn brothers wage a quixotic battle against their time and place in Nobel-winner Laxness s rich, impressive novel... Laxness revises and renews the bloody sagas of Icelandic tradition, producing not just a spectacular historical novel but one of coal-dark humor and psychological depth. --<b><i>Publishers Weekly</i>(Starred Review)</b> A welcome, major contribution to modern Nordic literature in translation and a pleasure to read. -- <b><i>Kirkus Reviews</i> (Starred Review) Laxness is a beacon in twentieth-century literature, a writer of splendid originality, wit, and feeling. <b> Alice Munro</b> Laxness brought the Icelandic novel out from the sagas' shadow to read Laxness is also to understand why he haunts Iceland he writes the unearthly prose of a poet cased in the perfection of a shell of plot, wit, and clarity. <b> <i>The Guardian</i></b> The qualities of the sagas pervade his writing, and particularly a kind of humor oblique, stylized and childlike that can be found in no other contemporary writer. <b> <i>The Atlantic Monthly</i></b> Laxness habitually combines the magical and the mundane, writing with grace and a quiet humor that takes awhile to notice but, once detected, feels ever present [A]ll his narratives have a strange and mesmerizing power, moving almost imperceptibly at first, then with glacial force. <b> Richard Rayner, <i>LA Times</i></b> One quality that makes Laxness s novels so morally uplifting is their air of tender but urgent gratitude. While his tone can vary widely from book to book the reader consistently feels that the books are conceived in a spirit of homage; they are some of the world s most substantial thank-you notes. <b> Brad Leithauser, <i>The New York Review of Books</i></b> [A] remarkable feat of both authorship and translation...It s this excellent translation that allows Wayward Heroes to find relevance with contemporary readers and ring true politically and socially as it did in 1955 and medieval Iceland. The naivety of youthful arrogance, the irredeemable quest for glory through bloodshed and senseless violence, the power games of relationships, are all a testament to the magic and sadness of Laxness storytelling abilities. <i><b> The Culture Trip</b></i><b> Praise for Halldor Laxness: </b> Laxness is a beacon in twentieth-century literature, a writer of splendid originality, wit, and feeling. <b>-- Alice Munro </b> Laxness brought the Icelandic novel out from the sagas' shadow...to read Laxness is also to understand why he haunts Iceland--he writes the unearthly prose of a poet cased in the perfection of a shell of plot, wit, and clarity. <b>-- <i>The Guardian</i> </b> The qualities of the sagas pervade his writing, and particularly a kind of humor--oblique, stylized and childlike--that can be found in no other contemporary writer. <b>-- <i>The Atlantic Monthly</i></b> Laxness habitually combines the magical and the mundane, writing with grace and a quiet humor that takes awhile to notice but, once detected, feels ever present...All his narratives...have a strange and mesmerizing power, moving almost imperceptibly at first, then with glacial force. -- <i>LA Times</i> One of the world's most unusual, skilled and visionary novelists. <b>-- Jane Smiley </b>
Laxness is a beacon in twentieth-century literature, a writer of splendid originality, wit, and feeling. -- Alice Munro Laxness brought the Icelandic novel out from the sagas' shadow...to read Laxness is also to understand why he haunts Iceland--he writes the unearthly prose of a poet cased in the perfection of a shell of plot, wit, and clarity. -- The Guardian Science fiction. Table, fable, allegory. Philosophical novel. Dream novel. Visionary novel. Literature of fantasy. Wisdom lit. Spoof. Sexual turn-on. Convention dictates that we slot many of the last centuries' perdurable literary achievements into one or another of these categories. The only novel I know that fits into all of them is Halldor Laxness's wildly original, morose, uproarious Under the Glacier. -- Susan Sontag The qualities of the sagas pervade his writing, and particularly a kind of humor--oblique, stylized and childlike--that can be found in no other contemporary writer. -- The Atlantic Monthly Laxness habitually combines the magical and the mundane, writing with grace and a quiet humor that takes awhile to notice but, once detected, feels ever present...All his narratives...have a strange and mesmerizing power, moving almost imperceptibly at first, then with glacial force. -- LA Times One of the world's most unusual, skilled and visionary novelists. -- Jane Smiley Laxness is a poet who writes at the edge of the pages, a visionary who allows us a plot: He takes a Tolstoyan overview, he weaves in a Waugh-like humor: it is not possible to be unimpressed. -- Daily Telegraph More than any other novel I know, Iceland's Bell recreates a world Pieter Brueghel would have felt right at home, not merely in its fascination with bumblers (petty thieves, purblind watchmen) and grotesques (faceless lepers, hanging corpses), but also in its unearthly ability to find beauty in a landscape of destitution, wisdom in a congress of fools. -- The New York Times Book Review One quality that makes Laxness's novels so morally uplifting is their air of tender but urgent gratitude. While his tone can vary widely from book to book...the reader consistently feels that the books are conceived in a spirit of homage; they are some of the world's most substantial thank-you notes. -- Brad Leithauser, The New York Review of Books
Author Information
Halld r Laxness (1902-1998) is the undisputed master of modern Icelandic fiction. He was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1955 ""for his vivid epic power which has renewed the great narrative art of Iceland."" His body of work includes novels, essays, poems, plays, stories, and memoirs- more than sixty books in all. His works available in English include Independent People, The Fish Can Sing, World Light, Under the Glacier, Iceland's Bell, and Paradise Reclaimed. About the translator- Philip Roughton's translation of Iceland's Bell received the American-Scandinavian Foundation Translation Prize in 2001 and second prize in the 2000 BCLA John Dryden Translation Competition. His translation of Halld r Gu mundsson's The Islander- A Biography of Halld r Laxness was recently released in the United Kingdom.
