The story begins with Kvelduf Thorbjornsson and his young son Tryggvi working on their Brauoavatn horse farm. Tryggvi's horse Orri was beloved by him so when 2 men approached the farm and were seen stabbing Orri, Kvelduf ran to the horse to try to save him. Unfortunately, Orri was dead and in an angry fit Kvelduf killed the man who stabbed Orri. The other man ran away in order to save himself. The dead man was buried on the farm and Kvelduf met with his gooi, Gunnar Ingolfson, to discuss whether he broke the island's law. Gunnar said that technically the law was broken but promised to help him if an accusation was made against him at the next annual Althing. Althing was the young country's Parliament where every citizen was required to attend. Keeping a low profile at Althing, Kvelduf felt that he was safe from prosecution. However, after Tryggvi got involved in a fight he and his father became noticed and an accusation was made against Kvelduf. Gunnar represented him. If found guilty he could be banished from Iceland and lose all of his possessions.
I loved this story. It was so engaging that I could not put it down and read it in one sitting. The pace was fast. The characters were strong. In fact, the secondary characters were just as compelling as the primary characters. Of course, the beauty of the Iceland setting was wonderful to read about.
While the dialogue was written in contemporary language, there were a few words that I had to look up in the dictionary as I was reading. They were mostly used in setting descriptions. This story has remained in my mind after reading it. It was difficult to begin another book. I tried 4 new books but abandoned them quickly and worked on art projects instead.
5 out of 5 stars.
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