Bio
Elías Snæland Jónsson was born in Bjarnarfjörður in Strandasýsla on January 8, 1943. He studied in Sörmarka in Norway after finishing his education in Iceland, and then became a journalist for the Sunmöre Arbeideravis in Aalesund in 1963. He moved back to Iceland, and became a journalist for the newspapers Vísir and Tíminn. Elías also edited the journal Ný þjóðmál from 1994- 1996, the daily Tíminn from 1981 – 1984, was co-editor of DV newspaper 1984 – 1997 and the editor of Dagur newspaper from 1997 – 2001.
Elías Snæland first sent forward the short story "Hvernig skyldi það vera?" (I Wonder How it is) which was published in 1984 in the book Vertu ekki með svona blá augu (Stop Having Such Blue Eyes), a collection of short stories for teenagers. He has written plays, scripts for documentaries, non-fiction books and a novel, as well as a number of books for children and young people. His play, Fjörbrot fuglanna, was staged by Theater Junge Generation in Dresden, Germany in 1999. Elías Snæland received the Icelandic Children's Book Award for his book Brak og brestir (Deep in the Glacier) in 1993, and his book Návígi á hvalaslóð (Giants of the Ocean) from 1998 was on the IBBY honour list for 2000 – 2002.
From the Author
Describing the world
The need to tell stories has doubtless accompanied mankind ever since man became aware of his own existence. Fiction is just one form of expression of this pressing inner need to describe the world as it appears to the author.
In my childhood and teenage years I read vast amounts of fiction, and found it equally exciting to discover folktales collected by the Brothers Grimm and the tales by H.C. Andersen, the science fiction of Jules Verne and stories by authors as diverse as London, Maupassant, the Brontës, Hemingway and Halldór Laxness.
At an early age I began to put down on paper parts of stories, but many years went by before I gave myself the time to seriously work on my fiction. The reason was not least that in the sixties and well into the seventies many of us believed that the most important thing was to try to change society, and preferably the whole world while we were at it.
Since my first short story "Hvernig skyldi það vera?" ("Wonder what it''s like?") appeared in print in 1984, my energy has increasingly gone into writing stories and plays, both for children and teenagers and for adult readers. My novels for the younger generation now count seven; I have also published a few works for older readers, including a novel and two plays.
To write books is not only a pressing need and a very difficult task, it is also a singular pleasure. The act of writing draws on one''s knowledge, life experience and insight to join fragments from many different directions, shape characters, environment and plot and thus create a world which may be founded in some kind of reality, yet exists nowhere except inside your own creation. And trying to tell the story in such a way that the readers can immerse themselves in this fictional world and feel, if only for a short while, that it is no less real than their own everyday lives.
Elías Snæland Jónsson, 2001.
Translated by Vera Júlíusdóttir.
About the Author
On The Works of Elías Snæland Jónsson
Elías Snæland Jónsson was born on January 8, 1943. He has been a journalist and a writer since 1963. In addition to his books for children and teenagers which are the subject of this article, Elías has written the non fiction books Lýðveldið Ísland 50 ára (1994) / The Republic of Iceland: 50th Anniversary (1994), Undir högg að sækja (In a Difficult Position; 1985), and Átök milli stríða (Battles Between Wars; 1984). He has also written the play Fjörbrot fuglanna (The Dying Birds; 1999), the novel Draumar undir gaddavír (Barb Wired Dreams; 1996), the short stories “Eldur himinsins” (Flames of Heaven; 1999), “Lífsins steinn” (Stone of Life; 1998) and “Hvernig skyldi það vera” (I Wonder What it’s Like; 1984) as well as the radio play Myrkraverk (Dark Deeds; 1996).
