Advent by Gunnar Gunnarsson

About the book: Every winter, in the days leading up to Christmas, Benedikt walks into the snowy mountains of Iceland to rescue sheep lost in the blizzards.

With his dog and his ram by his side, traversing wild snowstorms and crystalline nights, fuelled by endless cups of hot coffee, Benedikt dedicates himself to helping other living beings in need. 

It is midwinter in the harshest of landscapes, but this is a place of deep belonging and peace – brutal and remorseless yet irresistible and indispensable. It is also a time of peace, filled with the anticipation of that special time of year – the days before Christmas: Advent.

This enchanting Icelandic classic of one man’s selfless quest at Christmas time has been newly translated into English for the first time in 90 years.

Advent (2025) is translated from the Icelandic by Philip Roughton.

About the author: Gunnar Gunnarsson (1889–1975) grew up on a farm in the Fljotsdalur district of East Iceland and went on to become one of the most popular novelists in Denmark and Germany. His career began with his first novel, Af Borgslægtens Historie (translated into English as Guest the One-Eyed), which was published by Gyldendal in 1912-1914 and was adapted for cinema in 1919, the first Icelandic writing ever to be made into a film. During the next two and a half decades, Gunnarsson wrote numerous novels, short stories, poems and plays. His books were printed in many countries though his popularity was concentrated in Denmark and Germany. Ships in the Sky made it to sixth place on the New York Times bestseller list in 1938. Advent, also titled The Good Shepherd, is perhaps his most enduring book and is still widely read today.

About the translator: Philip Roughton was born in the US in 1965 and now lives in Iceland. Philip Roughton is an award-winning translator of Icelandic literature. He earned a PhD in Comparative Literature from the University of Colorado, Boulder, with specialties in medieval Icelandic, medieval Chinese, and Latin literature, and wrote his dissertation on medieval Icelandic translations of saints’ and apostles’ lives. He has taught modern and world literature at CU-Boulder, and medieval literature at the University of Iceland. His translations include works by many of Iceland’s best-known writers, including the Nobel laureate Halldór Laxness, Jón Kalman Stefánsson, Bergsveinn Birgisson, Steinunn Sigurðardóttir, and others. He was awarded the 2015 American-Scandinavian Foundation Translation Competition Prize, for his translation of Halldór Laxness’ novel Gerpla (Wayward Heroes), the Oxford-Weidenfeld Prize for 2016, for his translation of Jón Kalman Stefánsson’s The Heart of Man, and an NEA Literature Translation Fellowship for 2017.

Rating: 5/5