- Icelandic Literary Prize 2003 · Winner
The Ax and the Earth
Öxin og jörðin
Ólafur Gunnarsson (born 1948)
Translated by Philip Roughton
English editions
In EnglishThe Ax and the Earth
JPV útgáfa · Iceland · 2015 · 392 pages
"The axe and the earth keep them best." These words decided the fate of the bishop of Hólar and his sons, and of the Icelandic nation, in the sixteenth century, when Bishop Jón Arason was beheaded together with his sons Björn and Ari, and with them all resistance to the new Lutheran faith and the Danish crown disappeared. The novel recreates the world and atmosphere of the Reformation, a story of faith and doubt, independence and oppression, peopled by many vivid men and women.
AI-generated summary
About the book
- Form
- Novel
- Length
- 366 pages in the original
- Genres
- Historical, Politics (assigned by AI)
- Set in
- Iceland, 16th century
- First published
- 2003 by JPV
- Author's age
- 55 when first published
- ISBN
9789979761785 (original)
9789935115195 (JPV útgáfa, Iceland)