Laxness' book, "The Fish Can Sing" is a remarkable book. At first, it seems like a random series of vignettes about early 20th-century Icelandic life, full of detail and life, but appearing loosely bound at best. But by the end of the novel, the reader realizes he is in the hands of a master craftsman as the rich detail provided in earlier chapters come back to play important roles in the culmination of the book and its plot.

There's an endless array of well-defined, complicated, and vivid characters. There's the lavish countryside painted simply - evoking the same feeling you get from a good watercolor. Then there's the plot, which is mysterious and complex, but leaves you with much to ponder.

A nod to the translator, Magnus Magnussen, because the prose is fertile and poetic. It's unbelievably rich, yet brilliantly sparse. This is the way prose should be.

Laxness and Magnussen have given us a beautiful, soulful book. It's a remarkable read.

This brilliant work amply demonstrates why its author, Halldor Laxness, won the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1955(?). Without much of a plot--it portrays the maturation and awakening of a young man, Alfgrimur Hanson--"The Fish Can Sing" is nonetheless very rich in characterization and aptly depicts life in early 20th century Iceland. As an American who has lived in Iceland for the last two years, I have grown to appreciate Laxness's insight into the character of the proud and independent Icelandic people. I have read two other Laxness books which I could find printed in English--"Under the Glacier" and "Independent People"--and although those are very good, "The Fish Can Sing" is outstanding and clearly my favorite. Humorous, though-provoking and ultimately very moving, this book is one which you will surely enjoy and not readily forget.

I could not help but think while reading this novel of a Frank Capra film from the 1930s entitled YOU CAN'T TAKE IT WITH YOU about an eccentric household headed by Lionel Barrymore full of amiable zanies who stump the frenetic world around them.

Laxness, Iceland's only Nobelist, writes of a young orphan named Alfgrim who may or may not be a relative of the great opera singer Gardar Holm, who also hails from Brekkukot, where the old lumpfisherman Bjork maintains a rambling house on the outskirts of what was to become the country's new capital, Reykjavik. This house is filled with lodgers who get to stay rent-free for no other reason than that they ask.

Alfgrim keeps crossing paths with Gardar Holm and the young woman who wants to become the singer's lover. For some reason, the singer always cancels his appointments to the chagrin of his sponsors and fans; and the young woman, Blaer Gudmunsen, is always given the slip. The unhappy Holm is in stark contrast to Alfgrim, who maintains his balance by being suspicious of fame and content with a future of gathering lumpfish.

In the end, this is an feel-good work of considerable artistry, with a masterful, rich sense of characterization. The translation by Magnus Magnusson is excellent, as befits the man who at one and the same time is both one of the best translators of Icelandic Sagas and the TV host of BBC's MASTERMIND and WHOSE LINE IS IT ANYHOW?

Along with The Fish can Sing, this is one of Laxness's best "later" novels (i.e. from the post-epic phase, which resulted in masterpieces like Independent People and The Clock of Iceland - which has yet to be translated into English!). It is a touching story - based, as is so often the case with Laxness, on real persons and events - of an Icelandic farmer who is baptized by a Mormon and decides to move to the promised land, i.e. Salt Lake City. The story is beautiful and deeply touching in its descriptions of the many sacrifices which have to be made in order for this dream to be realized, and the ending is absolutely brilliant (and fully in keeping with Laxness's Taoist philosophy). A must-read!

I've never been to Scotland but I feel almost as though I have been by seeing these photos. Every one is spectacular in detail and depth; you could probably enlarge them two or three times and still have good resolution.

But that is what one expects from Colin Baxter. I first 'discovered' him last year when I bought one of his calendars. Being thoroughly impressed with his work there I decided to get something more expansive... like a book. And this is certainly a good choice, for all ages. Not only does it include the numerous beautiful photos -- most of which are aerial panoramas -- but it also includes text on each region and its features. So there is fine detail not only in the pictures but in everything that accompanies them.

It's so inspirational you'll want to buy a plane ticket to see the scenery in person as soon as possible.

