The Most Famous

WRITERS from Iceland

This page contains a list of the greatest Icelander Writers. The pantheon dataset contains 7,302 Writers, 23 of which were born in Iceland. This makes Iceland the birth place of the 46th most number of Writers behind Belarus, and Syria.

Top 10

The following people are considered by Pantheon to be the top 10 most legendary Icelander Writers of all time. This list of famous Icelander Writers is sorted by HPI (Historical Popularity Index), a metric that aggregates information on a biography’s online popularity. Visit the rankings page to view the entire list of Icelander Writers.

1. Snorri Sturluson (1179 - 1241)

With an HPI of 71.86, Snorri Sturluson is the most famous Icelander Writer. His biography has been translated into 65 different languages on wikipedia.

Snorri Sturluson (Old Norse: [ˈsnorːe ˈsturloˌson]; Icelandic: [ˈsnɔrːɪ ˈstʏ(r)tlʏˌsɔːn]; 1179 – 22 September 1241) was an Icelandic historian, poet, and politician. He was elected twice as lawspeaker of the Icelandic parliament, the Althing. He is commonly thought to have authored or compiled portions of the Prose Edda, which is a major source for what is today known about Norse mythology and alliterative verse, and Heimskringla, a history of the Norse kings that begins with legendary material in Ynglinga saga and moves through to early medieval Scandinavian history. For stylistic and methodological reasons, Snorri is often taken to be the author of Egil's Saga. He was assassinated in 1241 by men claiming to be agents of the King of Norway.

2. Halldór Laxness (1902 - 1998)

With an HPI of 71.37, Halldór Laxness is the 2nd most famous Icelander Writer. His biography has been translated into 91 different languages.

Halldór Kiljan Laxness (Icelandic: [ˈhaltour ˈcʰɪljan ˈlaksnɛs] ; born Halldór Guðjónsson; 23 April 1902 – 8 February 1998) was an Icelandic writer and winner of the 1955 Nobel Prize in Literature. He wrote novels, poetry, newspaper articles, essays, plays, travelogues and short stories. Writers who influenced Laxness include August Strindberg, Sigmund Freud, Knut Hamsun, Sinclair Lewis, Upton Sinclair, Bertolt Brecht, and Ernest Hemingway.

3. Egill Skallagrímsson (904 - 990)

With an HPI of 61.56, Egill Skallagrímsson is the 3rd most famous Icelander Writer. His biography has been translated into 31 different languages.

Egil Skallagrímsson (Old Norse: Egill Skallagrímsson [ˈeɣelː ˈskɑlːɑˌɡriːmsˌson]; Modern Icelandic: [ˈeijɪtl̥ ˈskatlaˌkrimsˌsɔːn]; c. 904 – c. 995) was a Viking Age war poet, sorcerer, berserker, and farmer. He is known mainly as the anti-hero of Egil's Saga. Egil's Saga historically narrates a period from approximately 850 to 1000 AD and is believed to have been written between 1220 and 1240 AD.

4. Arnaldur Indriðason (b. 1961)

With an HPI of 57.96, Arnaldur Indriðason is the 4th most famous Icelander Writer. His biography has been translated into 37 different languages.

Arnaldur Indriðason (pronounced [ˈartnaltʏr ˈɪntrɪðasɔn]; born 28 January 1961) is an Icelandic writer of crime fiction; his most popular series features the protagonist Detective Erlendur.

5. Gunnar Gunnarsson (1889 - 1975)

With an HPI of 57.84, Gunnar Gunnarsson is the 5th most famous Icelander Writer. His biography has been translated into 26 different languages.

Gunnar Gunnarsson (18 May 1889 – 21 November 1975) was an Icelandic author who wrote mainly in Danish. He grew up, in considerable poverty, on Valþjófsstaður in Fljótsdalur valley and on Ljótsstaðir in Vopnafjörður. During the first half of 20th century he became one of the most popular novelists in Denmark and Germany. One time he went to Germany and had a meeting with Hitler and is considered to be the only Icelander to have met him. Often considered one of the most important Icelandic writers, he wrote the novel Af Borgslægtens Historie (translated into English as Guest the One-Eyed), the first Icelandic writing ever made into a movie. He also wrote the autobiographical novel The Church on the Mountain (1923–28).

6. Magnús Scheving (b. 1964)

With an HPI of 57.14, Magnús Scheving is the 6th most famous Icelander Writer. His biography has been translated into 64 different languages.

Magnús Örn Eyjólfsson Scheving (Icelandic: [ˈmaknuːs ˈscɛːviŋk]; born 10 November 1964) is an Icelandic writer, television producer, actor, entrepreneur, and former athlete. He is the creator, director, and star of the children's television show LazyTown, in which he portrayed the character Sportacus.

7. Jón Arason (1484 - 1550)

With an HPI of 56.38, Jón Arason is the 7th most famous Icelander Writer. His biography has been translated into 21 different languages.

Jón Arason (1484 – November 7, 1550) was an Icelandic Roman Catholic bishop and poet, who was executed in his struggle against the Reformation in Iceland.

8. Sæmundr fróði (1056 - 1133)

With an HPI of 56.34, Sæmundr fróði is the 8th most famous Icelander Writer. His biography has been translated into 22 different languages.

Sæmundr Sigfússon, better known as Sæmundr fróði (Sæmundr the Learned; 1056–1133), was an Icelandic priest and scholar.

9. Hallgrímur Pétursson (1614 - 1674)

With an HPI of 56.10, Hallgrímur Pétursson is the 9th most famous Icelander Writer. His biography has been translated into 22 different languages.

Hallgrímur Pétursson (1614 – 27 October 1674) was an Icelandic poet and a minister at Hvalsneskirkja and Saurbær in Hvalfjörður. Being one of the most prominent Icelandic poets, the Hallgrímskirkja in Reykjavík and the Hallgrímskirkja in Saurbær are named in his honor. He was one of the most influential pastors during the Age of Orthodoxy (1580–1713). Because of his contributions to Lutheran hymnody, he is sometimes called the Icelandic Paul Gerhardt.

10. Guðbergur Bergsson (1932 - 2023)

With an HPI of 55.76, Guðbergur Bergsson is the 10th most famous Icelander Writer. His biography has been translated into 16 different languages.

Guðbergur Bergsson (16 October 1932 – 4 September 2023) was an Icelandic writer born in Grindavík. He attended the University of Iceland for his Teaching degree and then studied literature at the University of Barcelona. He was one of the leading translators of Spanish works in Iceland. In Barcelona, he met and engaged with the publisher and writer Jaime Salinas Bonmatí. His first book came out in 1961. He has had twenty books in all including poetry and children's literature. He has won the Icelandic Literary Prize twice. In 2004, he won the Swedish Academy Nordic Prize, known as the 'little Nobel'. Bergsson died on 4 September 2023, at the age of 90.

People

Pantheon has 26 people classified as Icelander writers born between 904 and 1964. Of these 26, 10 (38.46%) of them are still alive today. The most famous living Icelander writers include Arnaldur Indriðason, Magnús Scheving, and Yrsa Sigurðardóttir. The most famous deceased Icelander writers include Snorri Sturluson, Halldór Laxness, and Egill Skallagrímsson. As of April 2024, 3 new Icelander writers have been added to Pantheon including Guðbergur Bergsson, Fríða Á. Sigurðardóttir, and Jónína Leósdóttir.