''The Swan'' (orig. Icelandic ''Svanurinn'') is a novel written by the Icelandic writer

Guðbergur Bergsson Guðbergur Bergsson is an Icelandic writer born in Grindavík on 16 October 1932. He attended the University of Iceland for his Teaching degree and then studied literature at the University of Barcelona. He is one of the leading translators of Spa ...

in 1991.

Plot introduction

The story is about a nine-year-old girl sent to a country farm in

Iceland Iceland ( is, Ísland; ) is a Nordic island country in the North Atlantic Ocean and in the Arctic Ocean. Iceland is the most sparsely populated country in Europe. Iceland's capital and largest city is Reykjavík, which (along with its s ...

to serve her probation for shoplifting (which is a characteristic Icelandic sentence). In the novel, the girl finds a kind of freedom by submitting to the inevitable restraints and suffering of remote rural life.

Awards and nominations

*In 1991,

got the

Icelandic Literary Prize The Icelandic Literary Prize ( Icelandic: ''Íslensku bókmenntaverðlaunin''), or Icelandic Literary Award, is an award which is given to three books each year by the Icelandic Publishers Association. The prize was founded on the association's cen ...

for his novel, ''Svanurinn''. *In 1992, ''Svanurinn'' was nominated for the Literary Prize of the Nordic Council.

Translation

*This is one of the few novels by

that are available in English. The English version is translated by

Bernard Scudder Bernard John Scudder (29 August 1954 – 15 October 2007) was a British translator from Icelandic language, Icelandic into English language, English. His translations include the work of best-selling crime writer Arnaldur Indriðason and Yrs ...

, a member of the team producing an English translation of the Icelandic Sagas.

Adaptation

In 2017, the

ic film director Ása Helga Hjörleifsdóttir shot her first movie ''

The Swan A swan is a bird of the genus ''Cygnus'' (true swans) or ''Coscoroba'' (coscoroba swans). Swan, swans, or The Swan may also refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Film and television * ''The Swan'' (1925 film), a 1925 silent film * ''The Swa ...

'', the adaptation of ''The Swan''.'The Swan': Film Review
''hollywoodreporter.com'', 27 October 2019

References

1991 novels Icelandic novels Novels set in Iceland Icelandic-language novels {{1990s-novel-stub