Elías’ first book for children and teenagers was the novel Davíð og krókódílarnir (Davíð and the Crocodiles), which was published in 1991. This is the story of Davíð, a city boy who is raised by foster parents, doesn’t adjust well in school and is bullied by his schoolmates. Following this, he starts skipping school, falls into bad company and starts doing petty crime. At the start of the story, Davíð is at a company office in town, after having broken into that same company by night, both to get hold of some money and to gain the respect of the members of the Crocodile gang, which he wants to become a member of. The Crocodiles turn out to be involved in far worse things than Davíð realized at first. On top of being responsible for a number of break-ins in the city, they also steal drugs from drugstores, which they either sell to others or use themselves. Davíð takes part in these break-ins, but soon they are uncovered when a girl overdoses and falls into a coma. The other boys point to Davíð as the leader of breaking into the drugstore, since he is under age, and they have a load of other robberies on their conscience. The girl, who is Davíð’s friend, does not wake up from her coma and he is filled with despair and self-accusations. When no solution seems to be in sight, help comes from an unexpected angle.
In 1993, Elías sent forward another book for the same age group, Brak og brestir (Turmoil). Here, we meet Hákon, a fifteen year old boy who lives with his single father in Reykjavík. At the beginning of the story he is mingling in some rather bad company and has, among other things, taken part in a robbery. His father loses his job following his employer’s bankruptcy and as a result father and son move to the north of the country where the father is offered another job and housing.
Hákon adapts quickly to his new surroundings, but his Reykjavík past haunts him when his schoolmates learn of his history of having been arrested for break-ins. Thus, he has a hard time being accepted at first.
At Easter time Hákon and his father are invited on a glacier trip for a few days. Their vacation plan however quickly changes when they learn that some boys from town have not returned from a snowmobile trip, and Hákon, his father and the father’s friend Siggi end up taking part in the search. An exciting rescue operation at a highly dangerous glacier crevasse follows, but all goes well in the end and Hákon is the hero of the day. At the end of the story, he is at ease with the changes in his life and does not want to fall back into his old ways and the company he kept in Reykjavik.
Haltu mér fast (Hold Me Tight) came out in 1994. This is the story of the girl Súsí who is a very normal fifteen year old teenager in the Reykjavík suburb of Garðabær. Her parents are divorced and Súsí has a hard time accepting how distant her father has been after the separation. Her mother has to go on a business trip abroad and the plan is for Súsí to visit her father in Luxembourg in the meantime. This however falls through as he suddenly becomes too busy with work and Súsí is instead sent, quite against her will, to her grandfather in the Icelandic west fjords. The grandfather lives alone with his livestock and goes out on his fishing boat as well as doing farm work. After some initial difficulties, Súsí comes to terms with staying in the countryside and her grandfather turns out to be of more help than she expected. She also gets to know a boy in the next town that she likes from the start. The boy, Hallur, teaches her to dive and together they have numerous adventures. When Súsí’s grandfather suddenly falls ill when they are out on the boat fishing, she has to show initiative and strength. She has to take care of herself while he is in hospital and does the entire farm work. She handles this fine and gains both experience and maturity. At the end of the story her parents come to take her back home, but she has not seen the last of Hallur since he is also going to Reykjvík to study.
In 1995, Elías published the book Krókódílar gráta ekki (Crocodiles Don’t Cry). This is a sequel to Davíð og Krókódílarnir, and here we meet Davíð again after he has moved to the north of Iceland with his biological father who he hardly knows. Those who have read the first book know that Davíð moved from his foster parents to his father in order to get away from his old surroundings and the company of teenagers who drink, use drugs and do petty crimes.
At the start of the book, Davíð has just broken into a house in town, and thus he is in the same situation as at the start of the first book. He has not attended school or had a job the whole winter, doesn’t have much to do during the day and continues hanging out with bad company like he did in Reykjavík. His best friend, Gústi, is involved with men who have criminal plans and Davíð also gets involved. Gústi offers him his motorbike if he takes part, and Davíð can’t resist this temptation. His reputation from Reykjavík stays with him and he gets into fights with other teenagers in town, but also gets to know a girl he likes a lot, Selma, who doesn’t seem to mind his past. People are not happy about their relationship and Davíð has to deal with resistance from all directions. When his friend Gústi gets beaten up and ends up in hospital, Davíð realizes he is also in danger, especially after having been threatened by one of the men they worked for before. This man, Kobbi, is the main “moonshine” dealer in town. Davíð decides to take matter into his own hands, but at the same time puts himself in great danger.
