The Blue Fox (novel)

The Blue Fox
First edition (Icelandic)
Author	Sjón
Original title	Skugga-Baldur
Translator	Victoria Cribb
Language	Icelandic
Publisher	Bjartur
Publication date	2003
Publication place	Iceland
Published in English	2008
Pages	123
ISBN	9979-774-43-6

The Blue Fox (Icelandic: Skugga-Baldur) is a 2003 novel by Icelandic writer Sjón. The book was originally published by Bjartur and first published in the United States in 2013.

Plot

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The book takes place in Iceland in 1883. It opens with a priest hunting a blue fox, then jumps backward to the days leading up to the hunt. An herbalist buries the recently deceased woman with Down syndrome that he rescued from a shipwreck. It details their life together before returning to the present. The priest shoots and kills the mysterious blue fox he is hunting, but the sound from his rifle causes an avalanche. While trapped underneath the snow in a glacial cave, the priest starts to go insane. The fox comes back to life and argues with him about the invention of electricity and the priest kills the fox a second time, this time skinning her and wearing her fur. He then transforms into a blue fox himself. The book ends with a letter from the herbalist, who explains the girl with Down syndrome was the priest's daughter, whom he sold into slavery several years before the herbalist rescued her.^[1]

Reception

[edit]

It won the Nordic Council Literature Prize in 2005.^[2] It was a finalist for the Jan Michalski Prize for Literature (2011).^[3]

References

[edit]

^ "The Blue Fox". www.goodreads.com. Retrieved 31 January 2018.
^ "The winners". norden.org. Nordic Council. Retrieved 2011-11-05.
^ "The Jan Michalski Prize for Literature 2011". Foundation Jan Michalski. November 2011. Retrieved November 23, 2012.

v t e Nordic Council Literature Prize winners
1960s	1962: The Days of His Grace – Eyvind Johnson 1963: Under the North Star 3: Reconciliation – Väinö Linna 1964: The Ice Palace – Tarjei Vesaas 1965: From Hell to Paradise – Olof Lagercrantz and The Good Hope – William Heinesen 1966: Diwan on the Prince of Emgion – Gunnar Ekelöf 1967: Nye noveller – Johan Borgen 1968: Flight of the Eagle – Per Olof Sundman 1969: The Legionnaires – Per Olov Enquist
1970s	1970: Anna, I, Anna – Klaus Rifbjerg 1971: Coast of Slaves, Ships of Slaves & Islands of Slaves – Thorkild Hansen 1972: Sju ord på tunnelbanan – Karl Vennberg 1973: Kersantin poika – Veijo Meri 1974: Uden mål – og med – Villy Sørensen 1975: Siinä näkijä missä tekijä – Hannu Salama 1976: Að laufferjum & Að brunnum – Ólafur Jóhann Sigurðsson 1977: I de mörka rummen, i de ljusa – Bo Carpelan 1978: Dalen Portland – Kjartan Fløgstad 1979: Pubertet – Ivar Lo-Johansson
1980s	1980: Vredens barn – Sara Lidman 1981: Hauströkkrið yfir mér – Snorri Hjartarson 1982: Samuels bok – Sven Delblanc 1983: Om fjorten dage – Peter Seeberg 1984: The Christmas Oratorio – Göran Tunström 1985: A Day in Ostrobothnia – Antti Tuuri 1986: Líkasum – Rói Patursson 1987: Hudløs himmel – Herbjørg Wassmo 1988: Justice Undone – Thor Vilhjálmsson 1989: Roman 1987 – Dag Solstad
1990s	1990: For the Living and the Dead – Tomas Tranströmer 1991: The Sun, My Father – Nils-Aslak Valkeapää 1992: Night Watch – Fríða Á. Sigurðardóttir 1993: Byen og verden – Peer Hultberg 1994: Blackwater – Kerstin Ekman 1995: Angels of the Universe – Einar Már Guðmundsson 1996: Hva skal vi gjøre i dag og andre noveller – Øystein Lønn 1997: Bang. En roman om Herman Bang – Dorrit Willumsen 1998: After Having Spent a Night Among Horses – Tua Forsström 1999: Queen's Gate – Pia Tafdrup
2000s	2000: Drømmebroer – Henrik Nordbrandt 2001: The Discoverer – Jan Kjærstad 2002: The Half Brother – Lars Saabye Christensen 2003: Revbensstäderna – Eva Ström 2004: Juoksuhaudantie – Kari Hotakainen 2005: The Blue Fox – Sjón 2006: The Ocean – Göran Sonnevi 2007: Drömfakulteten – Sara Stridsberg 2008: Baboon – Naja Marie Aidt 2009: I Curse the River of Time – Per Petterson
2010s	2010: Purge – Sofi Oksanen 2011: Between the Trees – Gyrðir Elíasson 2012: Days in the History of Silence – Merethe Lindstrøm 2013: The Prophets of Eternal Fjord – Kim Leine 2014: Mirage 38 – Kjell Westö 2015: Wakefulness, Olav's Dreams & Weariness – Jon Fosse 2016: Songs and Formulae – Katarina Frostenson 2017: Memories of Love – Kirsten Thorup 2018: Hotel Silence – Auður Ava Ólafsdóttir 2019: Efter Solen – Jonas Eika
2020s	2020: Who killed Bambi? – Monika Fagerholm 2021: Flower Valley – Niviaq Korneliussen 2022: Om udregning af rumfang – Solvej Balle 2023: Ihågkom oss till liv – Joanna Rubin Dranger
List of Nordic Council's Literature Prize winners and nominees

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Plot

Reception

See also

References