Every winter, in the days leading up to Christmas, Benedikt walks into the snowy mountains of Iceland to rescue sheep lost in the blizzards.

With his dog and his ram by his side, traversing wild snowstorms and crystalline nights, fuelled by endless cups of hot coffee, Benedikt dedicates himself to helping other living beings in need. It is midwinter in the harshest of landscapes, but this is a place of deep belonging and peace – brutal and remorseless yet irresistible and indispensable. It is also a time of peace, filled with the anticipation of that special time of year – the days before Christmas: Advent.

This enchanting Icelandic classic of one man’s selfless quest at Christmas time has been newly translated into English for the first time in 90 years.

‘Gunnar Gunnarsson’s novel is the Icelandic A Christmas Carol’ Vanity Fair

‘This beautiful story with its inspirational message is too spontaneously human, too universal in its truth to be capable of being dated. . . A drama of heroic endurance . . . for all or any time’ New York Times Book Review, 1940
TRANSLATED BY PHILIP ROUGHTON