Töfradalurinn (The Magic Valley) from 1997 is written for younger children than Elías’ previous books. The story takes place in a fantasy world called Bókadalurinn (Book Valley) where the friends Jenna and Júlíus live. Jenna’s father has the important job of being the bank director of Sögubankinn (The Story bank) where all ideas for new fairy tale characters are kept. The only threat that faces the inhabitants of Book Valley is the horrible book witch who is a legendary character in the valley and said to have been asleep for centuries. Rumor has it that the more often her name is mentioned, the shorter the time she has yet to sleep becomes, and when she awakens she will throw all the characters down the terrible well of forgetfulness and thus they will be lost for all eternity. If this happens, there will be no more children stories and this the people of Book Valley cannot imagine.
When the story begins, Jenna has just celebrated her birthday. She got many beautiful presents, but the most precious one is a kind of magical diary that has been owned by women in her family for generations. Still, all the pages in the diary are blank. What Jenna writes in this diary will take place in reality. In this way she can control how events unfold, or change the course of events.
The biggest festival in the valley is the story festival and it is only held once every ten years. When the festival takes place this time, the ritual of throwing a statue of the book witch down the well doesn’t go as it should, and Jenna and her friends have to everything in their power to save the valley from the danger it faces from the witch. With the help of the diary, Jenna finds a way into the witch’s mountain, and after having gotten lost for a while, she stumbles right into the terrible witch herself. With the help of Júlíus, she manages to subdue the witch, dragging her into town to face the people. After some discussions, the witch is spared from being thrown into the well, but is instead doomed to reading stories for the children in the valley.
Elías’ next story for children is the thriller Návígi á hvalaslóð (Close Combat) from 1998. The book tells of the teenager Ingi, who’s circumstances are unusual in the sense that he lives onboard a whale-inspection vessel with his parents. The parents are ocean biologists who get to use this ship, owned by a rich American, for their research. For this reason, they are often at sea for long periods of time. Ingi is however not isolated from the world, he is in contact with his teacher through the Internet and has many friends he is in contact with online. One of them is Helena who lives in Canada, and Ingi has a crush on, although they have never met in person at the start of the story.
After an exciting whale rescue operation outside the coast of the U.S., Ingi’s parents get into conflict with the ship owner’s colleagues who seem to have gained control of his company. These men want to use the parent’s research for some mysterious purpose, and end up stealing the ship with the kids onboard, Helena having come for a visit at that point. The kids manage to contact Helena’s father, but when the engine loses power out on the ocean and the criminals have escaped on the life-boat, they are in bigger trouble than ever before. All goes well in the end, the kids are rescued and the criminal case gets resolved.
Víkingagull (Viking Gold) from 2000 is Elías’ most recent story for teenagers. This is the story of Bjólfur who lives with his mother Ylfa in Sweden. Ylfa works as a manuscript expert at The Royal Library in Stockholm. Bjólfur has a hard time adjusting to the new country, does not connect with his classmates and is first and foremost interested in computers and the Internet. He suddenly gets very interested in a mysterious piece from an old skin manuscript that his mother is researching, which tells of Búi digri and his son Sigurður who lived in the Viking age. Sigurður is supposed to have buried his father’s treasure after his death, but no one knows where.
Arne, a Norwegian scholar and Ylfa’s friend, who is also interested in the treasure, invites Ylfa and Bjólfur on a trip to Norway together with himself and his two daughters. They also go sailing on his sailboat, and then the plan is to take the ferry Norræna to Iceland. Arne however does not make the trip, since he suddenly has to turn back for some unexpected work. The remaining four take the ferry to Iceland. Bjólfur cannot shake off the idea that some hints in the manuscript about Búi’s treasure point to Iceland and the conversion to Christianity a thousand years ago. He is determined to do everything he can to solve the mystery and decides to take off from the guesthouse where they are staying, with the clues from the manuscript in his pocket. One of the girls, Sonja, goes with him but they end up getting lost in fog up on a mountain and get into grave danger. There, an unexpected discovery also faces them. They make it back, and at the end of the story Bjólfur has accepted that he will continue living in Stockholm, close to Sonja.
