The Outlaw

The Outlaw is an 1871 one-act play by Swedish playwright August Strindberg written when he was a 22-year-old struggling University student who had yet to become a successful author. The story is based on old Viking sagas for which to prepare Strindberg taught himself Icelandic to read the old sagas. Soon after the premier at the Royal Theater, the King of Sweden, Charles XV, summoned Strindberg to his palace to tell him how much he enjoyed it and to offer help with the young writer's tuition. It was a seminal moment in Strindberg's career, allowing him to continue his studies and gaining him confidence and reputation as a writer. Plot The story is set in Iceland, inside a rough shewn log building with wooden benches along two walls, a wood throne on the third wall, two windows and a single door on the fourth wall. Gunlöd, the daughter of Viking leader Thorfinn, stands quietly at an open window, and gazes out over the ocean. Valgerd, her mother, speaks about their shared grief over father Thorfinn's hard and unloving manner. In addition to the family's move from Sweden to Iceland, Gunlöd laments at having been forced to part with her dear childhood friend, the young man Gunnar, who has gone on Crusade in the Holy Land and who she has not seen in years. Valgerd leaves the room and Gunnar unexpectedly enters, his ship having just arrived. Gunnar expresses his love and asks Gunlöd to return with him to Sweden. Gunlöd is coy but reveals that she secretly believes in the Christian god that her pagan father hates. Gunlöd is evidently torn between loyalty to her father, who is pagan, and her young Christian lover. Gunnar leaves the room before Valgerd returns, but says his ship will be waiting that night for her to make up her mind to go with him.