Wayward heroes
By: Halldór Laxness ; translated from the Icelandic by Phillip Roughton
Contributors: Roughton, Philip, translator
Edition: First Archipelago Books edition.
Published: 2016
Language: eng
Number of pages: 467
ISBN-13: 9780914671091
Subjects: Sagas; Brothers; Adaptations; Heroes; Violence; Fiction
Work titles: Gerpla
Notes: "Published in 1952, Wayward Heroes is part of the body of works for which Laxness was awarded the Nobel Prize in 1955. It is a masterfully written tragicomedy about the oath-brothers Thorgeir and Thormod, inspired by the old Icelandic sagas Saga of the Sworn Brothers and Saga of Saint Olaf. The brothers fight for glory, raid for treasure, and seduce women against the backdrop of a new cult of Christianity. But where the old sagas depict their heroes as glorious champions, Laxness does the opposite. As Thormod avenges Thorgeir's death, he demonstrates the senselessness of violence and the endlessly cyclical nature of obsession"-- Provided by publisher.

Originally published in Icelandic as Gerpla (Reykjavík : Vaka-Helgafell, 1988. 4. útg.).