This major historical novel by Iceland's Nobel Laureate, set in the late 17th and early 18th centuries and influenced the medieval Icelandic sagas, is here translated into English for the first time. Laxness evokes the atmosphere of the period in Iceland and of Denmark. As in all his work, Laxness creates memorable characters (as decribed in his Nobel presentation speech): "the wretched tatterdemalion Jón Hreggviosson; the fair maid Snaefriour Eydalín; and above all, the learned collector of manuscripts, Arnas Arnaeus, in whom Iceland lives robustly."  (ICL22, $15.95)