Of all the Nobel prizewinners in literature, the one who most elicits an uncomprehending reaction is the late Halldór Laxness, Iceland's greatest writer of the modern era. In my reading, I have always attempted at times to cross the mainstream and see what lies beyond. Iceland is as far from the mainstream as you can get and still be part of Western Culture. What we sometimes forget is that almost a thousand years ago, Iceland was a literary giant; and some of the sagas that came from that island are among the greatest works of literature ever written.

Laxness is therefore the recipient of a great tradition. Sadly, Iceland -- after discovering Greenland and North America and giving them up as a bad lot -- became a colony of Norway, and later of Denmark. The loss of hegemony coupled with the horrendous disasters of a mini ice age and catastrophic volcanic explosions led to a grinding poverty that drained the mind and spirit.

WORLD LIGHT is at one and the same time the greatest Laxness novel I have read and also the most difficult. Its hero, the poet Olaf Karason of Ljosavik, is born into poverty and spends his youth as a foster child in a home utterly lacking in love. After being kicked out, he moves to Svidinskvik, where he becomes a ward of the parish. He writes poems in support of local Danish bigwig, Peter Palsson, whose grandiloquent "Rehabilitation Company" is behind a series of mostly abortive moves to improve the town's economy and morale. The young poet is so feckless that it is difficult to identify with him, but as the story progressed, I began to see his flaws writ large over the entire landscape.

The cigar-chomping Danes go around either claiming "I'm no Icelander, s'help me!" or attempting to prove themselves the most patriotic Icelanders of all. We see Olaf's attempts at finding himself with an incredible array of characters, including Juel Juel Juel of Grim Hairycheek Ltd, Eternity-Dave (who only has three expressions: "Jesus" ... "My Brother!" ... "Heave up!"), a succession of women who share his bed and drive him to distraction, and a supporting cast large and odd enough to populate a Dickens novel.

I did say earlier that I found this Laxness's most difficult novel. It is difficult to know where the author is headed, though at the same time I kept getting drawn into the complex plot with its thick undergrowth of transitory characters. In the end, I saw Olaf's fecklessness being mirrored in the fecklessness of the Danish colonial administration, and the fecklessness of a pre-Independence Iceland that felt lost, and indeed of all human beings cast adrift upon the waters into a cruel world that mocks the life of the spirit and ends all too soon in disorder and early sorrow.

The translator of this edition, Magnus Magnusson, writes a beautiful clear English (that also comes across in his Icelandic saga translations). British readers may remember him as the TV host of "Whose Line Is It Anyway?"

You will not be disappointed with WORLD LIGHT if you just persevere. Poverty of life and spirit never makes for easy reading, but Laxness rewards the reader who stays with him.

Notes on Laxdaela Saga

1.Humor

There's little discernible humor in the sagas, but there are occasional moments of grim amusement. Curiously, it seems the German film director Werner Herzog picked up a couple of such moments for use in Aguirre, the Wrath of God (1972). In the movie, as I recall -

at one point, the doomed Spaniards on Aguirre's fleet of rafts are beset by unseen people in the forest; an arrow hits one of the soldiers, who says "Long arrows are becoming fashionable" and pitches into the water;

and elsewhere in the movie, two unhappy soldiers hunch over a dice game onshore, and, as one of them rolls, someone cuts his head off for some reason; his head rolls along the ground, comes to a stop, and says "six" or whatever it was he rolled.

In Grettir's Saga (p. 95 of the University of Toronto edition) we read that Thorbjorn dirves his spear through Atli, and Atli says, "Broad spears are becoming fashionable nowadays."

In Laxdaela Saga (p. 213 of the Penguin edition) we read:

"Audgisl was walking past at that moment, and just when Thorgils had counted 'Ten', Audgisl struck at him; and all those present thought they heard the head says 'Eleven' as it flew off his shoulders."

2.Relationships

Much of the interest of fiction depends on human configurations: lover and lover, husband and wife, mother and child, father and child, lord and vassal (or boss and employee), etc. In Laxdaela Saga there are several relationships we don't typically encounter:

--the fosterage system
--bonds of obligation between kings and people recognized as important
--slaves (including concubines) and owners

as well as a couple of arrangements that may seem unexpectedly modern, given the medieval setting:

--wives as chief authorities on an estate in the absence of their husbands
--ease of divorce and remarriage

These all have lots of potential for drama.

