Gandaringurin

Gandaringurin var seinasta skaldsøgan hjá Sigurd Hoel, men hann hevði havt hana í huganum í mong ár, áðrenn hon varð skrivað í 1958. Hann fer við okkum út á fjarskotna bygd í Noregi í 1820-árunum.

Vit hitta Hávarð frá Telemark, sum giftir seg við einkjuni Rannvá. Hon er vøkur og fleiri bøndur har í bygdalagnum høvdu ætlað sær hana. Uttanbíggjarmaðurin maðurin fær bæði konu og garð, og verður lagdur undir hatur. Hann er komin inn á øki, ið hevur verið teirra í øldir. Nøkur vísa honum beinleiðis, hvussu tey hata hann, onnur eru listinlærdari í sínum óndskapi.

Hávarður hevur gingið á landbúnaðarskúla og ætlar sær at gera jarðarbrúkið tíðarhóskandi. Hann fær nógvan mótgang, bæði frá bygdarfólkinum og sum frá líður eisini frá konu síni, samstundis sum skuldarkensla forðar honum at gera tað, hann helst hevði viljað. Alt endar við, at hann verður lagdur undir eitt dráp, hann ikki hevur framt, men sum hann óbeinleiðis kennir seg sekan í. Motivið er grundað á søgu, Hoel hevði hoyrt sum barn.

Gandaringurin er lagnuskaldsøga um óndskap, smásinni og ómegd.
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The Magic Ring was Sigurd Hoels final novel but it had been in his thoughts for many years before he wrote it in 1958. In it he takes us to a remote village in Norway in the 1820s.

There we meet Hávarður from Telemark, who marries the widow Rannvá. She is beautiful and many farmers in the area had planned to get hold of her.

The man from out of town gets the girl and the farm and becomes the subject of hate. He has entered an area which has been theirs for centuries. Some show him directly how much they hate him, while others are more subtle in their malice.

Hávarður has studied at an agricultural academy and wants to modernize the farming process. He faces a lot of opposition, both from the villagers and as time passes also from his own wife. As this happens his sense of guilt prevents him from doing that which he most wants to. It culminates with him being charged with a murder which he has not comminted but which he inderectly feels responsible for.

The motive is based on a story which Hoel heard as a child.

The Magic Ring is a novel about evil, pettiness and weakness.