Halldór Kiljan Laxness (; born Halldór Guðjónsson; 23 April 1902 – 8 February 1998) was an Icelandic writer and winner of the 1955 Nobel Prize in Literature. He wrote novels, poetry, newspaper articles, essays, plays, travelogues and short stories. Writers who influenced Laxness include August Strindberg, Sigmund Freud, Knut Hamsun, Sinclair Lewis, Upton Sinclair, Bertolt Brecht, and Ernest Hemingway.Guðmundsson, Halldór, The Islander: a Biography of Halldór Laxness. McLehose Press/Quercus, London, translated by Philip Roughton, 2008, pp. 49, 117, 149, 238, 294
Life Early life Halldór Guðjónsson was born in Reykjavík in 1902. When he was three, his family moved to the Laxnes farm in Mosfellssveit parish.Hallberg, Peter, Halldór Laxness, Twayne Publishers, New York, 1971, p. 11 He was brought up and enormously influenced by his grandmother, Guðný Klængsdóttir, who "sang me ancient songs before I could talk, told me stories from heathen times and sang me cradle songs from the Catholic era".Laxness, Halldór, Heiman eg fór, (Helgafell, Reykjavík, 1952), pp. 20–24 He started to read books and write stories at an early age and attended the technical school in Reykjavík from 1915 to 1916. His earliest published writings appeared in 1916 in Morgunblaðið and in the children's periodical Æskan. The same year, two letters-to-the-editor Halldór wrote also appeared in the North American-Icelandic children's newspapers Sólskin, which was published in Winnipeg, Manitoba. Laxness then attended and in 1918 graduated from the Reykjavík Lyceum.Guðmundsson, p. 23 By the time his first novel, Barn náttúrunnar (Child of Nature, 1919), was published he had already begun his travels on the European continent.Guðmundsson, pp. 33–34
1920s In 1922, Halldór moved into and considered joining the Abbaye Saint-Maurice et Saint-Maur in Clervaux, Luxembourg, where the monks followed the rules of Saint Benedict of Nursia. In 1923 he was baptized and confirmed in the Catholic Church, adopting the surname Laxness after the homestead on which he was raised and adding the name Kiljan (the Icelandic name of Irish martyr Saint Killian); Laxness practiced self-study, read books, and studied French, Latin, theology and philosophy.Hallberg, p. 32 He became a member of a group that prayed for reversion of the Nordic countries to Catholicism. Laxness wrote of his experiences in the essay Kaþólsk viðhorf (1925) and published (in fragmentary form) the novel Undir Helgahnúk (1924, revised 1967).Hallberg, p.35 In 1927, he published Vefarinn mikli frá Kasmír, a novel about a young man's conflicts with religion and identity in his quest to become "the most perfect person in the world".Hallberg, p. 37 Icelandic critic Kristján Albertsson wrote of it: Finally, finally, a grand novel which towers like a cliff above the flatland of contemporary Icelandic poetry and fiction! Iceland has gained a new literary giant—it is our duty to celebrate the fact with joy!Albertsson, Krístian, Vaka 1.3, 1927 Laxness's religious period did not last long. He lived in the United States from 1927 to 1929, giving lectures on Iceland and attempting to write screenplays for Hollywood films.Einarsson, Stefán, A History of Icelandic Literature, New York: Johns Hopkins for the American Scandinavian Foundation, 1957, p. 317 OCLC 264046441 During this time he became attracted to socialism:
[Laxness] did not become a socialist in America from studying manuals of socialism but from watching the starving unemployed in the parks.Laxness, Halldór,Alþýðubókin, Þriðja útgáfa (3rd edition), (Reykjavík, 1949), p. 9
Laxness joined the socialist bandwagon... with a book Alþýðubókin (The Book of the People, 1929) of brilliant burlesque and satirical essaysEinarsson, p. 292
Beside the fundamental idea of socialism, the strong sense of Icelandic individuality is also the sustaining element in Alþýðubókin. The two elements are entwined together in characteristic fashion and in their very union give the work its individual character.Hallberg, p. 60
In 1929 Laxness published an article critical of the U.S. in Heimskringla, a Canadian newspaper. This resulted in charges against him, his detention, and the forfeiture of his passport. With the aid of Upton Sinclair and the ACLU, the charges were dropped and Laxness returned to Iceland.Guðmundsson, pp. 150–151
1930s By the 1930s Laxness "had become the apostle of the younger generation" of Icelandic writers.Einarsson, pp. 263–4 Salka Valka (1931–32) began the great series of sociological novels, often coloured with socialist ideas, continuing almost without a break for nearly twenty years. This was probably the most brilliant period of his career, and it is the one which produced those of his works that have become most famous. But Laxness never attached himself permanently to a particular dogma.Sveinn Hoskuldsson, "Scandinavica", 1972 supplement, pp. 1–2 In addition to the two parts of Salka Valka, Laxness published Fótatak manna (Steps of Men) in 1933, a collection of short stories, as well as other essays, notably Dagleið á fjöllum (A Day's Journey in the Mountains) in 1937.Hallberg, p. 211
Laxness's next novel was Sjálfstætt fólk (Independent People) (1934 and 1935), which has been called "one of the best books of the twentieth century."Smiley, Jane, Independent People, Vintage International, 1997, cover
When Salka Valka was published in English in 1936 a reviewer at the Evening Standard wrote: "No beauty is allowed to exist as ornamentation in its own right in these pages; but the work is replete from cover to cover with the beauty of its perfection."Guðmundsson, p. 229
In 1937 Laxness wrote the poem Maístjarnan (The May Star), which was set to music by Jón Ásgeirsson and became a socialist anthem.
