Sýnir (1978) • Madonna (1979) • Birgitta (1979) • Hvernig elskar maður hendur? (1981) • Reiðhjól blinda mannsins (1982) • Sjónhverfingabókin (1983)• Oh, Isn’t It Wild? (1985) • Leikfangakastalar (1986) • Drengurinn með röntgenaugun (1986) • Stálnótt (1987) • Engill, pípuhattur og jarðarber (1989) • Ég man ekki eitthvað um skýin (1991) • Night of the Lemon (1993) • Augu þín sáu mig (1994) • Sagan af húfunni fínu (1995) • Myrkar fígúrur (1998) • Númi og höfuðin sjö (2000) • Sagan af furðufugli (2002) • Skugga-Baldur (The Blue Fox, 2003) • Argóarflísin (The Whispering Muse, 2005) • Rökkurbýsnir (From the Mouth of the Whale, 2008) • Ljóðasafn 1978–2008 (2008) • Mánasteinn – drengurinn sem aldrei var til (Moonstone – The Boy Who Never Was, 2013) • CoDex 1962 (2016) • ON THE TUNICS OF ANGELS OR THE DROP TOWER, THE ROLLER COASTER, THE WHIRLING CUPS AND OTHER INSTRUMENTS OF WORSHIP FROM THE POST-INDUSTRIAL AGE (2017) • Korngult hár, grá augu (Red Milk, 2019) •
Sjón is a celebrated Icelandic poet and novelist. His novels have been translated into twenty-five languages and include From the Mouth of the Whale and The Whispering Muse (both by Telegram). Sjón won the Nordic Council Literary Prize, the equivalent of the Man Booker Prize, for The Blue Fox adn ‘Best Icelandic Novel’ for The Whispering Muse in 2005. Also a songwriter, he has written lyrics for Björk, including for her most recent album, Biophilia.
In 2017 he handed to the Future Library his undisclosed manuscribed titled As My Brow Brushes On The Tunics Of Angels or The Drop Tower, the Roller Coaster, the Whirling Cups and other Instruments of Worship from the Post-Industrial Age. This was preceded by Moonstone: The Boy Who Never Was (Mánasteinn - drengurinn sem aldrei var til) in 2013, and followed by Red Milk (Radur mjólk) in 2019/21.
Sýnir (1978) • Madonna (1979) • Birgitta (1979) • Hvernig elskar maður hendur? (1981) • Reiðhjól blinda mannsins (1982) • Sjónhverfingabókin (1983)• Oh, Isn’t It Wild? (1985) • Leikfangakastalar (1986) • Drengurinn með röntgenaugun (1986) • Stálnótt (1987) • Engill, pípuhattur og jarðarber (1989) • Ég man ekki eitthvað um skýin (1991) • Night of the Lemon (1993) • Augu þín sáu mig (1994) • Sagan af húfunni fínu (1995) • Myrkar fígúrur (1998) • Númi og höfuðin sjö (2000) • Sagan af furðufugli (2002) • Skugga-Baldur (The Blue Fox, 2003) • Argóarflísin (The Whispering Muse, 2005) • Rökkurbýsnir (From the Mouth of the Whale, 2008) • Ljóðasafn 1978–2008 (2008) • Mánasteinn – drengurinn sem aldrei var til (Moonstone – The Boy Who Never Was, 2013) • CoDex 1962 (2016) • Korngult hár, grá augu (Red Milk, 2019) •
Title: The Blue Fox
Author: Sjón
First Published: 2004, in Icelandic as Skugga-Baldur, by Bjartur, Reykjavik
Present Library Copy: Telegram,2008
Translation: Victoria Cribb, 2008
Language: English from Icelandic
Genre: Literary Historical Fiction
Place of Writing: Reykjavik, Iceland (2002)
Pages: 112
ISBN: 978-1-84659-037-5
Notes | TheBlue Fox is often considered a cornerstone of Sjón’s literary oeuvre. Published in 2004, it marked a turning point in how its poetic sensibilities translated into fiction, bending lyricism with narrative restraint. The novella exemplifies his distinctive style: a fusion of Icelandic folklore, mythic motifs, ecological awareness, and spare, poetic, prose.
The year is 1883. The stark Icelandic winter landscape is the backdrop. We follow the priest, Baldur Skuggason, on his hunt for the enigmatic blue fox. And just as the priest pulls the trigger we are swept away to the world of the naturalist Fridrik B. Fridriksson and his charge, Abba, who suffers from Down’s Syndrome. When she was found shackled to the timbers of a ship run aground in 1868, Fridrik had fortuitously come to Abba’s rescue.
The fates of all of these characters are intrinsically bound, and gradually, surprisingly, unravelled in this spellbinding fable that is part mystery, part fairy tale .
“Wonderous... with a strange black humour at its core”
Dazed and Confused
Dazed and Confused