Characters
This character is the central figure sentenced to death for murder.
Agnes Magnúsdóttir
"They said I must die. They said that I stole the breath from men, and now they must steal mine."
Agnes Magnúsdóttir
Who is chosen as the executioner?
Guðmundur Ketilsson (Natan's brother).
The novel uses this narrative technique, alternating between third-person and Agnes’s first-person perspective.
What is dual narration (or shifting perspective)?
This assistant reverend is tasked with Agnes’s spiritual preparation for her execution.
Tóti (Þorvarður Jónsson)
They pick a mouse to tame a cat.
The servant that brings the letter to Tóti
What do we know about Agnes's past?
Kornsá, mother, brother, sister, abandoned.
In Burial Rites, Agnes’s personal reflections are presented in this narrative form, allowing the reader to see her thoughts and memories.
First-person narration
The name of the younger sister at Kornsá
Lauga
They shall be executed here, he said finally. In Iceland. In the north of Iceland, to be exact.
Björn Blöndal
What does Tóti learn when he visits Undirfell?
Intelligent
The novel opens with excerpts from historical records and documents. This technique helps establish this type of narrative authenticity.
Historical realism
The other woman accused alongside Agnes in the murder of Natan Ketilsson.
Sigga
This woman has been beaten.
Margrét
Why did Agnes pick Tóti?
Met 6-7 years ago at Gönguskörð.
By presenting multiple perspectives and voices, Burial Rites challenges the reader to question this concept about Agnes’s guilt or innocence.
Objective truth
The two victims of the murder at the heart of the story
Natan Ketilsson and Pétur Jónsson
Natan Satan, that was his name. Nothing he did ever came from God.
Guðrún (servant at Undirfell).
What do we know about Natan?
Stories
The author’s use of fragmented memories and vivid imagery in Agnes’s first-person sections emphasizes this narrative quality, reflecting her trauma and mental state.
inner monologue and thoughts (stream of consciousness)