His own master

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His own master is a novel by the Icelandic writer Halldór Laxness . The work originally appeared in two parts in 1934 and 1935 in Icelandic under the title Sjálfstætt fólk (literally "self-employed people"). The Icelandic first edition bears the title addition Hetjusaga ("heroic story "). Older German translations have appeared under the titles Der Freisasse (only first part) and Independent People . The main character of the novel is an Icelandic sheep farmer who lives his ideal of a self-sufficient existence in such a stubborn way that he plunges himself and his family into ruin. His own master ironizes the tradition of the peasant novel , with which Laxness wanted to counter the glorified portrayal of peasant life in Knut Hamsun's novel Segen der Erde .

action

The plot of His own master begins at the turn of the 19th to the 20th century and ends in 1921/22. The novel is divided into four sections with the titles Settlers of Iceland , Debt Free Economy , Hard Times , Business Cycle and a final section.

Settlers of Iceland

Entrance of an Icelandic sod house that matches the description of Sumarhus

Gudbjartur Jonsson, known as Bjartur ("The Light One" or "The Light One "), worked for eighteen years as a farmhand and shepherd for the large farmer Jon on Utiraudsmyri . Now he acquires a small farm from him, which is considered cursed to raise sheep from now on. When Bjartur bought the farm, it was known as Veturhus , winter houses. Bjartur renames him: “My name is Bjartur. That's why the farm should be called Sumarhus, summer houses. ”He is newly married to Rosa, who worked as a maid for the same large farmer as Bjartur for two years. Nothing is more important to him than his independence: “People who are not independent are not people.” Bjartur wants to run his farm in complete independence, owe nothing to anyone and under no circumstances accept help. He likes to quote from Sagas and Rímur to support his views , and he is also poetic himself.

It soon turns out that Rosa is pregnant - apparently by Ingolfur Arnarson Jonsson, the son of the large farmer and municipal administrator of Utiraudsmyri. Shortly after moving into the farm, Bjartur accused Rosa of having dated Ingolfur Arnarson, but now behaves as if the pregnancy were a "heart disease". The pregnant Rosa longs for a better life and, above all, better food than the thrifty Bjartur (“independence is better than meat”) is willing to offer her. When he rode up into the mountains to round up the sheep in autumn, Bjartur left Rosa with a young sheep as “company”. Kept awake at night by the sheep's bleating, it seems increasingly eerie, ghostly, until she finally kills it - almost out of her mind. The next day, Rosa prepares a feast from the slaughtered sheep and hides the leftovers from Bjartur. She pretends the sheep ran away. Bjartur, who raves about the magnificence of his sheep, sets out to look for it in bad weather in mid-November and leaves Rosa with his dog back to Sumarhus. When trying to catch a reindeer bull he encounters while searching for sheep, Bjartur is carried on his back across the raging river Jökulsa and forced to detour for days to return home. When he arrives again in Sumarhus, almost frozen in snowstorms, Rosa died in childbed; But the newborn daughter is alive, warmed by Bjartur's dog.

Bjartur is forced to report what has happened on Utiraudsmyri. However, it takes a while before the manager's wife can coax out of him what actually happened. As soon as she learns that Rosa's daughter is still alive, she sends a midwife to Sumarhus to nurse the child. Bjartur gives it the name Asta Sollilja (about "beloved sun lily "). Through the mediation of the pastor, Bjartur soon found a wife again and married Finna, who moved in with her widowed mother Hallbera in Sumarhus.

Debt Free Economy

Haymaking in Iceland, 1907

Bjartur has lived on Sumarhus with his family for thirteen years. This has grown around the three sons Helgi, Gudmundur (called Gvendur) and Jon (called Nonni). Four other children died young. While Bjartur's wife Finna is plagued by illnesses, tough grandmother Hallbera is holding up well. One day the community leader forced a cow on the family - much to the delight of everyone except Bjartur, especially since the community leader's messengers did not want any money for the cow. The enraged Bjartur finally accepts the cow but insists on paying for it and sends the reluctant messengers to the community leader with the money. He later appears at the farm to repay the money because the women's association paid for the cow. Bjartur doesn't accept it. Thanks to the diet now supplemented with cow's milk, the state of health and the mood of the family improve considerably. Bjartur himself still doesn't believe in the cow and fears for his sheep's hay .

The growing up Asta Solillja loves the man she considers her father with all her heart. He himself describes them as his “flower of life.” This closeness between Asta and Bjartur takes on dangerous traits when, after shopping in the settlement of Fjord , they spend the night together in an inn in the same bed. When Asta snuggles up to Bjartur, Bjartur initially seems to reciprocate her approach, but then suddenly gets out of bed and leaves the room. Asta perceives this as a snubber rejection and follows Bjartur; they immediately travel back to Sumarhus.

One day a "guest" appears on Sumarhus. He is a city dweller from Reykjavík who camps on his land with Bjartur's consent. He passes the time fishing and bird hunting . Bjartur does not like to see him bring fresh water fish and birds past on Sumarhus, as Bjartur believes that neither is suitable food, and he accuses his family of "happily accepting food from strangers" and "like beggars" in return thank you. In the next spring Audur, the sister of Ingolfur Arnarson Jonsson, is on her way to Reykjavík on Sumarhus, where it turns out that she is pregnant by the "guest".