3.Disputes about property plus obligations to secure compensation for injuries are recurrent in the sagas.

4.Supernatural beings and events certainly are used to enhance the drama of the stories, but the authors do not "write up"

There's a clear distinction made between people who are gifted (or burdened) with prescience, such as Gest Oddleifson, and practitioners of witchcraft such as Kotkel (Chapter 35).

The sagas, it seems to me from my limited experience of them, do not go into details about the sorcerers' activities, but I get the impression that there's a clear distinction made between people who are gifted (or burdened) with prescience, such as Gest Oddleifson, and practitioners of witchcraft such as Kotkel (Chapter 35).

The sagas do not go into details about the sorcerers' activities, but I get the impression that they were recognized as repellant - that the procedures were disgusting, as well as having consequences deleterious to the community. (So far as I know - here I am unsure - the Icelandic lords declined to make use of sorcery, even before Christianity; it was beyond the pale even for them. However, the worship offered to the gods may have been disgusting as well as wicked - interesting to think that the gods wanted things done on their behalf that were unacceptable as between people. (Human sacrifice was not unknown in the ancient Scandinavian world.)

As a lover of the Icelandic sagas, I can say I've had the opportunity to read quite a few. But this one, the tale of Gudrun Osvif's Daughter who marries four times, while bringing about the death of one of the most remarkable men Iceland had ever seen up to that time, out of a kind of lover's pique, is surely one of the best. Gudrun belongs to an illustrious family and soon comes into the orbit of an even more illustrious one, that of Olaf the Peacock. While this tale, like all true sagas, spans several generations, the core of the book revolves around the fair Gudrun and the men she encounters and enters into relationships with. But it's a tragic tale in the end, as well, because Gudrun, proud and unforgiving as any Norseman in the saga world, cannot give way and is thus doomed to lose the one man she may have desired most of all. It falls, finally, to her son, born after the killing of her third husband, to bring a kind of rough Icelandic justice to those who brought down the father he never knew, while Gudrun, in her old age, remains typically taciturn, unable to tell him who it was she cared for most, the man who sired him or the one whose death she sought.

SWM

I believe I own and have read almost all of the Penguin Classic Icelandic Sagas they sell on this site (Amazon.com). Njal's Saga, Eyrbyggja Saga, Egil's Saga, and this, the Laxdaela Saga. With that said, of those that I have read, I rank this the second of the best and find it entirely entertaining. Unlike Njal's or Egil's saga, it lacks a central character. This may put some off, but I find it for the better, putting the reader in an omnipotent position that allows them to distantly spectate everything happening within the tireless world presented within. Not to suggest the action of the saga is disconnected, only that the reader isn't forced to follow a single character around on their exploits. Instead, like an eye we observe the Lax River and it's people, who all encounter new and dangerous situations in their lives. As to of whether the text is romanticized or not is entirely up to the reader's interpretation and what they care to focus on. For one who simply wants to read about events and the activities of people that 'just simply are' or if you want to read about romantic tragedy and battles, you can find either one in the ambiguous texts of the Laxdaela Saga. ...

376 pages. This saga spans that period that many of the saga's do, skirting around the year 1000 when Christianity was adopted in Iceland by decree. Starting before this transition, the saga tells the story of a beautiful yet spiteful woman, Hallgerd, whose nature begins a feud that burns for several decades between the Sigfussons and Njalssons. Njal himself being a man of law who has a close friendship with Gunnar (Hallgerd's husband) and finds himself caught up in events as they develop. I have read that this is the most highly regarded of Icelandic saga literature. At least a hundred pages more than other sagas, it verges on straining the limits of saga readability. The first quarter is paced as well as any saga, but it seemed to get sluggish in the second quarter, regaining its former pace in the third quarter, and showing the best in saga writing only into the last quarter of the book. It may not be right reading for you unless you are entranced by saga reading, or possibly would make good reading for lawyers due to its portrayal of early law. Snorri the Priest, who appears in this saga, factors highly in Eyrbyggja Saga. As usual with Penguin, they include geneologies of the characters involved, a glossary of names (very helpful) and two maps of Iceland.

