Thristapar (Þrístapar)
Thristapar (Þrístapar)
The last execution in Iceland took place on a prominent hillock just off road 1, in 1830. Agnes Magnusdottir and Friðrik Sigurðsson were beheaded for the murder of their employer, Natan Ketilsson.
The story is vividly recounted in Hannah Kent's bestselling novel 'Burial Rites'. The Australian author spent time as a student in this area and was drawn to research the events behind the killing.
Her sympathetic and realistic portrayal of poverty, prejudice, and injustice in Iceland is gripping and tragic but avoids being sentimental.
Iceland subsequently became one of the first countries to abolish the death penalty, in 1928.