Spring is accompanied by extremely bad weather and blizzards. Bjartur loses numerous sheep to the " rotary worm " and other diseases. The hay is running out; the cow also becomes emaciated and hardly gives any more milk. Bjartur refuses to go to the church to get hay: “I don't want to owe anyone down in the church. We are independent people. I'm not dependent on anyone. ”When Bjartur finally decides to slaughter the cow and puts it into practice, this is the last, devastating blow for the sick Finna. “Like poor dust” she sinks into her mother's lap and dies a little later.

Hard times

An Icelandic sheep with lamb

This part begins with a dialogue between the eldest and the youngest of Bjartur's three surviving sons, Helgi and Nonni. They talk about the length of funerals and whether there really are other countries. Helgi claims to be able to see the ghostly monster who has repeatedly destroyed the courtyard, and considers himself a walking dead.

Two of Bjartur's sheep perished under strange circumstances during the Advent season. He finds a ewe crammed into a ladder with a broken spine, and a lamb was hanged with a noose. However, there are no traces in the snow around the house. Bjartur, who avoids superstition, does not really know whether he has to reckon with ghosts. One morning ten ewes lie dead or dying on the ground, brutally murdered in various ways. After Helgi has informed Bjartur of his ghost sightings, Bjartur goes to a place where stones have been piled up since ancient times in order to appease the ghosts around - Bjartur, however, does not remember, even if he may now believe in ghosts, these somehow accommodating. Defiantly he holds up a stone: “Here I stand, Bjartur in Sumarhus, a free man in the country, an independent Icelander from the time of the conquest to this day. You can throw the mountain over me. But I'll never give you a stone. ”When the alleged haunted Sumarhus became known in the community, a stream of curious visitors came to the courtyard. Helgi and Nonni claim to be in contact with the ghost. Bjartur, however, avoids his visitors, who sit down with the pastor in his room and get into an eager conversation about the existence of an immortal soul - until they are roughly scared away by Bjartur.

Although the "spook" seems to have ended for the time being, Bjartur is now also looking for worldly help and calls "the judiciary" in the form of the community leader, who should investigate the matter. While the mayor is sleeping on Sumarhus, Helgi disappears from the farm. His tracks are lost in the snow. The family spends Christmas in a depressed mood, with the exception of Bjartur, who "never thought of something that he had lost, provided he was absolutely certain that he had lost it". Bjartur leaves after Christmas and announces that he will not return until Easter. Since he has lost a lot of cattle, he wants to look for work in Fjord so that he can buy more sheep with the money he has earned.

During his absence Bjartur sends a young man to Sumarhus as a teacher. Asta Solillja becomes pregnant by him. Meanwhile, Bjartur discovers that the merchant he had always trusted has gone bankrupt and gone with Bjartur's credit. He is forced to take up work at Ingolfur Arnarson Jonsson, who now holds a leading position at the consumer cooperative ( Kaupfélag ), and returns to Sumarhus with goods and a credit at the cooperative.

Nonni receives an invitation from an uncle in America who wants him to learn "a suitable profession" there. Bjartur supports this because Nonni's mother always had something in mind for him - it would be best if he drove. Nun's departure is very quick; his grandmother gives him her only valuables - a worn silk headscarf and her silver ear spoon .

When Bjartur learns of Asta Solillja's pregnancy, he immediately chases her from the farm. On the way to Fjord, she goes in search of her lover. Meanwhile, Bjartur feeds newborn lambs with milk.

Economy

The First World War has broken out - “one of the most gracious blessings God has shown our country”, because now there is a great need for Icelandic goods and the situation of the farmers is improving. On the initiative of Ingolfur Arnarson Jonsson, now a member of the Icelandic parliament Althing , a road is being built that will lead past Sumarhus and the first cars can be seen. Bjartur is continuously expanding his farm. The grandmother lives on "like a candle that God forgot to put out". Consumer cooperatives are flourishing across the country, including in Fjord. Bjartur's savings are growing. When the community leader wants to buy sumarhus from him at a good price, Bjartur refuses. He prefers to stay on his farm and intends to build a proper house for himself soon with the savings.

Icelandic emigrants on the ship Vesturfari ("West Traveler ") in the late 19th century

Bjartur's son Gvendur has grown up, grown tall and strong, even if not very clever. Towards the end of the war he too received an invitation from America. Despite his love for Sumarhus, the paternal inheritance, Gvendur accepts the offer. The angry Bjartur no longer speaks to his son and doggedly throws himself into work because he sees his last child lost. Before leaving, Gvendur visits Asta Solillja, who works as a maid, and brings her a poem by Bjartur that expresses his loneliness. Asta Sollilja's daughter Björt (the feminine form of the name Bjartur) is now four and a half years old. Asta Sollilja immediately emphasizes that she couldn't think of another name and that she definitely didn't choose this “to please someone”. She is engaged to a young man whom she loves and is a modern poet.

Before he planned to leave for America, Gvendur met Ingolfur Arnarson Jonsson's daughter, fell in love with her and missed his ship because of her. Instead of going to America, he buys a fast racehorse with his money to impress them. Ingolfur Arnarson's daughter, however, does not want to have anything more to do with Gvendur - the interest she seemed to show for him was only in the exoticism of a man traveling to America. So Gvendur stays on Sumarhus.

Bjartur is now starting to build his concrete house. Ingolfur Arnarson Jonsson convinces him to take out a loan from the consumer cooperative's savings bank. The consumer cooperative is his, Bjarturs, his own company, and there is no one but himself who can push about the payments. Although he doubts the honesty of Ingolfur Arnarson as well as that of the competing banks, Bjartur takes out a mortgage with a construct of guarantees that he does not quite understand. The house will be finished in autumn, but without any furnishings and also without doors. Bjartur decides for lack of money (which he denies) to spend the winter in the old farm again. A capable housekeeper, Brynja, employed by him, suggests that she could imagine marrying Bjartur. Since she is not in a bad financial position, she would also participate in the doors and furniture for the new house. Bjartur refuses.

