Gunnar Gunnarsson Skáld

Gunnar Gunnarsson (May 18, 1889 – November 21, 1975) was an Icelandic author who wrote mainly in Danish. He grew up, in considerable poverty, on Valþjófsstaður in Fljótsdalur valley and on Ljótsstaðir in Vopnafjörður. Despite big difficulties, he became one of the most popular novelists in Denmark and Germany.

 

Often considered one of the most important Icelandic writers, he wrote the novel Af Borgslægtens Historie (translated into English as Guest the One-Eyed), the first Icelandic writing ever made into a movie. He also wrote the autobiographical novel The Church on the Mountain (1923–28).

 

Gunnarsson lost his mother at an early age. Until the age of 18, he worked at the family farm and received his education attending small rural schools.

 

He started early writing poetry and short stories, and published his first books of poems at the age of 17. His family was too poor to provide him with traditional school education, but in 1907 he was finally able to enroll in the Askov Højskole, a Folk High School in Denmark. During the two years he spent there, he became determined to work as a writer. He also decided to write in Danish in order to reach a wider audience.

 

After several difficult years, Gunnarsson published his first novel in 1912, the first volume of Af Borgslægtens Historie (translated into English as Guest the-One Eyed). The second and third volumes were published the following year, the third one becoming a huge success in Denmark, and making his name as a writer. Four volumes appeared in this melodramatic epic relating the story of three generations of Icelandic farmers. Using the Cain and Abel theme, this is the story of two brothers, one of whom is a dreamer forced to choose between his creative longings and duty, while the other is evil incarnated in the first two volumes, but returns as the saint-like Guest the One-Eyed in the third, having atoned for his sins through service to others.

 

World War I brought a streak of pessimism into Gunnarsson's writings. Between 1920 and 1940 he published a number of essays on political and social issues, as well as on Nordic co-operation. He also gave numerous lectures in the Nordic countries and in Germany.

 

In 1939, Gunnarsson moved back to Iceland and first settled on Skriðuklaustur, a farm in East Iceland, where he built a house designed by German architect Fritz Höger. The house was later donated to the Icelandic state and turned into a museum in the memory of the writer. In 1948 Gunnarsson moved to Reykjavík, where he started translating his own works into Icelandic. This task was almost completed before his death in 1975.

 

Gunnarsson's books have been translated into many languages. He was considered for the Nobel prize in literature in 1955, although the Swedish Academy decided to award this to another Icelander, Halldór Laxness. His best-known works, after Guest the One-Eyed, include The Good Shepherd, and The Black Cliffs. He was an admirer of the Icelandic sagas and translated Grettis saga into Danish.

 

In 1911 Gunnarsson published Digte, a collection of poetry dedicated to his lifelong love and companion, Franzisca Antonia Josephine Jørgensen. They were married in 1912. Franzisca Gunnarsson died a year after her husband, and they were both buried in the island of Viðey near Reykjavík, which used to belong to a Catholic church. Gunnarsson was born and raised a Lutheran Protestant, but his wife was a Catholic.

 

Gunnarsson Institute

 

The farm and houses at Skriðuklaustur were donated by the Gunnarssons to the Icelandic state in 1948. After a thorough renovation, the newly founded Gunnarsson Institute was installed in the buildings at Skriðuklaustur in 1997. Its role is to support literary endeavours, with an emphasis on the work of Gunnar Gunnarsson, and to run a residence for artists, writers and scholars. The institute also contributes more generally to the development of the economy in East Iceland.

 

During the late Middle Ages, Skriðuklaustur was the site of a monastery. This is now the subject of an archaeological excavation that started in 2002 and is scheduled to be completed in 2007.

 

Nobel Prize nomination

 

Gunnar Gunnarsson was considered for the Nobel Prize in literature in 1955. The names of Nobel Prize nominees are usually not revealed, but recent information (2005) indicates that this was the third time Gunnarsson was nominated for the prize. The Gunnarsson Institute issued the following declaration in December 2005:

 

The Gunnarsson Institute welcomes recent discoveries clarifying why Gunnar Gunnarsson did not receive the Nobel Prize in Stockholm in 1955. Apparently, instead of basing its decision on the novelist's contribution to world literature, the Swedish Academy was swayed by unjust considerations. Now that half a century has passed since Iceland gained its first Nobel Prize winner in literature, it is time for the truth to be revealed. Hopefully this will happen when the Academy's documents are declassified.

