Burial Rites: Chapter 1 Summary & Analysis

The first chapter of the novel begins with a public notice announcing the auction of Natan Ketilsson’s possessions, including animals and household objects, to be sold to the highest bidder. If the weather is too bad, it will be held the following day. The notice is signed by District Commissioner Björn Blöndal.

Next, Kent presents a letter to a reverend from Björn Blöndal, responding to a prior letter in which the reverend inquired about the burial of Pétur Jónsson, who was murdered along with Natan Ketilsson earlier that month. Blöndal states that, because Pétur was a convicted criminal, there was debate about how he should be buried. Since the Icelanders had not received any letters from Denmark telling them what to do, they buried Pétur Jónsson with Christian rites.

In the next letter of the chapter, Björn Blöndal writes to Assistant Reverend Thorvardur Jónsson (Tóti). First, he extends his congratulations to Tóti for completing his studies. Then, Blöndal tells Tóti he is going to execute Natan and Pétur’s murderers. To refresh Tóti’s memory, Blöndal describes the murders, recounting how Natan Ketilsson and Pétur Jónsson’s burnt remains were found on Natan’s farm. Eventually, one man and two women Fridrik Sigurdsson, Sigrídur Gudmundsdóttir (Sigga), and Agnes Magnúsdottir, were charged with the murders and sentenced to death.

The convicts are being held in the north, and one of them, Agnes Magnúsdottir, is being moved from Stóra-Borg to Kornsá. Agnes has requested Tóti for spiritual guidance, which is why Blöndal is writing to him. Blöndal conveys his hesitation, saying that Tóti has little experience, but says that if Tóti wants to take on the task, he will have to visit Kornsá regularly. Blöndal tells Tóti he is awaiting his response.

After Blöndal’s letter, the novel begins a third-person narrative, which opens with Tóti’s father, Reverend Jón, walking into their house and telling him that a messenger has arrived. The messenger enters and tells Tóti he has a letter from District Commissioner Blöndal, saying he is supposed to wait at the house until Tóti has read it. Tóti breaks the seal of the letter and reads. When he finishes, the messenger asks for his response. Tóti says he must talk with his father.

Tóti finds Reverend Jón in the communal bedroom (the badstofa), and gives him the letter to read. Once he finishes reading, Tóti asks him what he should do, and his father says it is his choice. Tóti returns to the other room and tells the messenger that he will meet with Agnes. The messenger is shocked when he hears Agnes’s name, and jokes that Tóti is too young to be Agnes’s spiritual advisor.

The third-person narrative jumps to describing Steina Jónsdottir, who is working on her family’s farm, Kornsá. She suddenly hears hooves while she is piling dried dung. Steina stands up, and, seeing a man in a red coat approaching on horseback, tries to clean her hands in a hurry. The man greets Steina and then introduces himself as District Commissioner Björn Blöndal, Steina’s father’s superior. Steina tells Blöndal that neither her father nor mother is home.

Blöndal asks to come inside. Steina shows Blöndal where to tie his horse and leads him in. As Blöndal walks through the house, he is uncomfortable in the small space, thinking he does not like “the hovels of the peasants and farmers.” Steina tells Blöndal that her parents with return tomorrow or the next day, depending on the weather. She tells him to take a seat while she goes to find her sister.

Lauga Jónsdóttir, Steina’s sister, is weeding in the garden when Steina comes looking for her. Steina tells Lauga that Blöndal is there. Lauga criticizes her sister for leaving “a man like Blöndal” in their house alone, and probably with only the servants’ whey to drink. Steina corrects her, saying she did not give him anything, and Lauga is even more dismayed.

Lauga trots back to the house, tidies herself, and goes into the parlor to greet Blöndal. She apologies for her sister’s behavior and silently hopes that Blöndal has come to offer her father Jón a promotion. She asks Blöndal if he would like some skyr (an Icelandic dairy product) and then goes to fetch it and some coffee. In the kitchen, Steina tells Lauga they have no more coffee because she drank it all. Lauga chastises Steina, then tells her to get the skyr and bring Blöndal fresh milk. Lauga thinks better of this, though, and instead tells Steina to let their servant Kristín serve Blöndel, since Steina is so dirty.

Lauga returns to the parlor. To her annoyance, Steina (instead of Kristín) emerges from the kitchen carrying the food for Blöndal. Blöndal asks which of the two of them is older, and Lauga tells Blöndal that she is younger by one year. Blöndal tells them that they are both very pretty. Blöndal sniffs the food and the milk, but he does not eat it.

Blöndal tells the girls that he had intended to talk to their father, but that since their father is absent, he will tell the girls. Blöndal asks if they are familiar with the murders of Natan Ketilsson and Pétur Jónsson, and then updates them on the case, which proceeded to the Supreme Court in Copenhagen, where the King agreed with Blöndal’s execution sentence. Lauga asks if the murderers are being sent to Denmark for execution, and Blöndal tells her no. Lauga, puzzled, asks him where they are to be killed.