In the following year, the country's economic situation deteriorated sharply again. Icelandic wool and meat are no longer in demand abroad. Bjartur is forced to sell lots of sheep and his better cow in order to be able to pay his interest. Ingolfur Arnarson Jonsson becomes director of the newly established Icelandic State Bank; in Fjord, however, a new manager is trying to reorganize the cooperative. Ordinary members of the consumer cooperative are put on rations in order to make a living, with the threat of otherwise having them seized - Bjartur is one of them. Bjartur manages to make his house habitable, at least one room and the kitchen. However, the chimney is no good and the house fills so much with smoke that the stove has to be considered unusable and the food is cooked on a kerosene stove.

Brynja, the wealthy housekeeper, is still hopeful. After visiting the city, she returns to Sumarhus, her horse packed with groceries. There is every reason to believe that she would be the ideal wife for Bjartur: efficient, handsome, clean, wealthy, and she makes better coffee than Bjartur's late wives. Proud Bjartur, however, cannot bring himself to accept her obvious offer and chases Brynja from the farm.

Bjartur's finances are getting worse and worse and the house turns out to be "the worst house in the world and incredibly cold". The prices of products from Icelandic sheep farming continue to fall. Finally Bjartur is left with nothing for interest and payments, and a foreclosure sale takes place. In the meantime, Ingolfur Arnarson Jonsson is rising from the National Bank Director to Prime Minister of Iceland. As a result, Bjartur, who still owns around a hundred sheep, a cow and three horses, leases her old hut Urdarsel from grandmother Hallbera, where she had lived with her daughter before Bjartur married.

Enough

On the way back from shopping for the Urdarsel farm - on Grandmother Hallbera's account - Bjartur sits down with Gvendur to rest. Bjartur rejects Gvendur's proposal to visit Asta Solillja, whose fiancé ran away. They get caught in a gathering of communists who tell them about the fall of the tsar and promise that one day “the working people would shake off the thieves and murderers”. Bjartur is not convinced, but allows Gvendur to stay with them. He even eats her bread, even though he thinks it is stolen.

Early in the morning Bjartur discovers a coughing little girl who is baking sand cakes in front of a miserable hut. He immediately recognizes in her the image of Asta Sollilja; it is her daughter Björt. Bjartur sees his “moral strength” drying up - he has just eaten other people's bread, even stolen bread, now he can just as easily visit Asta Solillja. When she sees him, the careworn, lung-sick Asta falls into his arms. Bjartur moves to Urdarsel with her and Björt. Asta Solillja is weakened and coughs up blood, she has to be carried. The novel ends with the words:

"Hold on tight to my neck, my flower."

'Yes,' she whispered. 'Always - as long as I live. Your only flower. Your flower of life. And I'm dying for a long, long time not. '

Then they moved on. "

- Halldór Laxness : His own master

Work context

His Own Master is the fifth published novel by Halldór Laxness. He belongs to a section of Laxness' oeuvre in which he dealt with social problems in Iceland and in which he published the novels Salka Valka (1931-1932) and Weltlicht (1937-1940) in addition to his own master . The Danish literary scholar and Laxness translator Erik Sønderholm writes about Laxness' " Marxist period" in this regard .

The three widely conceived novels, each two- to four-volume, represented a departure from the previous, strongly self-centered works such as The Great Weaver of Kashmir . The Scandinavian Wilhelm Friese treated them under the heading Drei Heldenepen , based on Laxness' ironic name of Salka Valka and His Own Lord , as heroic epics about fish and sheep, with Friese placing Weltlicht as a poetic epic in the same row. According to Friese, the focus of these works is no longer the ego , since Laxness has “discovered, or better, rediscovered the Icelandic nature, the animals and people of his homeland”.

In His own Lord Halldór Laxness chose a more classic form than in the previous novel Salka Valka . While Halldór Guðmundsson writes that the form of a tragedy in five self-contained sections gives the novel “compactness” and a “classic touch”, Wilhelm Friese sees it, like the following work Weltlicht, as “too broad”. According to Halldór Guðmundsson, the narrative moves within a realistic framework, which is occasionally broken up by “stylistic exaggerations and a touch of the supernatural”.

Themes and motifs

With His own master, Halldór Laxness ironically ironizes the tradition of the peasant novel . Laxness explained that the same question was asked in his novel as in Knut Hamsun's novel Segen der Erde - “even if Hamsun's answer is directly opposite.” When writing the book, Laxness' certainty played a role, “that the social conclusions Hamsuns in blessing the earth are generally wrong ”. His own master should not only be a challenge to Hamsun's romanticism, but also convey a different image of Iceland than Gunnar Gunnarsson . At the same time, it was important to Laxness to arouse empathy for her characters despite the ruthlessness of his story. His aim was to reduce the influence of romantic nationalists , who responded to any discussion of rural poverty by speaking of the beauty of the landscape and the independence of the peasant. In the novel, the wife of the community leader represents the representatives of this trend. At the wedding of Bjartur and Rosa, she gave a speech in which she praised rural life as “the best institution for educating the nation”. For this address, Laxness relied on a contribution from the yearbook of the “Association of Nordic Women”, which he adopted almost verbatim.

