Björn is Inga’s husband, Kjartan’s father, and Agnes’s foster father from the time Agnes’s mother leaves her to the time Björn leaves his farm. Björn is a generally stoic man, although he does occasionally show Agnes small kindnesses, like taking her outside to see the northern lights. Björn tries to help Inga when she goes into labor during a snowstorm. After Inga dies in childbirth, Björn is heartbroken. He decides to give up farming and go work in Reykjavik, leaving Kjartan with Uncle Ragnar and giving Agnes up to the parish.
Björn Quotes in Burial Rites
The Burial Rites quotes below are all either spoken by Björn or refer to Björn . For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
).
Chapter 3
Quotes
I prefer a story to a prayer. They whipped me for that at this farm, Kornsá, once, when I was young and fostered out to watch over the home field. The farmer Björn did not like that I knew the sagas better than him. You’re better off keeping company with the sheep, Agnes. Books written by man, not God, are faithless friends and not for your kind.
Related Characters:
Agnes Magnúsdottir (speaker), Björn
Related Themes:
Page Number and Citation:
Explanation and Analysis:
Get the entire Burial Rites LitChart as a printable PDF.
Björn Character Timeline in Burial Rites
The timeline below shows where the character Björn appears in Burial Rites. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.
Chapter 3
...the sagas. As a child, Agnes’s foster mother Inga encouraged reading, but her foster father Björn did not, saying books other than the Bible were “not for [her] kind.”
(full context)
Chapter 5
...another daughter, Helga. By that time, Agnes was living with her foster family, Inga and Björn, at Kornsá.
(full context)
...again about her childhood. She begins to tell him about her foster family, Inga and Björn, who raised her until Inga died in childbirth. Tóti asks Agnes if she remembers Inga’s...
(full context)
Chapter 6
...death. It was winter. Agnes had been living at Kornsá for several years with Inga, Björn, and their son Kjartan. Inga, who Agnes called “Mamma,” had taught Agnes to read in...
(full context)
...next day it began to snow, and Inga, not feeling well, stayed in the badstofa. Björn went to check on her while Agnes made porridge. Agnes peeped outside and saw a...
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...Meanwhile, Inga’s moans continued in the loft. The children fell asleep, and when they woke Björn was standing over them. He informed them that Inga was dead. Agnes offered him the...
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Agnes threw a fit, screaming that she wanted to die. Björn, meanwhile, sat with his head in his hands. Agnes then went up to see Inga’s...
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...him that after Inga died and the storm ended, the farmhand was sent to fetch Björn’s relatives. Björn told Agnes to put the baby’s body in the storeroom, which she did....
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After everything was clean, the family stood together around Inga’s body and Björn’s brother passed around a flask. The farmhand fetched a priest, and Aunt Rósa told Agnes...
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...not to call Inga that. The two exchanged tense words. Later, Ragnar told Agnes that Björn was moving away and could not afford to keep her. Her foster brother Kjartan went...
(full context)