Elías’ newest story for children, Valkyrjan (The Valkyrie), was published in 2003. Here we meet Hildur who lives with her grandparents in a small village in the countryside. She lost her mother in an accident, but has never known her father. Hildur is a strong and determined 12 year old, whose main interest is football. She plays with the boys in the village and is just as good as they are at the sport.
When Hildur gets into a fight with the boys and has to run away from them, she ends up on a mountain outside the village. She gets hurt and is knocked out, but when she wakes up again she find herself in another world at a different time. Her surroundings, which she knows like the palm of her hand, are totally different, the village is gone and the people also. This new world turns out to be the world of the heathen gods, and there Hildur meets some Valkyries who take her under their wings and bring her to Ásgarður where she meets many characters from Norse mythology. Together with the Valkyries, Hildur goes to Valhalla where the gods sit and drink and she finds out that Odin is missing. She tries to find clues about where he can possibly be with the help of her laptop that she still has with her, and then takes off with the Valkyrie Brynhildur. Together they are going to try to find Odin. They go to Mímisbrunnur (the well of Mimir) to seek the help of Mímir and with his help and that of Freya, they end up finding Odin. After they get back to Valhalla, Hildur wants to return home and is helped by the devious Loki, but in return he wants her laptop which he considers to be a piece of magic that predict the future. At the end of the story, Hildur regains consciousness as her friends have pulled her out of a stream at the foot of the mountain by the village, and revived her. Valkyrjan, like Töfradalurinn, is written for younger children than most of Elías’ books. Both books are fantasies, where the characters travel to a different world, here the mythical world of the Norse Gods. The book introduces the readers to the world of the Norse mythology, the main characters there and which role each of them plays in this world.
Elías Snæland Jónsson has been a productive writer of books for children and teenagers for over a decade when this is written. Most of his stories are realistic ones about contemporary life, two are fantasies or partly so, and one is a thriller.
One of the things that characterize Elías’ work for teenagers is that the books usually deal with kids who have gotten into some kind of trouble in life, both because of outside things they cannot control but also because they have in different ways gotten themselves into trouble. Thus, some of the books focus on children who are in bad company, are doing petty crime, drugs etc, on top of having a hard time interacting with others and often also living in difficult family surroundings. Elías also writes about kids who live in secure surroundings, but are in some kind of inner struggle, are easily led by others which get them into trouble. What often changes these kids luck and makes them turn back is some kind of a change in their surroundings and an increased responsibility. Thus, the characters that are furthest off track are often sent away to a new environment, often to the countryside where there are fewer temptations and less aggravation. Their reputation however often haunts them and in order to shake it off they have to overcome some test and prove themselves worthy of respect in the new community. At the end they realize that the changes have been positive ones, making them more mature and thus helping them stay away from their old and negative ways.
Elías’ stories for teenagers portray what young people have to deal with in their lives. There are a number of things in their surroundings that push them and make them confused; peer pressure is also something they constantly have to fight. Sometimes they are too week to resist and this makes them do things they otherwise would not do. When they manage to free themselves from these demands and have the op ortunity to look at things from a distance, they gain the maturity they lack at the start of their stories. One can thus say that Elías’ stories are first and foremost realistic coming-of-age stories about modern time teenagers.
Regína Unnur Margrétardóttir, 2003.
Translated by Kristín Viðarsdóttir.
Álfadís og grimmd gullsins
Read moreRunen
Read moreRúnagaldur (Rune Magic)
Read moreDrekagaldur (Dragonmagic)
Read moreValkyrjan (The Valkyre)
Read moreVíkingagull (Vikings´ Gold)
Read moreFjörbrot fuglanna : Leikrit í tuttugu atriðum (The Birds´ Dying Moments : A Play in Twenty Scenes)
Read moreEldur himinsins
Read moreNávígi á hvalaslóð (Up Close With the Whales)
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