Halldór Guðmundsson notes that both Hamsun and Laxness wrote a story about a strong man who left civilization, the main difference being that Hamsun as a culture pessimist wrote a comedy, while Laxness as a culture optimist wrote a tragedy. Every part of Laxness' tragedy ends with Bjartur losing something important. The final scene, in which Bjartur carries his dying daughter in his arms, is reminiscent of a sculpture by Einar Jónsson , which was used for the cover illustration of the first edition of the second part, and of Shakespeare's King Lear with his dying daughter Cordelia.

Laxness' first inspiration for the novel dates back to 1926, when he and his companions got caught in a snow storm while traveling in the Icelandic region of Ostland and were forced to sleep in a simple farmhouse. This was inhabited by a married couple with their son and the farmer's mother. The farmer, who slaughtered his only cow out of concern for the fodder of his sheep, was more concerned about the welfare of the sheep than that of the family, while his wife kept asking for "a small drop of milk". From 1927 to 1929 Laxness stayed in Canada and the United States. Towards the end of this stay he wrote the draft novel Heiðin ( The Heath ), which is a forerunner of His own master . Already heathen after Halldór Guðmundsson the story of an "on your own off farmers, who fights out of a misunderstood heroism against a superior force." The manuscript is kept in the National and University Library of Iceland .

A trip to the Soviet Union at the end of 1932 influenced the conception of His own Lord , as Laxness transferred the Soviet division of peasants into classes (large farmers, small farmers, middle farmers) to Icelandic conditions. In his memory book Zeit zu Schreib (1963, German 1976), Laxness shows himself to be self-critical of his then view of this three-way division as the “universal key to the problem in general”.

The figure of Ingolfur Arnarson Jonsson - named after Ingólfur Arnarson , the first colonizer of Iceland - has similarities in its life with the Icelandic politician Jónas frá Hriflu (Jónas Jónsson). In this figure, who rises from a member of the Althing to bank director and finally to prime minister, Laxness shapes the path of the peasant progress party . Bjartur is a loyal voter of Ingolfur Arnarssons, without realizing that he is only looking after the interests of the big farmers.

reception

Original edition

According to Halldór Laxness's account, no Icelandic publisher initially wanted to publish Sjálfstætt fólk . His last novel, Salka Valka, was published by a state publisher (Menningarsjóður) , whose leading personalities, according to Laxness, then “became a little reluctant” to publish more of him and “did not want to make themselves unpopular by supporting social criticism”. Laxness, however, also had strong advocates in this publishing house, who ultimately convinced the bookseller EP Briem in Reykjavík to act as a pro forma publisher for the novel, with the state publisher assuming the financial risk. When it appeared, Sjálfstætt fólk sparked controversy in Iceland. Jónas Jónsson , who was then chairman of the Progressive Party and who had still campaigned for the publication of Salka Valka , wrote a series of articles against the book. He praised Laxness 'writing skills and was fascinated by the character of Bjartur, but sharply criticized the desolation of the people in Laxness' portrayal and expressed the view that the author was "against his own people and the trials they must endure." “Work. According to Laxness' biographer Halldór Guðmundsson there were farms "where Laxness was never forgiven for this work". The book has been praised, writes Laxness, mainly by Icelandic communists, “who praised my book more because I sympathized with them than because it had any communist propaganda as its content or because, for example, a Marxist solution to the problems of the Farmers would have been offered. ”The first part, however, was largely judged positively in 1934, including by the conservative Morgunblaðið .

The writer Unnur Benediktsdóttir Bjarklind (1881-1946), who published under the name Hulda , published from 1936 to 1939 in response to Sjálfstætt fólk the two-volume novel Dalafólk ("People from the Valleys"), which depicts Icelandic country life in an idealized way . Another conservative-minded writer, Guðmundur Friðjónsson , published his criticism in a pamphlet called Sveitaómenningin í skuggsjá skáldsins frá Laxnesi (about The Peasant Unculture in the Mirror of the Laxnes Poet ).

International awareness

The novel was published in 30 languages ​​by the end of the 20th century. After initial difficulties in finding foreign publishers, the English translation Independent People became a bestseller in the USA in 1946 . In addition to the bookstore edition at Verlag Knopf , Independent People was also included in the program of the then largest book club in America, the Book of the Month Club , which sold hundreds of thousands of copies. The translation by JA Thompson, first published in the UK a year earlier , is considered a masterpiece of English translation literature and was very much appreciated by Laxness himself. After eight years working on Laxness' novel, Thompson, who had studied English and Old Norse , took a job in a London hotel; Thompson's first translation work, Independent People , was his only one.

Laxness had already tried during his second stay in the Soviet Union in the winter of 1937/1938 to get a contract for a Russian edition of Salka Valka or His own master . While Salka Valka was rejected as "counterrevolutionary", contracts for the publication of His Own Lord in two Soviet publishers were signed in March 1938 . The fact that this contract was made possible has to be seen in connection with Laxness' sympathy for the Soviet Union at the time; The communist Danish writer Martin Andersen Nexø had also written to support the publication of His own master . However, it was not published until Stalin's death - Laxness later wrote that during the Stalin era in the Soviet Union “no one with a clear mind” would have thought of publishing a book by him, even though he was a friend of the country at the time and linked “hopes and optimism” to the system. It was not until the thaw after Stalin's death that the book appeared in both a Russian translation and in the languages ​​of other Union republics, and it had large print runs. The first Russian edition appeared six months after Stalin's death.