In addition to what other reviewers have added, let me state that the main plot of this saga is the attempt of the prescient Njal to save his family from the destruction that he forsees in the future by creating political and marriage alliances with other powerful families. In doing so, Njal innevitably draws more and more of Iceland into the web of his own fate, whose strands finally peter out after the Battle of Clontarf in Ireland (c.1014 ?).

Although some detractors criticize the style,the reader must understand that Njal's Saga is written in typical saga style with stock characters and situations. This is NOT a modern-day novel; it is written in an idiomatic style. Conversation and narrative contain the dry wit, excellent understatement and brevity that characterizes saga style. Strict Norse traditions of hospitality (even to enemies)and the strong relationships of foster ties are also peculiar to these types of sagas.

After reading Njal's Saga, one can come away not only with a great story, but also keen insights into Norse culture and tradition. I highly recommend it!

Njal's saga unfolds right around the end of the first millenium. As related in the story, Christianity emerges (temporarily?) victorious over paganism, through both popular acclaim and force of arms. A legal system exists through a system of courts and the republican instrument of the Althing, the functioning of either wholly dependent on the law speakers, who have in memory the juridical code. Of these, we find Njal, a respected farmer who manifests the genteel attributes of fairness and generosity in a still rough hewn world. Njal's demise comes through loyalty to both friends and his own sometimes violent offspring, and through loopholes in a legal system which, though advanced for its time, still admits to the possibility of blood feud and revenge as an alternative to the process of law. It is the ironic turn of events, whereby otherwise sensible people are drawn into destruction, which occupies much of Snorri Sturluson's attention, and sets this book out from other such literature. The slow, subtle progression of events to their horrific conclusion may be deceptive to some, but the subplots and riveting feats of bravado hold one's attention. It is a powerful story, bereft of the spin and agenda that plague modern-day treatments of the era.

Magnus Magnusson deserves praise for capturing much of the wry, understated humor that pervades the saga. The poignancy of feeling is especially compelling, as when Gunnar looks upon his native hills and decides at once to defy his banishment. One cannot do other than to go forward in the story with this noble man.

Having read one other translation of 'The Story of Burnt Njal,' I believe that Magnusson has sacrificed some of the lyricism to spin a more coherent story line. Still, my understanding of this classic is based mostly upon his rendition of the text, and his annotation, while burdensome to the casual reader, imparts a scholarly legitimacy. Magnus Magnusson recreates this distant age and locale with an entertaining and enlightening perspective.

If you are interested in the way in which America came to be known in the European world, this book is an excellent "place" to explore. However, as literature (because that's what the sagas were in the end) the two sagas in this book are not much, i.e., there are quite a few better and more substantial sagas around. So it's kind of hard to give a rating here, using the amazon system, and so I've compromised, splitting the difference, so to speak, to rate this a three! But that shouldn't stop anyone who is interested in this stuff from reading it!

This book contains the two extant sagas, sparse and perfunctory both, that record the Norse excursions to North America around the year 1000 and over the decade or so following. Although they ostensibly tell the same story with the same players, they actually contain some very distinct and contradictory elements. Both recount the events which led up to and culminated in the discovery of North America by Norsemen out of Greenland but they offer decidely different versions. In Eirik's Saga, Leif Eiriksson stumbles onto North America on a journey home from Norway where he was commissioned by King Olaf Tryggvesson to spread Christianity in Greenland but it's not clear that he ever really lands there. On the other hand, in the Tale of the Greenlanders Bjarni Herjolfsson does the stumbling, fails to make landfall and later, after much criticism for being incurious by the Greenlanders, sells his ship to Leif who does go there and makes the first settlement.

In the Tale, this commences a series of expeditions, first by Leif, then one of his brothers, then his brother-in-law, Thorfinn Karlsefni, out of Iceland, and finally Leif's illegitimate sister who commits a bloody crime there.

