Gljúfrasteinn was the home and workplace of Halldór Laxness (winner of the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1955) and his family for more than half a century. It has now been opened to the public as a museum, unchanged from when Laxness lived there. In the reception building you can watch a multimedia presentation dedicated to Laxness’s life and work. Tickets for admission, books and souvenirs are also sold there. In the beautiful countryside right next to Gljúfrasteinn, visitors can take walks as part of their visit, to see where Laxness spent his childhood and, in later life, sought his inspiration.

Tours of the house are available in Icelandic, English, German and Swedish.
For further information or booking of tours tel: 586 8066 or e-mail: gljufrasteinn@gljufrasteinn.is

Sympathy with the underdog: Halldór Laxness (1902-1998) stands head and shoulders above the other Icelandic writers of the 20th century. He was prolific during his long career, writing 13 major novels, five plays and a dramatisation of one of his novels, not to mention his collections of short stories, essays and memoirs. His books have been translated into 43 languages and published in more than 500 editions. His career was unique, the diversity of his works almost without parallel, and with every book he can be said to have approached his readers from a new and unexpected direction.