The Iceland Horse

by Sigurður A. Magnússon

Hardcover.

95 pages

First published January 1, 1978

About the author

Sigurður studied Theology, Greek and Religious History at the University of Iceland from 1948 to 1950. He then moved to the University of Copenhagen to study Theology and Literature, then History and Literature at the University of Athens, and Literature at the University of Stockholm. He got a BA degree from the New School for Social Research in New York in 1955.
For a few years Sigurður worked as a translator for the United Nations, as well as teaching at the City College of New York, and lecturing on Old Icelandic Literature at the New School for Social Research. In 1956 he moved back to Iceland and became a journalist and editor, and later the headmaster of a correspondence school. He has been involved in a considerable number of literary and political societies, and has also worked as a tour guide in the Middle East, Greece, India, Nepal, Japan and Brazil.
Sigurður has written many books, in Icelandic and English, including novels, poems, plays, travel books, memoirs, essay collections and books about the Icelandic horse, as well as translating works from Danish, English, Greek and German.

Reviews

[Dark-Draco · Rating 3 out of 5]

The poetry of the writing in this book is amazing - considering it is an English translation, it's difficult to credit the original author or the translator for this, but the beauty of the words really complements the beauty captured in the photos. Sadly, it has dated somewhat - written in the 1970's, the author has very sexist ideas around female riders and would probably be horrified by modern equestriennes. But otherwise this provides an interesting read about the horses and horseman of Iceland. Well worth the read.