 

Bibliography

 

In Danish

Digte (1911)

Ormarr Ørlygsson. Af Borgslægtens Historie (1912)

Gæst den enøjede. Af Borgslægtens Historie (1913)

Den danske frue på Hof. Af Borgslægtens Historie (1913)

Den unge Ørn. Af Borgslægtens Historie (1914)

Livets Strand (1915)

Varg i Veum (1916)

Drengen (1917)

Små Skuespil (1917)

Små Historier (1918)

Edbrødre (1918)

Salige er de enfoldige (1920)

Ringen (1921)

Dyret med glorien (1922)

Små historier (1922)

Den glade gård (1923)

Leg med strå (1923)

Skibe på himlen (1925)

Natten og drømmen (1926)

Det nordiske rige (1927)

Den uerfarne rejsende (1927)

Hugleik den hårdtseljende (1928)

Svartfugl (1929)

Island (1929)

En dag tilovers (1929)

Jón Arason (1930)

Rævepelsene (1930)

Verdens Glæder (1931)

Vikivaki (1932)

De blindes Hus (1933)

Jord (1933)

Hvide-Krist (1934)

Sagaøen (1935)

Gråmand (1936)

Advent (1937)

Trylle og andet Smaakram (1939)

Brandur på Bjarg (1942)

Sjælemesse (1953)

Sonate ved havet (1955)

 

In English

Advent (1939)

The Black Cliffs (1967)

Guest the One-Eyed (1920)

The Good Shepherd (1940)

The Night and the Dream (1938)

Seven Days' Darkness (1930)

Ships of the Sky (1938)

The Sworn Brothers (1921)

Trylle and Other Small Fry (1947)

 

 

www.skriduklaustur.is/index.php/en

 

Icelandic Monasteries

 

Icelandic medieval monasteries served as a refuge for men and women who wanted to dedicate their lives to God. In addition to holding a number of religious services throughout the day the monasteries served a practical purpose in society. They played an active role in the local community through the provision of education, aiding the poor and nursing the old and infirm. Monasteries were the cultural focal points of the Middle Ages along with bishopries. Book-making and writing took place there.

 

Two monastic orders

 

In the Middle Ages there were two main monastic orders in Iceland, the order of Benedict and Augustine. The first monastery in Iceland was founded in Þingeyrar in Northwest Iceland in 1133. It was Benedictine. The first Augustine monastery was founded in Flatey in Breiðarfjördur in west Iceland in 1172 but was moved to Helgafell twelve years later. There are nine known monasteries in Iceland though some sources suggest there might have been more. Skriðuklaustur was the last medieval monastery founded in Iceland in 1493.

 

The Augustine monasteries role in society

 

There was a marked difference between the two monastic orders in Iceland. In the Benedictine monasteries the monks and nuns devoted their lives almost exclusively to praying and praising God. In the Augustine monasteries the monks were educated priests called canons and the clerics in charge called priors. The Augustine religious regime was not as strict as in the Benedictine monasteries. Instead, they had an obligation to serve society. Among other things, they had to welcome pilgrims and look after the sick, as well as run schools.

 

sagatrail.is/index.php/en/24-klosterskriduklaustur

 

In 1493 an Augustinian monastery was founded at Skriða in Fljótsdalur (Skriðuklaustur = Skriða Monastery). It remained active until the monasteries were dissolved at the Reformation in 1550. Archaeological excavations on the monastery site since 2002 have revealed extensive buildings on a site 1,200m2 in area. The buildings indicate that the one of the monastery’s main functions was to aid the sick and poor. In the Gunnar Gunnarsson House is an exhibition on the monastery of Skriða, including archaeological finds. There are guided tours around the archaeological site every day in the summer, other times by arrangement.

 

Heilagur Ágústínus

Heilagur Ágústínus fæddist í Tagaste, þar sem nú er Alsír, þann 13. nóvember árið 354. Árið 387 var hann skírður í Mílanó af Ambrósíusi biskupi eftir merkilega trúarreynslu. Hann sat í garði í þungum þönkum og sorgmæddur yfir slæmsku heimsins, þegar hann heyrði börn að leik kalla út um glugga „Tolle lege, tolle lege“ sem þýðir „taktu og lestu“. Ágústínus greip biblíuna og fann: „Framgöngum sómasamlega eins og á degi, ekki í ofáti né ofdrykkju, ekki í ólifnaði né saurlífi, ekki í þrætu né öfund, heldur íklæðist Drottni Jesú Kristi, og alið ekki önn fyrir holdinu, svo að það verði til að æsa girndir.” (Rómverjabréfið 13;13) Árið 389 sneri hann aftur til Tagaste og stofnaði til klausturlífs með vinum sínum. Rit Ágústínusar eru iðulega persónuleg og lýsa hans eigin upplifun af Drottni og jafnvel verður Drottinn eins og príór í klaustri, fremstur meðal jafningja og ávallt til reiðu til þess að hjálpa þeim sem eru með honum í veröldinni. Ágústínus lést árið 430 í Hippó í Norður-Afríku þar sem hann var biskup.

 

 

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