Originally published in Icelandic two volumes in 1934 and 1935, Independent People is a historical novel by Icelandic author Halldór Laxness. It was first translated into English in 1946. Subtitled “An Epic,” the work is an example of social realism and is considered one of the author’s masterpieces, cited in his 1955 Nobel Prize in Literature. The novel follows the stubborn sheep farmer Gudbjartur “Bjartur” Jonsson, who, after 18 years of servitude, purchases his own remote—and supposedly cursed—farmstead. Bjartur’s relentless pursuit of freedom from debt places him in a tragic battle against his family’s needs, the harsh Icelandic landscape, and the encroaching forces of a modernizing world. The novel explores themes including The Self-Defeating Nature of Absolute Independence, The Unrelenting Struggle Against Natural and Supernatural Forces, and Poetry as a Tool for Survival, Escapism, and Meaning.

Laxness drew on Iceland’s rich literary heritage, particularly the medieval Icelandic Sagas, to create a modern and deeply ironic work. Bjartur is cast as a mock-heroic saga protagonist whose stoicism often curdles into foolish, self-destructive pride. Set during the early decades of the 20th century, the novel depicts a period of immense social and economic change in Iceland, as the nation transitioned from an isolated, agrarian society to a modern one integrated with global markets. Laxness, whose political sympathies aligned with socialism by the 1930s, uses Bjartur’s story to critique the nation’s foundational myth of rugged individualism. He depicts the economic boom of World War I and the subsequent bust of 1929 to show how traditional ideals of self-reliance are untenable against the powerful forces of capitalism and the co-operative movements that arose in response.

This guide refers to the 1997 Vintage International edition.

Content Warning: The source material and this guide feature depictions of child death, pregnancy loss or termination, animal cruelty and death, illness or death, death by suicide, child abuse, child sexual abuse, bullying, physical abuse, emotional abuse, mental illness, and disordered eating.

Plot Summary

In a remote Icelandic valley, the people believe in a legend that the land is haunted by an ancient pagan sorcerer, Kolumkilli, who was later worshipped by a murderous witch named Gunnvör in the 16th century.

In the early 1900’s, Gudbjartur “Bjartur” Jonsson completes 18 years of bonded service as a shepherd for Bailiff Jon of Rauthsmyri and buys a derelict holding known as “Winterhouses” in the haunted valley. Driven by a fierce desire for independence, Bjartur scorns these local superstitions, refusing to place a placatory stone on Gunnvör’s cairn for good luck. He renames the farm “Summerhouses” and, with only his dog, Titla, for company, celebrates his newfound freedom, which he defines as owning land and sheep while being free of debt.

Bjartur marries Rosa, another former servant from Rauthsmyri. At their wedding, the bailiff’s wife, a poet, delivers a long speech on the nobility of rural life. On their journey to Summerhouses, Bjartur again defies the curse at Gunnvör’s cairn, creating the first rift with his new wife. On their wedding night, he accuses Rosa of having slept with the bailiff’s son, Ingolfur Arnarson Jonsson. Though Rosa denies it, it is soon clear that she is already pregnant.

Life at Summerhouses is harsh and Rosa is used to the relative comforts of Rauthsmyri. Bjartur is relentlessly focused on his sheep, while Rosa suffers from intense pregnancy cravings for meat and milk, which he dismisses as “nerves.” He refuses to buy a cow, insisting they must prioritize paying off the land. Rosa’s health deteriorates, and one night she collapses from exhaustion at Gunnvör’s cairn while trying to walk to Rauthsmyri for milk. Later, Bjartur leaves for the annual sheep round-up, leaving a ewe named Gullbra for Rosa’s company. Terrified during a storm and driven mad by the ewe’s bleating, Rosa believes a ghost is attacking it. The next morning, she kills the ewe with a scythe, then butchers and eats it, finally satisfying her hunger.

Bjartur returns and, finding Rosa looking healthy, believes the doctor’s pills for “nerves” have worked. He becomes obsessed with finding the “lost” ewe, Gullbra. Despite the onset of winter, he sets off to search the high moors. During his search, he attempts to capture a reindeer, which carries him into the freezing Glacier River. Caught in a blizzard, he endures a two-day ordeal before reaching a remote farm. He returns to Summerhouses to find it buried in snow. Inside, Rosa lies dead, having bled to death alone in childbirth. He discovers their newborn daughter, kept alive by the body heat of his dog.

