Eldfórnin

by Vilborg Davíðsdóttir

Þegar Katrín Pálsdóttir steig inn fyrir klausturveggina, átján vetra og ein á báti vissi hún ekki hvað beið hennar. Myndi hinni forsmáðu systur Jórunni takast að flæma hana á vergang? Og presturinn með dökku augun, Jón Sigurðarson – hvaða hlutverk átti hann eftir að gegna í lífi hennar? Árið 1343 var nunna á Kirkjubæjarklaustri brennd á báli og ber annálum ekki saman um sakir sem bornar voru á hana. Var systir Katrín í þingum við sjálfan djöfulinn? Eða var hún fórnarlamb ástar í meinum? Í aldanna rás hefur íslensk alþýða spurt sig þessa og eitt svarið geymir þjóðsagan alkunna um Systrastapa. Og nú hefur Vilborg Davíðsdóttir skrifað listilega fréttaða og hörkuspennandi skáldsögu upp úr þessum atburðum. Um leið og lesandi fær heillandi innsýn í klausturlíf kvenna og kaþólskan tíma á Íslandi sogast hann inn í atburðarrás sem full er af dramatískum átökum og spurningum um syndina og vald ástarinnar. Vilborg Davíðsdóttir hefur áður vakið mikla athygli og hlotið verðlaun fyrir sögulegar skáldsögur sínar.

First published January 1, 1997

About the author

Vilborg Davidsdottir was born in 1965 in Thingeyri, a village in the remote Westfjord Peninsula of Iceland. Her background is in journalism and ethnology (folkloristics). In her MA thesis in ethnology, she wrote about the storytelling tradition in the Shetland Isles, UK. Vilborg worked in various media from 1985 to 2000. Since then, she has dedicated herself to writing.

Her tenth and latest book, Under Yggdrasil (2020), is a gripping novel inspired by the Icelandic Sagas, set in the early Viking Age, as was her acclaimed trilogy of novels on Aud the Deep-Minded, the first of which was nominated for the Icelandic Prize for Literature. Vilborg’s historical novels have been tremendously popular over the last decades, especially as they throw a new and unexpected light on the lives of women in the Viking Age. For further information on Under Yggdrasil, see http://www.davidsdottir.is/new-under-...

Her first novel, Við Urðarbrunn, (By Urd’s Well) was published in 1993 and a sequel, Nornadómur (Norns’ Judgement) in 1994. These tell the story of a young slave woman in 9th century Iceland, the daughter of a Norwegian chieftain settler and his Irish slave, and her pursuit for freedom. The story is set in Iceland, Scandinavia and the Scottish Isles.
Við Urðarbrunn was awarded by the Icelandic section of IBBY (International Board on Books for Young People) in 1994, and a year later, the sequel, Nornadómur, received the Reykjavík School Council Award. In 2001 the books were published in a single volume titled Korku saga. Both novels have enjoyed great popularity in all age groups and have been widely read in secondary schools, ever since the first publication.

Vilborg's third book, Eldfórnin (1997) is a historical novel set in the 14th century, and takes place in the nunnery at Kirkjubaer in South Iceland. The events of Vilborg's fourth novel, Galdur (2000) are also based on historical events, this time in the 15th century, in Skagafjord in North Iceland, when Englishmen dominated the trade and were highly influental in Iceland.

Sources describing the lives of the Inuit and the Norse inhabiting Greenland in the middle 15th century provide the background for Vilborg's fifth novel, Hrafninn (2005). The story touches on the mysterious disappearance of the settlements started in Greenland by Icelandic settlers around the year 1000. Hrafninn was nominated for the Icelandic Literature Prize. Film rights have been sold to an Icelandic film maker, Köggull ehf.

Auður (2009), Vilborg’s sixth novel, tells the story of the only Viking woman known to have led her own independent settlement expedition to Iceland. Aud the Deep-Minded was married to the first Viking king of Dublin in Ireland and set sail from the British Isles to Iceland where she settled in the west of the country, setting her slaves free. Auður was also nominated for the Icelandic Literature Prize. A sequel, Vígroði (Crimson Skies) was published in 2012 and the last book of this trilogy, Blóðug jörð, (Ocean Road), in 2017. The novels about Aud the Deep-Minded have been highly praised by readers and critics alike and the rights to produce TV series based on the trilogy have been sold to Deepminded3 AB in Sweden.

In autumn 2017 Vilborg put on a storytelling show about Aud, performed at the Settlement Centre in Borgarnes, Iceland. The event turned out to be quite popular, so much that it was run till spring 2019, with each of the 30 events sold out.

Vilborg’s memoir, Ástin, drekinn og dauðinn (On Love, Dragons and Dying) was published in 2015. Here, she tells the story of her husband’s journey with terminal brain cancer, “the Dragon”, and her first year as a widow following his death in 2013. This unique memoir has been highly acclaimed by readers and critics alike.

Reviews

[Inga Þórunn · Rating 2 out of 5]

Var ekki hrifin af þessari bók. Finnast bækur Vilborgar skemmtilegar en ekki þessi.

[Védís · Rating 3 out of 5]

Ég er almennt hrifin af bókunum hennar Vilborgar. Eldfórnin var frumraun hennar fyrir fullorðinsmarkað og mér þótti áhugavert að sjá hvað stíll hennar hefur þróast mikið. Í tveimur nýjustu bókum hennar Hrafninum og Auði skapar hún mjög trúanlegan heim, allar lýsingar eru eins og hennar er von byggðar á heimildum. Hún er líka snillingur í að segja sögur. Allt þetta mátti sjá í Eldfórninni en augljóslega ekki jafn þróað. Á stundum leið mér eins og ég væri að lesa bók úr Rauðu seríunni, en þó fannst mér það minnka eftir því sem lengra inn í bókina dróg.

Sögusviðið, Kirkjubæjarklaustur var ljóslifandi og trúanlegt, enda augljóst að hún byggir það á heimildum, samanber eftirmála. Persónur eru einnig byggðar að nokkru leyti á raunverulegum manneskjum og allar virðast þær eiga heima innan heimsins. Persónurnar voru misvel skapaðar. Vilborgu fórst best með kvenpersónurnar á meðan aðalkarlpersónan var ekki mjög djúp - hann var meira eins og "plot mover" - persóna sem helsta hlutverk er að fleyta áfram söguþræðinum.

Ég mæli með þessari bók fyrir alla frá unglingsaldri upp á fullorðinsaldur sem hafa áhuga á sögum sem gerast í fornri tíð, kvennasögum og skáldsögum með sögulegt yfirbragð.