Blöndal rises from his chair and walks to the window. Blöndal tells the girls that the criminals are to be executed in Iceland to serve as an example to the local community. Blöndal notes that important criminals are usually sent abroad for punishment, so there are no jails in Iceland. Blöndal has decided to place the criminals on the farms of government officials until they are to be killed. Lauga asks why they cannot be held in Reykjavík, and Blöndal tells her the cost is too high.

Steina grows angry as she realizes that Blöndal means to lodge one of the criminals in their house. Blöndal tells her he will compensate their family, and that their father’s title requires certain responsibility. He then tells them they will only host one of the women prisoners. The narrative then cuts to Blöndal leaving, as Steina, furious, clears away his bowl of uneaten skyr.

The chapter changes to the first person narrative of Agnes. Agnes wonders whether she is already dead. She is in a storeroom and the air is filthy and stagnant. She is alone, chained and without light. Agnes wonders if it is summer, hearing footsteps and laughter outside. She imagines the valley in summer and the bright blue sky.

The narrative returns to the third-person as Jón Jónsson and Margrét set out for home, three days after Blöndal’s visit to their daughters Steina and Lauga. Margrét coughs violently as they ride back. As they pass a neighbor’s house, Margrét notices their new cow and says she would like another cow for the extra butter, as well as another servant. Jón tells her to be patient.

Meanwhile, at Kornsá, Lauga and Steina are silently collecting water from the stream, having ignored each other since Blöndal’s visit. Lauga worries that Steina’s impertinence towards him will hurt their family, while Steina worries about the criminal they must house and feels angry at Blöndal for subjecting them to danger. Lauga, seeing a horse in the distance, tells Steina that their parents are returning. She sends Steina to fill both water buckets while she goes to greet their parents. Lauga’s mind races as she prepares broth for Jón and Margrét. She decides to tell them about Blöndal’s visit while they eat together in the badstofa.

When Jón and Margrét arrive, Jon greets Lauga with a kiss. Margrét and Lauga hug. Margrét asks where Steina is, and Lauga says she is fetching water. Margrét expresses surprise that she is not there to welcome them. Lauga turns to her father and says that she has something to tell him later, when they are alone, assuring him in the meantime that no animals have died. Margrét says that Lauga can say whatever she needs to tell him in front of her. The family heads inside the house.

Once Jón and Margrét are settled in the badstofa, Lauga brings them bowls of broth. Lauga tries to tell them the news as Jón changes his clothes, but Margrét interrupts her. Finally, Lauga tells Jón that Blöndal paid a visit while they were away to deliver a letter. Jón asks for the letter, but Lauga tells him that Steina burnt it. As Jón and Margrét become agitated, Steina, sopping wet from her trip to get water, bursts into the room and tells them that they will have to house the criminal Agnes Magnúsdottir.

Steina’s news horrifies Margrét, as they all know that Agnes was convicted of murder. Lauga is angry with Steina for interrupting her plan to tell her parents, and begins to chastise her. Jón tells them to stop bickering. Lauga recounts the entire visit, and as Lauga finishes her story, Jón begins to dress again. Margrét implores Jón to reject the request, but Jón ignores her and rides to Hvammur to talk to Blöndal.

Several hours later, Jón returns to Kornsá. He confirms that Agnes will be moved to Kornsá. Jón explains that, as a District Officer, he is obligated to fulfill his responsibility to Blöndal. Margrét is angry, asking why he, of all the District Officers, must shoulder this responsibility. Jón tells Margrét that they will be compensated for the service. Margrét says that they should consider sending the girls away for their safety, but Jón rejects this idea. He then tells Margrét that she will have to receive Agnes when she arrives, since Blöndal has requested Jón’s presence in Hvammur that night to discuss who the executioner will be. Margrét, Steina, and Lauga are dismayed.

The narrative then switches to Agnes’s first person perspective as she describes her poor treatment in the days before she is to be moved. She emphasizes the quiet and the darkness, how no one ever speaks to her, and how she only hears her name on others’ lips when they are saying bad things about her. Agnes stays quiet, reciting the sagas to keep herself sane. She closes herself off from the world so that she is “not there” when people curse her and see her in a bad light.

The narrative changes again to the third person, which now follows Tóti as he leaves church. He accepted Blöndal’s offer to visit Agnes a month ago, and has lived in self-doubt ever since. As Tóti walks through the churchyard back to his house, he reflects on his father’s coldness after his mother’s death. When he gets to the house, Reverend Jón is boiling fish. Tóti tells him he is going to Kornsá, where Agnes is scheduled to arrive that night.

Tóti asks his father if he thinks he is ready, and Reverend Jón tells him that only he knows, but that since he has agreed to help Agnes he must. When Tóti asks his father if he will pray for him, Reverend Jón does not respond. Reverend Jón tells Tóti not to wake him when he returns, and then he leaves the room.

Tóti prepares his horse and rides towards Kornsá, rehearsing what he will say to Agnes and dreading the impending encounter. As he takes in the Icelandic landscape’s beauty, Tóti feels more at ease and whispers to himself that he will save Agnes.