His own master contributed to Halldór Laxness being awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1955 . On the occasion of a new edition in 1997, the American poet Annie Dillard compared the novel in the New York Times with the works of Samuel Beckett - even if one would not assume that the Swedish Academy awards Nobel Prizes for “jolly stuff”, that is how His own master is weird like Beckett. As an example, she cites the longevity of the “half-dead” grandmother who becomes a running gag ; Laxness also likes to put readers' nerves to the test with scenes such as a dreary sermon by the pastor or Bjartur's extremely hesitant announcement of the birth of his daughter. Dillard puts his own master in a row with the "greatest Scandinavian works", which combined lyricism and naturalism , and counts the novel among the hundred best books ever.

It is anecdotal that a British foreign minister read His own master in an effort to “get to know the minds of his opponent” during the fishing conflict between Iceland and the United Kingdom known as the Cod Wars . After reading it, he is said to have come to the conclusion that the conflict cannot be won for the British. The Icelandic writer Einar Már Guðmundsson , who recounts the anecdote in his book How to lead a country into the abyss , commented on it with the words: “And so it happened. The Icelandic Bjartur in Sumarhus, the crosshead who always goes his own way, defeated Her Majesty's fleet. "

Halldór Laxness himself attributed the international success of the novel, among other things, to the fact that Bjartur "had at least a hundred thousand colleagues in New York alone"; People "who lived their entire dog's life under the same moral code as Bjartur on Sumarhús". There was also no country on earth "whose farmers are not like him in the majority".

German translations

Erwin Magnus

Sjálfstætt fólk is the first novel by Halldór Laxness that was translated into German - although initially not completely. As early as 1936, two years after the Icelandic original edition appeared, the first part was published under the title Der Freisasse by Zinnen-Verlag (Leipzig, Vienna and Berlin). The translation is by Erwin Magnus under the pseudonym Eleonore Voeltzel . The book was initially positively received by the reviewers in National Socialist Germany ; Bjartur's struggle is glorified in the reviews, his severity is portrayed as justified and the entire work is interpreted in the sense of National Socialist ideology. According to Guðrún Hrefna Guðmundsdóttir in her study of laxness reception in Germany, the irony of Laxness' portrayal was completely ignored or not recognized by the critics. In 1937, however, a review by Heinrich Jessen appeared in the Nazi magazine Bücherkunde published by the Rosenberg Office , who recognized the purpose of the novel and perceived it as threatening. In addition to the book, Jessen also attacked its author, who was "very little sympathetic to the Germans and especially to National Socialism" [sic!]. Laxness was subsequently asked by Goverts-Verlag, who wanted to publish a German edition of Laxness' novel Salka Valka , to sign a declaration drawn up by Jessen, in which Laxness should declare its support for the "standard bearers" of German culture. Laxness refused and in 1938 Der Freisasse was banned. The rest of the edition was partly crushed , and partly it ended up in Switzerland , where the book was still available. The second part remained untranslated until the next translation was published in 1962.

Thyra Dohrenburg

In 1962 Rowohlt Verlag published a translation by Thyra Dohrenburg under the title Independent People , based on the Danish edition of the novel. The reviewers of this translation understood the book as a description of a strange world, as a "Nordic novel", whereby they mostly did not address the socio-critical aspect or only in passing. Wherever they did that, however, Laxness' view of rural life was rejected. So wrote Rudolf Jakob Humm in the Weltwoche that Laxness "only scorn and derision" for "independent people" have left and whether it succeeded no "real design of their unruliness." In Der Spiegel , an anonymous reviewer noted in his short note that Laxness' socially critical irony would "soon be suffocated by dreary Fjeld and Fjord romance".

Bruno Kress

Bruno Kress finally translated the novel directly from Icelandic. This translation was published under the title His Own Herr first in 1968 in the GDR ( Aufbau-Verlag ) and 1969 in the FRG ( Peter Hammer Verlag ). It was published in 1982 by the Swiss Huber Verlag , in 1984 as an Ullstein pocket book and in 1992 in the Laxness edition of the Steidl Verlag . The Steidl edition, which has been reissued several times, has been revised by Scandinavian Hubert Seelow . Seelow has reproduced the Icelandic place names in their original form in the novel, corrected incorrect translations and added omissions. An afterword by Laxness, in which he addresses his intentions, seems to have influenced the reception of Kress's translation. So the socially critical aspects of the text were not only given a lot of attention, but were also rated more positively. In a review in the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, Siegfried Lenz , like other reviewers before him, made a comparison with Knut Hamsun's novel Segen der Erde , which, however, now turned out to be in favor of Laxness and his failing hero. "Laxness of poetic sheep farmers (...) demonstrates what we experience every day: With every attempted self-determination, the others have a say."

Film projects

Swedish director Ingmar Bergman was with the idea, his own master to film. Bergman had already written a script for it, but the film was never made. Ingmar Bergman's son Daniel Bergman , who also works as a film director, was also interested in a film adaptation of the novel (1998), but so far no film based on his own master has been made. In 2012 the Icelandic director and producer Baltasar Kormákur secured the film rights to this novel as well as to another work by Halldór Laxness, The Happy Warriors .

expenditure

Icelandic first edition:

  • Sjálfstætt fólk. Hetjusaga. EP Briem, Reykjavík 1934-1935. 2 volumes.

