Eldur í Kaupinhafn / Brand i Köpenhamn

Íslandsklukkan #3

by Halldór Laxness

Romanen "Eldur í Kaupinhafn" utgör sista delen av trilogin Íslandsklukkan (1943-46), där handlingen är förlagd till slutet av 1600-talet och början av 1700-talet. Vid den tiden administrerades Island som en koloni inom det danska väldet, och folket var helt i händerna på de danksa köpmännen.
"Det var en tid, heter det i skrifterna, då det isländska folket hade blott en enda gemensam ägodel som kunde värderas i pengar. Det var en klocka." Islänningarna får lämna sin klocka ifrån sig tillsammans med all koppar och brons för an finansiera danske kungens krig.

255 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1946

About the author

Born Halldór Guðjónsson, he adopted the surname Laxness in honour of Laxnes in Mosfellssveit where he grew up, his family having moved from Reyjavík in 1905. He published his first novel at the age of only 17, the beginning of a long literary career of more than 60 books, including novels, short stories, poetry, and plays. Confirmed a Catholic in 1923, he later moved away from religion and for a long time was sympathetic to Communist politics, which is evident in his novels World Light and Independent People. In 1955 he was awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature.

Reviews

[John Hatley · Rating 4 out of 5]

Halldór Laxness carried on the 1,000-year-old tradition of Icelandic sagas with his brilliant trilogy “Íslandsklukkan”. This is the third part of that trilogy about the history of Iceland in the 17th and 18th centuries.