This was followed by the four-part novel Heimsljós (World Light, 1937, 1938, 1939, and 1940), which is loosely based on the life of Magnús Hjaltason Magnusson, a minor Icelandic poet of the late 19th century.Hallberg, p.125 It has been "consistently regarded by many critics as his most important work."Magnusson, Magnus, World Light, University of Wisconsin Press, 1969, p. viii
Laxness also traveled to the Soviet Union in 1938 and wrote approvingly of the Soviet system and culture.Guðmundsson, p. 182 He was present at the "Trial of the Twenty-one" and wrote about it in detail in his book Gerska ævintýrið (The Russian Adventure).Guðmundsson, p. 265
In the late 1930s Laxness developed a unique spelling system that was closer to pronunciation than standard Icelandic. This characteristic of his writing is lost in translation.Kress, p. 73
1940s In 1941 Laxness translated Hemingway's A Farewell to Arms into Icelandic, which caused controversy because of his use of neologisms.Guðmundsson, p. 279 He continued to court controversy over the next few years through the publication of new editions of several Icelandic sagas using modern Icelandic rather than the Old Norse orthography that had become customary. Laxness and his publishing partners were taken to court after the publication of his edition of Hrafnkels saga in 1942. They were found guilty of violating a recent copyright law, but eventually acquitted when the copyright law was deemed a violation of the freedom of the press.
Laxness's "epic"Leithauser, Brad, The New York Times, 15 February 2004 three-part work of historical fiction, Íslandsklukkan (Iceland's Bell), was published between 1943 and 1946. It has been described as a novel of broad "geographical and political scope… expressly concerned with national identity and the role literature plays in forming it… a tale of colonial exploitation and the obdurate will of a suffering people."Haslett, Adam, introduction to Iceland's Bell, Vintage International, 2003, p.viii. "Laxness’s three-volume Íslandsklukkan … is probably the most significant [Icelandic] novel of the 1940s."Neijmann, Daisy, A History of Icelandic Literature, University of Nebraska Press, 2006, p. 404
In 1946 the English translation of Independent People was published as a Book of the Month Club selection in the U.S. and sold over 450,000 copies.Lemoine, Chay (9 February 2007) .
In 1945 Halldór and his second wife, Auður Sveinsdóttir, moved into Gljúfrasteinn, a new house built in the countryside near Mosfellsbær, where they started a family. In addition to her domestic duties, Auður assumed the roles of personal secretary and business manager.
In response to the establishment of a permanent U.S. military base in Keflavík, Halldór wrote the satire Atómstöðin (The Atom Station), which may have contributed to a blacklisting of his novels in the U.S.Lemoine, Chay (18 November 2010). The View from Here, No. 8. icenews.isThe demoralization of the occupation period is described ... nowhere as dramatically as in Halldór Kiljan Laxness' Atómstöðin (1948)... [where he portrays] postwar society in Reykjavík, completely torn from its moorings by the avalanche of foreign gold.Einarsson, p. 330 For its examination of modern Reykjavík, many critics and readers consider Atómstöðin the exemplary "Reykjavík Novel."Neijmann, p. 411
1950s
In 1952 Laxness published Gerpla (The Happy Warriors, Wayward Heroes) a novel based on the Fóstbræðra saga. It deals with Vikings of around the year 1000.Hallberg, p. 165
As a work of art Gerpla is an unusually powerful achievement. Laxness has not transposed his subject into a modern key; he has chosen to preserve a close link to the style of the ancient sagas.Hallberg, p. 179
Laxness was awarded the Soviet-sponsored World Peace Council literary prize in 1952.Guðmundsson, p. 340 [Laxness] ...was a mediator between the cultural figures of the USSR and Iceland, even in times when relations between Moscow and Reykjavik were in deep crisis due to the Cold War. The active position of the writer and his activities as chairman of The Society for Cultural Relations between Iceland and the Soviet Union (MÍR) significantly contributed to the development of the bilateral relations between the Soviet Union and Iceland.Pankov, Evgeni, Halldór Laxness and Soviet-Icelandic Relations in the 1940–1960s (April 22, 2025). SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=5232647
A Swedish film adaptation of his novel Salka Valka, directed by Arne Mattsson and filmed by Sven Nykvist, was released in 1954.Guðmundsson, p. 351
In 1955 Laxness was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature "for his vivid epic power, which has renewed the great narrative art of Iceland".Pankov, Evgeni, Halldór Laxness and Soviet-Icelandic Relations in the 1940–1960s (April 22, 2025). https://ssrn.com/abstract=5232647
His chief literary works belong to the genre... [of] narrative prose fiction. In the history of our literature Laxness is mentioned beside Snorri Sturluson, the author of "Njals saga", and his place in world literature is among writers such as Cervantes, Zola, Tolstoy, and Hamsun... He is the most prolific and skillful essayist in Icelandic literature both old and new...
In the presentation address for the Nobel, Elias Wessén said:He is an excellent painter of Icelandic scenery and settings. Yet this is not what he has conceived of as his chief mission. "Compassion is the source of the highest poetry. Compassion with Asta Sollilja on earth," he says in one of his best books… And a social passion underlies everything Halldór Laxness has written. His personal championship of contemporary social and political questions is always very strong, sometimes so strong that it threatens to hamper the artistic side of his work. His safeguard then is the astringent humour which enables him to see even people he dislikes in a redeeming light, and which also permits him to gaze far down into the labyrinths of the human soul.