Editing Halldór Laxness (section)

===1950s===
[[File:Laxness portrett einar hakonarson 1984.jpg|thumb|right|Halldór Laxness by [[Einar Hákonarson]], 1984]]

In 1952 Laxness published ''Gerpla'' (''The Happy Warriors'', ''Wayward Heroes'') a novel based on the ''[[Fóstbrœðra saga|Fóstbræðra saga]]''. It deals with Vikings of around the year 1000.<ref> Hallberg, p. 165</ref>

   <blockquote>As a work of art ''Gerpla'' is an unusually powerful achievement. Laxness has not transposed his subject into a modern key; he has chosen to preserve a close link to the style of the ancient sagas.<ref> Hallberg, p. 179</ref></blockquote>

Halldór was awarded the Soviet-sponsored [[World Peace Council prizes|World Peace Council]] literary prize in 1952.<ref>Guðmundsson, p. 340</ref>

A Swedish film adaptation of his novel ''[[Salka Valka]]'', directed by [[Arne Mattsson]] and filmed by [[Sven Nykvist]], was released in 1954.<ref>Guðmundsson, p. 351</ref><ref>https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0047442/?ref_=fn_all_ttl_1</ref>

In 1955 Laxness was awarded the [[Nobel Prize in Literature]] "for his vivid epic power, which has renewed the great narrative art of Iceland".<ref name="Literature1955">{{cite web|url=http://nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/literature/laureates/1955/index.html|title=Nobel Prize in Literature 1955|publisher=Nobel Foundation}}</ref>

<blockquote>His chief literary works belong to the genre… [of] narrative prose fiction. In the history of our literature Laxness is mentioned beside [[Snorri Sturluson]], the author of "[[Njáls saga|Njals saga]]", and his place in world literature is among writers such as Cervantes, Zola, Tolstoy, and Hamsun… He is the most prolific and skillful essayist in Icelandic literature both old and new…<ref name=r1/></blockquote>

In the presentation address for the Nobel, [[Elias Wessén]] said:<blockquote>He is an excellent painter of Icelandic scenery and settings. Yet this is not what he has conceived of as his chief mission. "Compassion is the source of the highest poetry. Compassion with Asta Sollilja on earth," he says in one of his best books… And a social passion underlies everything Halldór Laxness has written. His personal championship of contemporary social and political questions is always very strong, sometimes so strong that it threatens to hamper the artistic side of his work. His safeguard then is the astringent humour which enables him to see even people he dislikes in a redeeming light, and which also permits him to gaze far down into the labyrinths of the human soul.<ref>{{cite web |title=The Nobel Prize in Literature 1955 |url=https://www.nobelprize.org/prizes/literature/1955/ceremony-speech/ |website=NobelPrize.org |access-date=21 October 2018 |ref=Nobel55}}</ref></blockquote>

In his acceptance speech, Laxness said:<blockquote>… the moral principles [my grandmother] instilled in me: never to harm a living creature; throughout my life, to place the poor, the humble, the meek of this world above all others; never to forget those who were slighted or neglected or who had suffered injustice, because it was they who, above all others, deserved our love and respect…<ref>acceptance speech for the Nobel Prize, 1955</ref>

But if an Icelandic writer forgets his origins in the depths of the nation where the story lives; if he forgets his relationship and duty to the life that is hard-pressed, the life that my old grandmother taught me to revere in my heart and mind — then fame is of little worth; along with happiness that is gained from wealth.<ref> Guðmundsson, p. 368</ref></blockquote>
Laxness grew increasingly disenchanted with the Soviet bloc after the suppression of the [[Hungarian Revolution of 1956]].<ref>Guðmundsson, p. 375</ref>

In 1957 Halldór and his wife went on a world tour, stopping in New York City, Washington, DC, Chicago, Madison, Salt Lake City, San Francisco, Peking (Beijing), Bombay (Mumbai), Cairo, and Rome. "In these and other countries he was able to appear as kind of a cultural ambassador for Iceland."<ref>Guðmundsson, pp. 380–384</ref>,<ref>Hallberg,p. 181</ref>

Other major accomplishments in this decade were ''Brekkukotsannáll'', (''[[The Fish Can Sing]]'', 1957), and  ''Paradísarheimt'', (''Paradise Reclaimed'', 1960).<ref>Hallberg, p.180</ref>