Under the Glacier represents Nobel laureate Halldor Laxness at his entertaining and brilliantly inventive best. Philosophy, theological speculation, and charming wit combine to make this novel a timeless fable of modern times.

A youthful emissary of the Bishop of Iceland travels to the beautiful and mysterious district of Snæfellsnes, locally known as "Under Glacier" to investigate the affairs of the parish and its enigmatic pastor. The story is the young man's report to the bishop on the extraordinary events taking place at the foot of Snæfellsnes-Glacier and the remarkable characters he encounters in the course of his investigations. In this strange region, all accepted distinctions between past and present, the mundane and the supernatural, seem at times to vanish.