Published in 1952, Wayward Heroes is part of the body of works for which Laxness was awarded the Nobel Prize in 1955. It is a masterfully written tragicomedy about the oath-brothers Thorgeir & Thormod, inspired by the old Icelandic sagas Saga of the Sworn Brothers & Saga of Saint Olaf. The brothers fight for glory, raid for treasure, & seduce women against the backdrop of a new cult of Christianity. But where the old sagas depict their heroes as glorious champions, Laxness does the opposite. As Thormod avenges Thorgeir`s death, he demonstrates the senselessness of violence & the endlessly cyclical nature of obsession.