German editions:

  • The freebie. Translated into German by Eleonore Voeltzel [pseudonym of Erwin Magnus]. Zinnen-Verlag, Leipzig / Vienna / Berlin 1936. Includes only the first part.
  • Independent people. Translated from Danish by Thyra Dohrenburg. Rowohlt, Reinbek bei Hamburg 1962. Based on the Danish translation Frie mænd by Jakob Benediktsson.
  • His own master. Translated from the Icelandic by Bruno Kress. Aufbau-Verlag, Berlin / Weimar 1968.
    • West German edition: Hammer, Wuppertal 1969.
    • Edition of the translation by Bruno Kress, revised by Hubert Seelow: Steidl, Göttingen 1992. ISBN 3-88243-207-1 . Republished several times.

literature

  • Árni Sigurjónsson: The political laxness. Den ideologiska och estetiska bakgrunden till Salka Valka och Friaoman . Minab / Gotab, Stockholm 1984, ISBN 91-7146-333-X (Swedish).
  • Wilhelm Friese: Halldór Laxness - the novels. An introduction . Helbing & Lichtenhahn, Basel / Frankfurt am Main 1995, ISBN 3-7190-1376-6 (in it on His own master, especially pp. 33-41).
  • Wilhelm Friese: Knut Hamsun and Halldór Kiljan Laxness . Francke, Tübingen / Basel 2002, ISBN 3-7720-2780-6 (in it on His own master, especially pp. 45-47, 71-79).
  • Guðrún Hrefna Guðmundsdóttir: Halldór Laxness in Germany. Reception-historical studies (=  contributions to Scandinavian studies . Volume 8 ). Lang, Frankfurt am Main, etc. 1989, ISBN 3-631-40767-X (in it on His own master, especially pp. 129-138).
  • Halldór Guðmundsson: Halldór Laxness. Life and work . Steidl, Göttingen 2004, ISBN 3-88243-997-1 (in it on His own Lord, especially pp. 76-86).
  • Halldór Laxness: time to write (=  Ullstein book . No. 22412 ). Ullstein, Frankfurt am Main / Berlin 1991, ISBN 3-548-22412-1 (Original title: Skáldatimi . Translated by Jón Laxdal, Darin on His own master, especially the chapter "Independent people" - stations of a book , pp. 184-206) .

