A set of vikings set out to loot the world. Quite a large number of them survive the effort. Written by an Icelander, it is gritty yet quite amusing on occasion. ( )

En underbart ironisk uppgörelse med det isländska krigaridealet. Laxness’ hjältar reser land och rike runt för att bevisa sitt mod, sin blodtörst och ärolystnad, men ständigt gäckas de av ödet, och människorna i deras omgivning har ingen förståelse för att de försakar land och familj för att plundra och bränna. Hjältarna är brutala stackare, som inte begriper sig på generositet, värme, solidaritet eller annat som skiljer människan från djuren. Allt de begriper sig på är svärdets och eldens språk. I Laxness’ berättelse får de se sig passerade av sin tid, i form av den blomstrande merkantilismen, och betraktas som brutala anomalier till och med av de kungar de säger sig tjäna. När Thormod kolbrunskald efter stor möda når norske kung Olav – den störste av alla kungar, som han kvädat otaliga verser om – blir han avvisad som en lus, och kungen begriper inte alls vad det är han talar om med sina stora ord; bokens stora antiklimax.

A lot is made of Laxness telling this tale in the style and language of the medieval Icelandic sagas, and whether the translation into English did him justice. I can’t really speak to those things, but I don’t think they’re the main point anyway. With the exception of an occasional change of tense you really wouldn’t notice it – the book simply reads as the tale of two “sworn brothers” (Þorgeir Hávarsson and Þormóður Bessason, who have sworn lifelong oaths to one another) living in Iceland about 1,000 years ago, and the historical context of politics, religion, and warfare in Norway, Sweden, Denmark, France, and England. That may sound dry, but it’s not. This is a fantastic piece of historical fiction, and aside from everything else, I learned quite a bit.

What makes the book so powerful is its debunking of Icelandic and Norse legends, the tales told by “skalds” and historians, which glorified their heroes and kings. In a simple, elegant way, Laxness shows us that those searching for glory and those seeking to rule were most often murderers and butchers, men whose crazy bloodlust and will to power led to countless acts of horrifying barbarism. The men who would go down in history and made saints, such as Olaf II of Norway, are shown for what they really were. He does this with all of the right touches, with moments of irony, humor, and occasional reflection from the present. He also does not hold back on Christianity, which was far from Christ-like in its desire for riches and power, and its complicity in the violence. How interesting is it that the Vikings encountered a race of nonviolent people in the extremities of the north, the ancestors to today’s Inuits, who lived in peace and shared the land, and often butchered them. The Inuits would call the Norsemen “pale mankillers” as a result, and it’s hard not to see in this a parallel to Native American encounters with Europeans.

I have read criticism of the book that the sworn brothers’ tale starts to get lost in the historical movements they are swept up in, and which Laxness describes. (Even in this review, I notice that I’m not describing at length the sworn brothers’ memorable adventures, such as Þorgeir hanging from a branch on a cliff face but because of honor, not crying out for help, or Þormóður, much to his brother’s disdain, pursuing women.) I suppose this is part of Laxness’s point, for aren’t most people simply swallowed up by history? The men seek glory and follow their own twisted version of honor, and while you might expect a dramatic comeuppance or a tidy ending, instead they find worse, irrelevance. Laxness is making a point here about man’s fate, in addition to man’s inhumanity to man.

At age 50 when he wrote the book, Laxness was at the height of his powers, and was truly deserving of his Nobel Prize three years later. I found it telling that it was written after WWII and during the cold war, and poignant that the behavior and cycle of violence has never ended. If you’re intimidated by the length and complexity of the Icelandic names of people and geography in the first couple of chapters, as Laxness throws them at you fast and furious, don’t worry. You may want to take a couple of notes, but it’s not an issue as you continue along, and the book is well worth it. ( )

A pair of young Icelanders, set out to recreate the exploits of saga heroes. The world has moved on, and they are forced to settle for more modest goals. ( )

Het duurde even voor ik het echt doorhad. Dit is een satire op het vroegere idee van Heldendom in de Scandinavische sagen en heldenverhalen.
2 mannen, bloedbroeders reizen plunderend, martelend dodend en verkrachtend rond op IJsland, in Noorwegen, Zweden en Denemarken en hopen zo eeuwige roem te vergaren. Het is absurd maar weer prachtig geschreven door Laxness. ( )