Bjartur seeks help from Rauthsmyri, and the housekeeper, Gudny, warms and feeds the infant. Though he knows the child is likely not his, Bjartur feels a powerful connection to her. He names her Ásta Sollilja, meaning “Beloved Sun-lily,” and calls her the “one flower” of his life. Refusing offers to give her up for fostering, he hires a new housekeeper, a woman named Finna, and her elderly widowed mother, Hallbera, to help raise the child.

The narrative jumps forward 13 years. Bjartur and his second wife, Finna, have had three living sons: Helgi, Gvendur, and Nonni. Finna is chronically ill, and other of her children have died. Ásta Sollilja is a pensive girl who acts as a big sister to the boys. Bjartur makes the final payment on his land, at last becoming debt free.

A close bond develops between Bjartur and Ásta Sollilja. She reminds Bjartur of Rosa, who he now thinks of with nostalgia. Despite his reservations, he teaches Ásta to read using old Icelandic poetry. He also promises to take her on her first trip to town as a treat.

Despite Bjartur’s hostility toward receiving “charity,” the bailiff’s wife insists the family accept a cow, Bukolla, as a gift from the Women’s Institute. The dairy yield greatly improves the family’s health.

On their trip to town, Bjartur and Ásta must share a bunk in a rowdy lodging house. When a frightened Ásta turns to him for comfort, Bjartur responds with a brief sexual touch before recoiling in self-revulsion. After this, he becomes cold and distant, leaving Ásta deeply confused and traumatized.

A harsh spring brings famine, and 25 sheep catch lungworm. Bjartur is obliged to kill the infected animals to reduce contagion. To save the last of the hay for his surviving flock, Bjartur decides to slaughter the family’s cow. Finna, who loved the cow, collapses and dies. Her death drives the eldest son, Helgi, into a nihilistic mood. Believing he is possessed by the valley’s evil spirit, Kolumkilli, he has a mental health crisis. The remaining sheep are mysteriously slaughtered, and Helgi disappears into the winter. His body is found in a gully the following spring.

Bjartur hires an ailing teacher to stay for the winter. The teacher introduces the children to modern poetry and worldly knowledge. Ásta, now 15, becomes infatuated with him, and he seduces her. She becomes pregnant. Consumed by guilt, the teacher leaves at Easter, after helping young Nonni contact relatives in America. When Ásta’s pregnancy is discovered, an enraged Bjartur strikes her and casts her out of the house.

Trade to support the First World War brings unprecedented prosperity to Iceland. Bjartur becomes wealthy, expands his flock, and begins building a large, modern concrete house. In recognition of his prosperity and to rehabilitate the image of Gunnvör, Bjarti commissions a headstone for her grave. Bjarti’s son, Gvendur, receives passage money from America, sent by his brother Nonni, who has emigrated. In town, waiting for his ship, Gvendur finds Ásta living in poverty with her daughter, Bjort, abandoned by Bjort’s father. Gvendur misses his ship to America after becoming involved with a woman and uses his travel money to buy a racehorse.

The post-war boom ends, and prices collapse. Bjartur is left with a massive debt for his unfinished house, becoming an “interest-slave” who must sell off his flock to pay the interest. He feels himself losing the independence he pursued his whole life. The new house is uninhabitable, and the family remains in the deteriorating turf croft. The bank forecloses, and Summerhouses is scheduled for auction. Bjartur leases Hallbera’s old, abandoned croft, Urtharsel, on the remote Sandgilsheath.

The bailiff buys Summerhouses at the auction. On his last trip to town, Bjartur is denied credit and spends the night unhoused with Gvendur, offered shelter by striking harbor workers. Bjartur eats a stolen loaf of bread, an act he sees as the final destruction of his independence. Feeling that his own independence is destroyed, he admires the strikers’ rebellion and tells Gvendur to stay and join their cause.

The next morning, Bjartur finds his granddaughter, Bjort, who is ill with whooping cough. He follows her to a hovel where Ásta Sollilja is living in poverty, dying of consumption. They have a tearful reunion, and he tells her he is taking her and her two children “home” with him to Urtharsel. On the journey over the moors, Bjartur carries the frail Ásta in his arms. As they pass Gunnvör’s cairn, he rolls away the headstone he had commissioned. The novel ends with the fragmented family, Bjartur, the dying Ásta, her children, and Bjartur’s aged mother-in-law Hallbera, making their journey toward a new life of hardship at Urtharsel.