In Eirik's Saga, on the other hand, the main settler is Thorfinn who, with three ships, seems to compress most of the other expeditions into his own. Leif's illegitimate sister in this saga is a heroine in a battle with American Indians, during Thorfinn's abortive colonization effort, rather than the murderess she is in the Tale.

But Eirik's Saga also has some very odd entries including mysterious natives rising up out of the ground, attacking Unipeds and strange white-robed people who are described as marching around with some kind of flails. In both sagas there does appear to be a realistic portrayal of American Indians, suggesting the fundamental truth behind the events reported, however, given the discrepancies in the sequence and characterization of many of the events, it is not unfair to question if either saga is fully reliable.

Besides, based on the saga evidence alone, the actual landing locations have never been pinpointed (though there is clear archaeological evidence since the sixties that there was at least a Norse waystation built on the northern most tip of Newfoundland in roughly that period). In sum, these are interesting, indeed fascinating, stories if your interest is in history, especially of the Norse in the New World. However, as literature, they are skimpy and unsatisfying. There are much better sagas out there including Njal's Saga, Laxdaela Saga, Orkneyinga Saga, Grettir's Saga and Egil's Saga, among others. The Vinland sagas, except for the obvious historical interest they inspire, do not even come close.

I had to read this for my Scandinavian history class and I am very pleased with this book. It's fascinating to find out what happened with the Greenland and North American settlements by the early Icelandic peoples. My only complaint is that the book spends too much time on geneology rather than historical facts.

The only thing wrong with this book is that it needs to be bigger (in actual size of book) to get the full effect of the sagas in its beautiful icelandic language style

I have read many books on the history of scotland, and this is by far one of the best on the main characters who have shaped this nation. It does not cover as many events as other books, but does give a good beginning background into the history of Scotland. The book is written in more of a story telling fashion, and makes it very readable and entertaining.

Magnus did an excellent job of documenting Scotland's long, rich history.

His book is one of the very few to actually make mention of and discuss the "Killing Time," when Charles II died and James VII/II became king (if only briefly). It was the height of the Catholic-Protestant feud that created much tension in Scotland.

Very interesting read and a must have reference book on Scotland.

"History on the hoof" is how Magnus Magnusson describes his approach to the massive subject of the history of Scotland. This dynamic work encompasses the geology, prehistory, ethnicities, politics and cultural events that are all elements in the answer to the question, "What does it mean to be Scots?"

The story begins with a description of how the distinctive terrain of the land evolved. The craggy shoreline, outlying islands and Highland hills were key factors in who came to live in Scotland and what they had to do to defend it, starting with Scotland's first tribes. Mr. Magnusson gives a lively account of the Picts, Scots, Gaels and Britons who skirmished among themselves until they banded together to fight Viking invaders from the north and, later, Roman invaders from the south. Scotland has always seen its share of warfare, largely from England. Independence from England has been a constant struggle for Scotland and recounting its battles introduces a wealth of fascinating characters from William Wallace (whose adventures and sorry ending readers may remember from the film Braveheart) through the unlucky Stewarts. We also meet the real-life MacBeth; his chapter details his ill-starred rise to power and notes the differences between the actual history and the story we all know from Shakespeare's play.

However, if there is a literary figure that serves as an illuminating spirit for SCOTLAND: The Story of a Nation, that person must be Sir Walter Scott. One of Scotland's most successful novelists, with twenty-seven historical romances concerning Scotland to his credit, he wrote a history of Scotland and dedicated it to his grandson. Excerpts from TALES OF A GRANDFATHER begin every chapter of SCOTLAND and Mr. Magnusson takes careful note of the events that inspired Sir Walter Scott and how his firm pro-English philosophy colored his works.

What Magnus Magnusson and Sir Walter Scott have in common is a sense that storytelling informs history. There are so many vivid legends and people in Scottish history that writing a compendium organizing them all into a swift and logical narrative is no small accomplishment. Also, while the book does not pretend to be a travel guide, it offers useful tips for finding the monuments and landmarks that represent the nation's history. Bring it with you when you travel.

