Gunnar Gunnarsson

Gunnar Gunnarsson (Known as "Gunnar Gunnarsson")

Novelist, Playwright, Author of The Black Cliffs and The Good Shepherd

Born 1889-05-18

Fljótsdalur, Iceland

Passed Away 1975-11-21 Reykjavík, Iceland

Lifespan 86 years old

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Notice / Correction

"Even when winter storms howl across the highlands, duty and love will seek out the lost in the cold."

Archival Overview

Internationally acclaimed Icelandic author whose psychological novels—notably Svartfugl (The Black Cliffs) and Advent (The Good Shepherd)—earned multiple Nobel Prize in Literature nominations.

Biographical Record

Gunnar Gunnarsson was born on May 18, 1889, at Valþjófsstaður in Fljótsdalur. Born into rural poverty and having lost his mother at age eight, he moved to Denmark at eighteen to attend Askov Folk High School, choosing to write in Danish to reach an international readership.

Gunnarsson achieved massive success with his four-volume family chronicle Af Borgslægtens Historie (Guest the One-Eyed, 1912–1914) and his psychological murder mystery Svartfugl (The Black Cliffs, 1927). His novella Advent (The Good Shepherd, 1936), recounting a shepherd braving mountain blizzards to rescue lost sheep, influenced Ernest Hemingway's The Old Man and the Sea. In 1939, he returned to Iceland, building his mansion Skriðuklaustur.

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Final Resting Place

Perpetual Memorial

Viðey Island Cemetery
Reykjavík, Iceland

                         GPS: 64.1650, -21.8550                    

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