Remarks

  1. ^ Wilhelm Friese: Halldór Laxness - the novels. An introduction . Helbing & Lichtenhahn, Basel / Frankfurt a. M. 1995, ISBN 3-7190-1376-6 , pp. 38 .
  2. ↑ "The house and stable were built in one, the only pieces of wood visible from the outside were the entrance posts and the door (...)". Halldór Laxness: His own master . Steidl, Göttingen 1998, ISBN 3-88243-611-5 , p. 40 .
  3. ↑ The spelling of Icelandic proper names follows the translation of the novel by Bruno Kress, revised by Hubert Seelow, in which special characters are dispensed with.
  4. ^ Halldór Laxness: His own master . Steidl, Göttingen 1998, ISBN 3-88243-611-5 , p. 18 .
  5. ^ Halldór Laxness: His own master . Steidl, Göttingen 1998, ISBN 3-88243-611-5 , p. 42 .
  6. ^ Halldór Laxness: His own master . Steidl, Göttingen 1998, ISBN 3-88243-611-5 , p. 50 .
  7. ^ Halldór Laxness: His own master . Steidl, Göttingen 1998, ISBN 3-88243-611-5 , p. 282 .
  8. ^ Halldór Laxness: His own master . Steidl, Göttingen 1998, ISBN 3-88243-611-5 , p. 309 .
  9. ^ Halldór Laxness: His own master . Steidl, Göttingen 1998, ISBN 3-88243-611-5 , p. 315 .
  10. ^ Halldór Laxness: His own master . Steidl, Göttingen 1998, ISBN 3-88243-611-5 , p. 339-340 .
  11. ^ Halldór Laxness: His own master . Steidl, Göttingen 1998, ISBN 3-88243-611-5 , p. 363 .
  12. ^ Halldór Laxness: His own master . Steidl, Göttingen 1998, ISBN 3-88243-611-5 , p. 449 .
  13. ^ Halldór Laxness: His own master . Steidl, Göttingen 1998, ISBN 3-88243-611-5 , p. 457 .
  14. ^ Halldór Laxness: His own master . Steidl, Göttingen 1998, ISBN 3-88243-611-5 , p. 477 .
  15. ^ Halldór Laxness: His own master . Steidl, Göttingen 1998, ISBN 3-88243-611-5 , p. 543 .
  16. ^ Halldór Laxness: His own master . Steidl, Göttingen 1998, ISBN 3-88243-611-5 , p. 561 .
  17. ^ Halldór Laxness: His own master . Steidl, Göttingen 1998, ISBN 3-88243-611-5 , p. 571 .
  18. ^ Halldór Guðmundsson: Halldór Laxness. Life and work . Steidl, Göttingen 2004, ISBN 3-88243-997-1 , p. 187 .
  19. ^ Halldór Laxness ( English ) In: Encyclopædia Britannica . Retrieved December 26, 2014.
  20. ^ A b Stefán Einarsson: A history of Icelandic literature . Johns Hopkins Press, New York 1957, pp. 318 .
  21. ^ Erik Sønderholm: Halldór Laxness. En monografi . Gyldendal, [København] 1981, ISBN 87-00-53102-2 , pp. 31 .
  22. ^ A b Wilhelm Friese: Halldór Laxness - the novels. An introduction . Helbing & Lichtenhahn, Basel / Frankfurt a. M. 1995, ISBN 3-7190-1376-6 , pp. 23 .
  23. ^ Halldór Guðmundsson: Halldór Laxness. A biography . btb, Munich 2009, ISBN 978-3-442-73918-9 , p. 387-388 .
  24. ^ Wilhelm Friese: Halldór Laxness - the novels. An introduction . Helbing & Lichtenhahn, Basel / Frankfurt a. M. 1995, ISBN 3-7190-1376-6 , pp. 146 .
  25. ^ Halldór Guðmundsson: Halldór Laxness. A biography . btb, Munich 2009, ISBN 978-3-442-73918-9 , p. 386 .
  26. ↑ Afterword by Hubert Seelow in: Halldór Laxness: His own master . Steidl, Göttingen 1998, ISBN 3-88243-611-5 , p. 574-575 .
  27. ^ A b Halldór Laxness, epilogue to the 2nd edition of Sjálfstætt fólk , quoted from: Wilhelm Friese: Halldór Laxness - the novels. An introduction . Helbing & Lichtenhahn, Basel / Frankfurt a. M. 1995, ISBN 3-7190-1376-6 , pp. 34 .
  28. ↑ a b Halldór Guðmundsson: Halldór Laxness. A biography . btb, Munich 2009, ISBN 978-3-442-73918-9 , p. 375 .
  29. ↑ Árni Sigurjónsson: Den politiske Laxness. Den ideologiska och estetiska bakgrunden till Salka Valka och Friaoman . Minab / Gotab, Stockholm 1984, ISBN 91-7146-333-X , p. 135 .
  30. ^ Halldór Laxness: His own master . Steidl, Göttingen 1998, ISBN 3-88243-611-5 , p. 33 .
  31. ^ A b c Wilhelm Friese: Halldór Laxness - the novels. An introduction . Helbing & Lichtenhahn, Basel / Frankfurt a. M. 1995, ISBN 3-7190-1376-6 , pp. 39 .
  32. ↑ a b Halldór Guðmundsson: Halldór Laxness. Life and work . Steidl, Göttingen 2004, ISBN 3-88243-997-1 , p. 83 .
  33. ^ Wilhelm Friese: Halldór Laxness - the novels. An introduction . Helbing & Lichtenhahn, Basel / Frankfurt a. M. 1995, ISBN 3-7190-1376-6 , pp. 36-37 .
  34. ↑ In the summer of 1929, according to Halldór Guðmundsson: Halldór Laxness. A biography . btb, Munich 2009, ISBN 978-3-442-73918-9 , p. 277 . September – October 1929 according to Erik Sønderholm: Halldór Laxness. En monografi . Gyldendal, [København] 1981, ISBN 87-00-53102-2 , pp. 38 .
  35. ↑ a b Halldór Guðmundsson: Halldór Laxness. A biography . btb, Munich 2009, ISBN 978-3-442-73918-9 , p. 277 .
  36. ^ Wilhelm Friese: Halldór Laxness - the novels. An introduction . Helbing & Lichtenhahn, Basel / Frankfurt a. M. 1995, ISBN 3-7190-1376-6 , pp. 37-38 .
  37. ↑ Halldór Laxness: Time to write (=  Ullstein book . No. 22412 ). Ullstein, Frankfurt a. M. / Berlin 1991, ISBN 3-548-22412-1 , pp. 129 .
  38. ↑ a b c Halldór Laxness: Time to write (=  Ullstein book . No. 22412 ). Ullstein, Frankfurt a. M. / Berlin 1991, ISBN 3-548-22412-1 , pp. 189 .
  39. ↑ a b Halldór Guðmundsson: Halldór Laxness. Life and work . Steidl, Göttingen 2004, ISBN 3-88243-997-1 , p. 85 .
  40. ^ Halldór Guðmundsson: Halldór Laxness. A biography . btb, Munich 2009, ISBN 978-3-442-73918-9 , p. 389-390 .
  41. ^ Halldór Guðmundsson: Halldór Laxness. A biography . btb, Munich 2009, ISBN 978-3-442-73918-9 , p. 374 .
