Halldór Laxness

Icelandic writer

• Born: April 23, 1902
• Birthplace: Reykjavík, Iceland
• Died: February 8, 1998
• Place of death: Mosfellsbær, near Reykjavík, Iceland

Laxness, in a period when Iceland was reawakening to its history, became a spokesperson for that history and renewed the distinctive art of Icelandic narrative. He received the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1955, a fitting tribute to his contribution to world literature.

Early Life

Born Halldór Gu jónsson, Halldór Laxness (HAHL-dohr LAKS-nehs) was the son of Gu jón Helgi Helgason and Sigrí ur Halldórsdóttir. Laxness’s parents moved from Reykjavík into the country to become farmers when Laxness was still very young. By the time he was seven years old, Laxness had begun to write stories and poems. He began his writing career in 1918, the same year that Iceland gained its independence from Denmark.

In 1919, Laxness published his first book, Barn náttúrunnar (child of nature), and left for continental Europe without having received his high school diploma. In his travels over the next few years, Laxness observed the devastation of World War I; his writing from this period is deeply pessimistic. In 1923, he entered a monastery in Luxembourg and converted to Roman Catholicism. Some of his works that directly followed this conversion, including Nokkrar sögur (1923; some stories), the novel Undir helgahnúk (1924; under the holy mountain), and a defense of Catholicism entitled Ka ólsk vi horf (1925; a Catholic point of view), reflected his new perspective.

Life’s Work

As Laxness departed for Rome, where he planned to continue his studies and enter the priesthood, his course appeared to be set. In fact, he was about to undergo another transformation. Instead of Rome, he found himself in Sicily, where he wrote his first fully developed novel, Vefarinn mikli frá Kasmír (1927; the great weaver from Kashmir). Depicting a symbolic conflict between good and evil, the book dramatizes the spiritual struggles that culminated in Laxness’s disillusionment with Catholicism.

Laxness next traveled to the United States, where he sought work in the film industry, without success. His impressions of Hollywood and of American life are recorded in two bitterly critical articles. During this time Laxness became friends with the novelist Upton Sinclair, whose influence played a part in Laxness’s commitment to radical socialism.

Returning to Iceland in 1929, Laxness married Ingibjörg Einarsdóttir in 1930; they had one child, a son. Laxness decided to settle in Reykjavík, although he continued to travel widely.

The 1930’s were fruitful for Laxness. He won immediate praise for his two-part novel u vinvi our hreini (1931) and Fuglinn í fjörunni (1932), translated together as Salka Valka: A Novel of Iceland (1936), which established him as Iceland’s leading novelist. In both its tone a distinctive mixture of detached cynicism and compassion for struggling humanity and its specifically Icelandic subject matter, Salka Valka set the pattern for Laxness’s subsequent works. His next major work, another two-part novel, Sjálfstœtt folk (1934-1935; Independent People , 1946), was a popular as well as a critical success, even becoming a best seller in the United States after being featured as a selection of the Book-of-the-Month Club.

It is the tetralogy Heimsljos (1937-1940; World Light , 1969), however, that many critics regard as Laxness’s greatest achievement. Written in part while Laxness was traveling in South America and the Soviet Union, the tetralogy is based on the life of a historical figure, the turn-of-the-century Icelandic folk poet Magnús Hjaltason. In transforming this figure into the fictional character Olafur Kárason, Laxness demonstrated his ability to infuse the individual with universal significance. Critics acknowledged as well Laxness’s mastery of language, evident in the stylistic range of the four novels in the cycle. In the same year in which he completed the tetralogy, Laxness divorced his first wife; in 1945 he married Au ur Sveinsdóttir, with whom he had two daughters.

In his next cycle of novels, the trilogy Íslandsklukkan (1943-1946; Iceland’s bell), Laxness reached further back in Iceland’s history. The trilogy is set in the eighteenth century, a period during which Iceland suffered under Danish domination. The story had contemporary relevance for Laxness’s readers, for in 1944 Iceland dissolved its union with Denmark and became an independent republic. Laxness adapted parts of the trilogy for a dramatic production that enjoyed great success when the National Theater of Iceland opened in 1950.

After a satiric novel with a contemporary setting, Atómstö in (1948; The Atom Station , 1961), which objected to the continuing U.S. military presence in Iceland, Laxness turned again to a historical subject. His long, ambitious novel Gerpla (1952; The Happy Warriors , 1958), based on the Norse sagas, is at once a merciless deflation of their heroic ethos and a tribute to their style. Laxness’s significant achievements as a novelist and man of letters were honored in 1955, when he received the Nobel Prize in Literature.

Significance

Laxness continued to write in the years following the award of the Nobel Prize, although none of his later works has been judged the equal of masterworks such as World Light. A change of tone is noticeable in his later works, as the satire and polemic characteristic of his style are increasingly muted in favor of a more contemplative stance.

Readers who know Laxness only in translation are unlikely to be aware of the variety of his work. While his reputation rests on his novels, he was active throughout his career in many other genres, producing stories, essays, poems, plays (in his later years, he turned to experimental, symbolic drama), and travel books in rich abundance; in addition, he translated into Icelandic works by writers as diverse as Voltaire and Ernest Hemingway. It is thus as a powerful and manifold presence in Icelandic letters as well as a novelist of international repute that Laxness’s achievements must be reckoned.

Bibliography

Einarsson, Stefán. A History of Icelandic Literature. New York: Johns Hopkins Press for the American-Scandinavian Foundation, 1957. This work includes a brief but helpful summary of Laxness’s life and the significance of some of his literary works within a historical perspective.

‗‗‗‗‗‗‗. History of Icelandic Prose Writers: 1800-1940. Ithaca, N.Y.: Cornell University Press, 1948. The life and writings of Laxness are discussed at some length in this work. The biographical information is informative, and the analysis of Laxness’s literary development is insightful and succinct.

Hallberg, Peter. Halldór Laxness. Translated by Rory McTurk. New York: Twayne, 1969. Part of the Twayne World Authors series, this is an introductory critical study of Laxness’s life and works. Contains relevant historical information, a biographical chronology, and an extensive bibliography. Overall a valuable reference for analysis of individual works and Laxness’s literary career.

Magnússon, Sigur ur A. “Halldór Kiljan Laxness: Iceland’s First Nobel Prize Winner.” American Scandinavian Review 44 (March, 1956): 13-18. This article describes Laxness’s development as a writer and the significance of the tribute of the Nobel Prize. A personal appraisal at times highly laudatory, at times quite critical of Laxness’s works and his public political statements.

Neijmann, Daisy, ed. A History of Icelandic Literature. Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press, 2006. A collection of essays tracing the history and significance of Icelandic literature from the ninth century to the early twenty-first century.

Nobel Prize Library. Halldór Laxness, Maurice Maeterlinck, Thomas Mann. Del Mar, Calif.: CRM, 1971. Focusing on the awarding of the Nobel Prize, the Laxness section of this work contains the presentation address by Elias Wessén, Laxness’s acceptance speech, and an analysis of the political background of the decision to award Laxness the Nobel Prize. Also includes a brief review of Laxness’s life and works.