Read "Paradise Reclaimed" by Halldor Laxness online for free on Textopian. Full text with search, annotations, highlights, and AI-powered reading aids.
A few days after the aforementioned visitation, a letter arrived from the sheriff: in view of rumours concerning the paternity of the child born to Steinbjörg Steinarsdóttir of Hlíðar, and her own unclear answers to the parish pastor's questions, an inquiry into the whole case was requested. The girl was therefore required to present herself at Hof on such and such a day.
It has always been considered rather beggarly to travel on foot in Iceland; but the folk at Hlíðar had no choice now, for the ponies were in mediocre condition, if that, and had scarcely recovered from the winter. The birds circled the girl's head as she walked. She took off her socks and hitched up her skirt and waded across the cold mountain-streams. It was an enjoyable journey at the height of spring. She could feel the smell of the sea and the land at one and the same time. But when she reached the Jökulfljót (Glacier River) she had to go by ferry.