Editing Halldór Laxness (section)

===1940s===
In 1941 Laxness translated Hemingway's ''[[A Farewell to Arms]]'' into Icelandic, which caused controversy because of his use of [[neologisms]].<ref>Guðmundsson, p. 279</ref> He continued to court controversy over the next few years through the publication of new editions of several [[Saga|Icelandic sagas]] using [[modern Icelandic]] rather than the [[Old Norse orthography]] that had become customary. Laxness and his publishing partners were taken to court after the publication of his edition of ''[[Hrafnkels saga]]'' in 1942. They were found guilty of violating a recent copyright law, but eventually acquitted when the copyright law was deemed a violation of the freedom of the press.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Helgason|first=Jón Karl|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=KroOyT5QHZgC&q=jon+karl+helgason|title=The Rewriting of Njáls Saga: Translation, Ideology, and Icelandic Sagas|date=1999-01-01|publisher=Multilingual Matters|isbn=978-1-85359-457-1|pages=121–136|language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal|last=Crocker|first=Christopher|title=Guardian of Memory: Halldór Laxness, Saga Editor|url=https://scancan.net/crocker_1_26.htm|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200215223859/https://scancan.net/crocker_1_26.htm|url-status=dead|archive-date=15 February 2020|journal=Scandinavian-Canadian Studies|year=2019|volume=26|pages=110–131|doi=10.29173/scancan165|s2cid=208366559|doi-access=free}}</ref>

Laxness's "epic"<ref>Leithauser, Brad, ''The New York Times'', 15 February 2004</ref> three-part work of historical fiction, ''[[Iceland's Bell (novel)|Íslandsklukkan]]'' (''[[Iceland's Bell (novel)|Iceland's Bell]]''), was published between 1943 and 1946. It has been described as a novel of broad "geographical and political scope… expressly concerned with national identity and the role literature plays in forming it… a tale of colonial exploitation and the obdurate will of a suffering people."<ref>Haslett, Adam, introduction to Iceland's Bell, Vintage International, 2003, p.viii.</ref> "Laxness’s three-volume ''Íslandsklukkan'' … is probably the most significant [Icelandic] novel of the 1940s."<ref>Neijmann, Daisy, ''A History of Icelandic Literature'', University of Nebraska Press, 2006, p. 404</ref>

In 1946 the English translation of ''Independent People'' was published as a [[Book of the Month Club]] selection in the U.S. and sold over 450,000 copies.<ref>Lemoine, Chay (9 February 2007) [https://grapevine.is/mag/feature/2007/02/09/halldor-laxness-and-the-cia/].</ref>

In 1945 Halldór and his second wife, Auður Sveinsdóttir, moved into Gljúfrasteinn, a new house built in the countryside near Mosfellsbær, where they started a family. In addition to her domestic duties, Auður assumed the roles of personal secretary and business manager.

In response to the establishment of a permanent U.S. military base in [[Keflavík]], Halldór wrote the satire ''Atómstöðin'' (''[[The Atom Station]]''), which may have contributed to a [[blacklisting]] of his novels in the U.S.<ref>Lemoine, Chay (18 November 2010). [http://www.icenews.is/index.php/2010/11/18/the-view-from-here-no-8/#more-19435 The View from Here, No. 8]. icenews.is</ref><blockquote>The demoralization of the occupation period is described ... nowhere as dramatically as in Halldór Kiljan Laxness' ''Atómstöðin'' (1948)... [where he portrays] postwar society in Reykjavík, completely torn from its moorings by the avalanche of foreign gold.<ref>Einarsson, p. 330</ref></blockquote>
For its examination of modern Reykjavík, many critics and readers consider ''Atómstöðin'' the exemplary "Reykjavík Novel."<ref>Neijmann, p. 411</ref>