The Fish can Sing by Halldór Laxness

If one glances at the newspapers of that period, for example the Ísafold, it comes to light that life was not entirely uneventful in this little fishing-station, even though some people might think that it lies beyond the edge of the world. At just about this time the news was spread round the country that our famous singer had now written a letter to the exalted Althing itself. In this letter he took leave to inform the nation's legislators that, because of his fame throughout the world (which was due much more to God's mercy than his own merits), there was now no longer any need for the horny-handed sons of toil in Iceland to be burdened further with taxes on his behalf; with this letter he was renouncing the funds he had been granted by the Treasury; the time had now come, the letter said, for the roles to be changed: it was now up to him to start kneading the golden dough for those fishermen and farmers from this day onwards. At the same time he thanked the Althing for the sums it had up to now granted him out of public moneys in Iceland in order to promote culture abroad. The Government's magnanimity was eloquent evidence of the fact that the nation which lived here was still determined to hold aloft the banner of its great past. Above this letter there was printed a picture of Garar Hólm, one of the first portraits to appear in Icelandic newspapers and the largest to be printed in those columns until the day the Danish king came to Iceland a few years later.

In the newspapers of those days one can read innumerable eulogies about this young genius, who was already acknowledged as the nation's favourite son. Among other things, it was freely asserted in praise of Garar Hólm that he was an example to every young student in the respect one should show to the Treasury.