Gudmundur Gíslason Hagalín was one of the most prolific Icelandic writers of the twentieth century. Aside from his literary career, he was socially and politically active and had considerable cultural influence, even if this influence waned during the second half of his literary career. From his early youth he distinguished himself as a gifted storyteller in the local tradition of his native Vestfirdir (West Fjords) in northwestern Iceland. His storytelling ability, in combination with influence from the Scandinavian fin de siècle writers with whom he became acquainted as a young man, constituted the basis for his prose. His total production includes thirteen novels, eleven volumes of short stories, ten autobiographical books, thirteen biographies, one book of poems, and two collections of essays.

Gudmundur Gíslason Hagalín was born at the farm Lokinhamrar in Arnarfjördur in the Vestfirdir...