  42. ↑ Stefán Einarsson: A history of Icelandic literature . Johns Hopkins Press, New York 1957, pp. 280 .
  43. ^ Online catalog of the National and University Library of Iceland . Retrieved December 25, 2014.
  44. ^ Halldór Guðmundsson: Halldór Laxness. A biography . btb, Munich 2009, ISBN 978-3-442-73918-9 , p. 390 .
  45. ^ Wilhelm Friese: Knut Hamsun and Halldór Kiljan Laxness . Francke, Tübingen / Basel 2002, ISBN 3-7720-2780-6 , p. 79 .
  46. ↑ Halldór Laxness: Time to write (=  Ullstein book . No. 22412 ). Ullstein, Frankfurt a. M. / Berlin 1991, ISBN 3-548-22412-1 , pp. 198-199 .
  47. ↑ a b Halldór Laxness: Time to write (=  Ullstein book . No. 22412 ). Ullstein, Frankfurt a. M. / Berlin 1991, ISBN 3-548-22412-1 , pp. 194 .
  48. ^ Abigail Charlotte Cooper: The Creative Translator. Creativity and Originality in JA Thompson's Translation of Halldór Laxness' Sjálfstætt fólk . University of Iceland, Reykjavík 2014, p. 1 ( online ).
  49. ^ Abigail Charlotte Cooper: The Creative Translator. Creativity and Originality in JA Thompson's Translation of Halldór Laxness' Sjálfstætt fólk . University of Iceland, Reykjavík 2014, p. 1-2 ( online ).
  50. ^ Halldór Guðmundsson: Halldór Laxness. A biography . btb, Munich 2009, ISBN 978-3-442-73918-9 , p. 436 .
  51. ↑ a b Halldór Guðmundsson: Halldór Laxness. A biography . btb, Munich 2009, ISBN 978-3-442-73918-9 , p. 440 .
  52. ↑ Halldór Laxness: Time to write (=  Ullstein book . No. 22412 ). Ullstein, Frankfurt a. M. / Berlin 1991, ISBN 3-548-22412-1 , pp. 204-205 .
  53. ↑ a b Halldór Laxness: Time to write (=  Ullstein book . No. 22412 ). Ullstein, Frankfurt a. M. / Berlin 1991, ISBN 3-548-22412-1 , pp. 206 .
  54. ↑ Christina Sunley: Iceland's Stoic, Sardonic 'Independent People' ( English ) In: NPR . May 4, 2009. Retrieved December 22, 2014.
  55. ↑ Annie Dillard: Hard Times in Ultima Thule ( English ) In: The New York Times Books . April 20, 1997. Retrieved November 17, 2018.
  56. ↑ Annie Dillard: Hard Times in Ultima Thule ( English ) In: The New York Times Books . April 20, 1997. Retrieved December 21, 2014: “It sounds like the worst book a writer ever contemplated. In fact, it is one of the hundred or so best. "
  57. ↑ Einar Már Guðmundsson: How to lead a country into the abyss. The story of Iceland's ruin . Hanser, Munich 2010, ISBN 978-3-446-23510-6 , pp. 62-63 .
  58. ↑ Einar Már Guðmundsson: How to lead a country into the abyss. The story of Iceland's ruin . Hanser, Munich 2010, ISBN 978-3-446-23510-6 , pp. 63 .
  59. ↑ a b Halldór Laxness: Time to write (=  Ullstein book . No. 22412 ). Ullstein, Frankfurt a. M. / Berlin 1991, ISBN 3-548-22412-1 , pp. 184 .
  60. ↑ Halldór Laxness: Time to write (=  Ullstein book . No. 22412 ). Ullstein, Frankfurt a. M. / Berlin 1991, ISBN 3-548-22412-1 , pp. 188 .
  61. ^ Wilhelm Friese: Knut Hamsun and Halldór Kiljan Laxness . Francke, Tübingen / Basel 2002, ISBN 3-7720-2780-6 , p. 74 .
  62. ↑ a b c Guðrún Hrefna Guðmundsdóttir: Halldór Laxness in Germany. Reception history studies . Lang, Frankfurt a. M. etc. 1989, ISBN 3-631-40767-X , p. 131 .
  63. ↑ Quoted from: Halldór Guðmundsson: Halldór Laxness. Life and work . Steidl, Göttingen 2004, ISBN 3-88243-997-1 , p. 85 .
  64. ^ Halldór Guðmundsson: Halldór Laxness. Life and work . Steidl, Göttingen 2004, ISBN 3-88243-997-1 , p. 86 .
  65. ↑ Guðrún Hrefna Guðmundsdóttir: Halldór Laxness in Germany. Reception history studies . Lang, Frankfurt a. M. etc. 1989, ISBN 3-631-40767-X , p. 31 .
  66. ↑ Halldór Laxness: Time to write (=  Ullstein book . No. 22412 ). Ullstein, Frankfurt a. M. / Berlin 1991, ISBN 3-548-22412-1 , pp. 195 .
  67. ↑ Guðrún Hrefna Guðmundsdóttir: Halldór Laxness in Germany. Reception history studies . Lang, Frankfurt a. M. etc. 1989, ISBN 3-631-40767-X , p. 46 .
  68. ↑ Guðrún Hrefna Guðmundsdóttir: Halldór Laxness in Germany. Reception history studies . Lang, Frankfurt a. M. etc. 1989, ISBN 3-631-40767-X , p. 132-134 .
  69. ↑ Rudolf Jakob Humm: Two novels from the north. In: Die Weltwoche; 30 (1962), No. 1514, p. 67. Quoted from: Guðrún Hrefna Guðmundsdóttir: Halldór Laxness in Deutschland. Reception history studies . Lang, Frankfurt a. M. etc. 1989, ISBN 3-631-40767-X , p. 133 .
  70. ↑ Newly published: Halldór Laxness, Independent People . In: Der Spiegel . March 20, 1963. Retrieved December 15, 2014.
  71. ↑ Afterword by Hubert Seelow in: Halldór Laxness: His own master . Steidl, Göttingen 1998, ISBN 3-88243-611-5 , p. 573 .
  72. ↑ Guðrún Hrefna Guðmundsdóttir: Halldór Laxness in Germany. Reception history studies . Lang, Frankfurt a. M. etc. 1989, ISBN 3-631-40767-X , p. 134-135 .
  73. ^ Siegfried Lenz: From freedom in the wasteland. In: Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung; July 3, 1982. Quoted from: Guðrún Hrefna Guðmundsdóttir: Halldór Laxness in Germany. Reception history studies . Lang, Frankfurt a. M. etc. 1989, ISBN 3-631-40767-X , p. 137 .
  74. ↑ a b Bjartur í Bergmansmynd? In: Þjóðviljinn . No. 138 , June 22, 1986, pp. 20 ( online at timarit.is ).
  75. ^ Sigrún Davíðsdóttir: Daniel Bergman vill kvikmynda Sjálfstætt fólk . In: Morgunblaðið . No. 38 , February 15, 1998, p. 52 ( online at timarit.is ).
  76. ↑ Baltasar ætlar að kvikmynda Sjálfstætt fólk ( Icelandic ) In: mbl.is . September 18, 2012. Retrieved February 6, 2015.
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