Guest the One-Eyed by Gunnar Gunnarsson
"Guest the One-Eyed" is a novel by Icelandic author Gunnar Gunnarsson, set on the Borg farm, which serves as a refuge for those in need. The story revolves around two brothers, Ormarr and Ketill, who embody contrasting characteristics. Ormarr is depicted as sensitive and creative, while Ketill is characterized by jealousy and deceit. Their father's hope for a capable heir is challenged when both brothers pursue paths that diverge from traditional expectations—Ormarr as a musician and Ketill as a priest.
The plot unfolds as Ketill, seeking control of the farm, manipulates the community with false accusations, ultimately leading to tragic consequences, including his father's death and his own descent into madness. After a transformative journey, Ketill becomes "Guest the One-Eyed," embracing a life of wandering and compassion. The narrative explores themes of truth, familial bonds, and the potential for redemption and reconciliation within a harsh Icelandic landscape. The story concludes with hope for healing and new beginnings for the next generation, exemplifying the enduring strength of family ties and community forgiveness.
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Guest the One-Eyed by Gunnar Gunnarsson
First published:Af Borgslægtens Historie, 1912-1914 (4 volumes; abridged in translation as Guest the One-Eyed, 1920)
Type of work: Novel
Type of plot: Domestic
Time of plot: c. 1900
Locale: Iceland
Principal characters
rlygur à Borg , a well-to-do landownerOrmarr rlygsson , his sonKetill rlygsson , Ormarr’s brotherGudrun orRuna , Pall à Seyru’s daughterAlma , the daughter of Vivild, a Danish bankerrlygur the Younger , the son of Ketill and Runa“Bagga” Snebiorg , an illegitimate woman
The Story:
The Borg farm, something of a refuge for anyone who needs help, is the home of rlygur the Rich, an energetic and compassionate Icelandic farmer sometimes spoken of as “the King” because of the vast number of servants he retains and the hundreds of cattle, horses, and sheep he owns. rlygur hopes that one of his sons, either Ormarr or Ketill, will become the master of Borg. Ormarr, however, is interested in playing the violin, and Ketill decides to become a priest.
The two brothers represent extremes of character. Ormarr is sensitive, intelligent, perceptive, creative, and honest, while Ketill is devious, jealous, destructive, blasphemous, and dishonest. Ormarr unselfishly marries Runa, daughter of a poor farmer. Once Ketill, who is secretly eager to seize control of the property at Borg, becomes the parish priest, he preaches a series of sermons that incrementally encourage the peasants to believe that a great sin has been committed by one of the community leaders. Finally, Ketill charges his own father with being the father of a child born to Runa, the daughter of a poor farmer, Pall à Seyru. The charge is coupled with the suggestion that rlygur also had persuaded Ormarr to marry Runa in order to hide his crime of lust. The depth of Ketill’s depravity finally becomes evident to the citizens of the community when rlygur, with convincing simplicity and wrath, reveals that the priest who is condemning his own father is himself the father of Runa’s child. The terrible accusation and its aftermath prove too much for rlygur; he dies as a result. Ketill’s wife goes mad.
Repenting his sins, Ketill leaves Borg and, having rejected the idea of suicide, becomes a wanderer, dependent for his board and lodging on the Icelandic farmers to whom he brings simple, soul-restoring messages of love and compassion. He regards himself as a guest on earth, and “Guest” becomes his name. He loses his eye in saving a child from a burning farm; hence, in the Icelandic tradition of using nicknames he becomes “Guest the One-Eyed.”
Ormarr, after throwing away an opportunity to become a world-famous concert violinist and after achieving a remarkable financial success as a shipping magnate, returns to Borg in search of a new challenge.
Later, Guest the One-Eyed returns to Borg. He carries with him the memory of the curses that everyone had put on Ketill, whom all believe dead. His reconciliation with his family is partly the result of his having destroyed the old Ketill by his life as a wanderer, but it is also a result of the readiness of the Icelanders to forgive for the sake of the family, that union that makes life in inhospitable Iceland possible. Old wounds show signs of healing in the prospective marriage of rlygur the younger, Ketill’s son, and Bagga, the beautiful illegitimate daughter of the woman of Bolli who, like Ketill, knows the fire and ice of passion and repentance.
Bibliography
Beck, Richard. “Gunnar Gunnarsson: Some Observations.” In Scandinavian Studies, edited by Carl F. Bayerschmidt and Erik J. Friis. Seattle: University of Washington Press, 1965. A good starting place for further research on Gunnarsson.
Hallberg, Peter. “Gunnar Gunnarsson.” In Dictionary of Scandinavian Literature, edited by Virpi Zuck. Westport, Conn.: Greenwood Press, 1990. Concise, factual background on Gunnarsson and his major work, Guest the One-Eyed. Includes a bibliography.
Neijmann, Daisy, ed. A History of Icelandic Literature. Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press, in cooperation with the American-Scandinavian Foundation, 2006. Gunnarsson’s work is discussed in chapters 4 and 5.
Rossel, Sven Hakon. A History of Scandinavian Literature, 1870-1980. Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press, 1982. Pages 247-248 discuss Gunnarsson’s major themes and his place in Icelandic literature.