SCOTLAND: The Story of a Nation is indispensable for those who simply wish to know more --- and for those who wish to know everything --- about Scotland, its past and present.

--- Reviewed by Colleen Quinn

Harald's Saga might prove to be a dissapointment to both casual readers and those who are already accustomed to the style of the sagas alike, which is why I have dubbed it a 'Collector's Piece,' because I see it as only necessary to acquire if you are very interested in the subject of Icelandic sagas and already have a collection of the essentials (Njal's saga, Laxdaela Saga, Egil's Saga, etc.). It is by no means a good choice for someone just beginning to delve into these types of books (the best choice would be either Eyrbyggja or Laxdaela Saga in my opinion). Although, as someone who already DOES have a collection of Sagas and IS a collector, I did find much enjoyment in Harald's Saga. But at the same time, I was also frustrated by it's length (a little over 100 pages, with pages sometimes being half obscured by footnotes), along with the fact that very much of the saga is conveyed through court poetry. This might not seem like such a bad thing, but it is. Court poetry is an extremely complicated form of poetry, which makes it almost literally impossible to translate into another language and at the same time retain both metre and meaning. So the translators have decided it only appropriate to translate all of the poetry in prose, with neither metre, refrain, rhyme, or any other aspects of poetry as they are bent on conveying the meaning of the verse rather than the form. Of course, I can not blame the translator's for this; this is nobody's fault, but it does mean that a whole lot of Harald's Saga was lost in the translation.

However, what is interesting about Harald's Saga is how it relates to our own (American, English) culture, as King Harald Sigurdsson was the Norwegian king that invaded England and may have been the reason why King Harold of England lost his battle with William the Conqueror and likewise lost the throne.

I also want to point out to buyers that this is not the King Harald often mentioned in the other sagas, but a King Harald born much later than the sagas of Egil Skalagrimsson, Njal, or Snorri the Priest.

REP

When his half-brother, King Olaf the Saint, was killed in battle, Harald Sigurdssen fled Norway at the age of 15. Harald traveled throughout Russia and Europe, became a mercenary soldier of the Varangian Guard in Byzantium, and eventually returned to Norway to claim the throne. Over the next twenty years he became known as Harald Hadradi (Harald the Ruthless). He ruled Norway with an iron hand, made constant war on Denmark, and won renown as the most feared warrior in Europe. At age 51 Harald undertook his most daring endeavor--the invasion of England. In 1066 he landed an army in Northern England, and did battle with the Saxons at Stamford Bridge. My highschool history books told much about 1066, the the Battle of Hastings, and the Norman Conquest, but nothing of Harald Hadradi. I had quite a surprise when I read this book as a college student. What might have been had the Battle of Stamford Bridge gone differently? Nineteen days later at Hastings William the Conqueror would have faced Vikings under Harald Hadradi, not Saxons under Harold Godwinson. What might have been had Harald not invaded? At Hastings the Saxon army would have been neither fatigued by forced marches nor battered from the desperate Battle of Stamford Bridge. Although we cannot be certain of the hypothetical outcome of the Norman invasion under such changed circumstances, we can be certain of this: The story of Harald is intriguing and action-packed. Harald may not cut a very sympathetic figure, but his prowess and his deeds command a begrudging admiration.

On a long car trip, my very cool 16-year-old son finally gave in to my urgings and started grudgingly to read this book (the only one in the car). After grumbling his way through the first page or so, he became completely caught up in it and started to exclaim aloud: "Whoa! Listen to this! Harald has just put out the Byzantine emperor's eyes!" "He just threw all the prisoners overboard so that the pursuing fleet would have to stop and rescue them!" "He just told the enemy earl to 'kiss my thin-lipped axe'!"

The saga starts with the fifteen-year-old Harald fleeing for his life through the Norwegian forest after the battle that killed his older brother, King Olaf (Saint Olaf). Harald is a historical figure, and if one-tenth of the stories about him are true, he was a towering leader and villain.

The translation is wonderful, the language is vivid, and the emotions and intelligence of these eleventh-century figures are as modern as those of any story of our own times. I can't think of a better introduction to the world of the sagas.

After this, read Njals Saga and Egils Saga!