Halldor Laxness
Halldor Laxness was born in Iceland in 1902 and he died in Iceland in 1998. Inbetween he travelled the world, studied in a monastary (almost joining the priesthood), moved to Hollywood (almost becoming a screenwriter), became friends with Upton Sinclair, got married, became a staunch socialist, won the Nobel Prize and was unoffically blacklisted from the United States.
Here is a picture:
His first novel Child of Nature was published when Laxness was only 17 years old. He continued to write and publish throughout his life. Despite having travelled all over the world (Luxemburg, America, Russia, Germany, etc.) all of his works are set in Iceland, dealing with Icelandic people, places, and problems. Yet his books have been translated into over 40 different languages. When he was 32 years old he published his most famous work, Independent People: An Epic.
Books
Halldor Laxness published over 60 books. However only a handful have been translated into English, and until 1997 had been long out of print in the United States. Here is a list of his books that have been translated into English and are currently in print.
Novels:
Books About Halldor Laxness
Links
The Great Weaver From Reykjavik
An article discussing the life and works of Halldor Laxness. Also, pictures.
Nobel Banquet Speech
A speech given by Laxness. Available as text (in Swedish and English), or audio recording (only Swedish).
Halldor Laxness and The CIA
An article discussing the blacklisting of Laxness, and the FBI and CIA's interest in the Icelandic author.
Halldor Laxness Museum
Pictures of Laxness, and his house. Information about Laxness and the museum. Mostly in Icelandic.
Videos
A three part documentary on Laxness. In Icelandic.
Here is one about the Laxness museum. It is in English.
The words of this song were written by Halldor Laxness. In Icelandic.
Here are the lyrics in Icelandic: And here they are in English (I have no idea how accurate this translation is.):
Ó, hve létt er þitt skóhljóð. Oh, how light is your footsteps (sound of shoes).
Ó, hve lengi ég beið þín Oh, how long I waited for you.
Það er vorhret á glugga, There is spring rain on window,
napur vindur sem hvín. Chilling wind which squeeks.
En ég veit eina stjörnu But I know one star,
eina stjörnu sem skín Star thats shines
og nú loks ertu kominn, Now finaly have you come,
þú ert kominn til mín. You have come to me.
Það eru erfiðir tímar. There are hard times.
það er atvinnuþref. There is little work.
Ég hef ekkert að bjóða I have nothing to offer.
Ekki ögn sem ég gef, I give not small portion/small particle/size of dustmote,
nema von mína og líf mitt Except my hope and my life.
hvort ég vaki eða sef, This only-thing you gave me.
þetta eitt sem þú gafst mér. That is all I have.
Það er allt sem ég hef. But tonight winter ends
En í kvöld lýkur vetri Each working man's
sérhvers vinnandi manns, And tmorrow shines maysun
og á morgun skín maísól. That is his maysun
Það er maísólin hans. That is our maysun
Það er maísólin okkar, Our uniting
okkar einingarbands. For you I carry flag
Fyrir þér ber ég fána This future-county's
þessa framtíðarlands
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