The Flatey Book was returned to Iceland on April 21, 1971, and is now exhibited in the Culture House in Reykjavik. Many sources were tapped in the making of this story. The text of the Flatey Book was, of course, the most precious mine, but countless other books were also delved into. I would like to thank these authors for the loan of their work.
My grandfather, Viktor Gu?nason, was the manager of the post and telephone exchange in Flatey, as well as the church organist. My grandmother, Jonina Olafsdottir, was a goodwife in Solbakki in Flatey and baked cakes that acquired great fame. I got to spend several summers with them, the last of which was in 1964. In the summer of 1960, I was a five-year-old boy staying with them in Flatey, so this period is firmly embedded in my mind. Among other things, I have a vivid memory of the moment when my grandfather showed me the Munksgaard edition of the Flatey Book in the library. The Munksgaard edition can now be viewed there under a glass case, as it is described in this book.
The poet Adalsteinn Asberg Sigurdsson wrote the poem that appears in this book. He is bound by destiny to write poems in every book I write.
Thora Steffensen, a coroner at National Hospital of Iceland, was very kind to assist me in the technical detail of the postmortems, and I thank her for all her help.
I also thank my wife, Vala, and daughters, Emilia Bjort and Margret Arna, for their patience and forbearance.