JÓmar
Jómar is the main character of the story. He is a young man who has traveled halfway around the world, all the way from the cold mARKHÓLAR to the SOUTHERN city of úLRIKSHÖFN. His way south was long and difficult. Longer and harder than most might suspect.
Markhólar was a ISOLATED village that shared little or nothing with the world outside of the surrounding mountAINS and that's where most of Jómar's POOR upbringing comes from.
Life in Markhólar was bad, even though he was too NAIVE to understand it for a long time. His life after he said goodbye to his homeland was little brighter. For a long time he followed a group of bad men and living with them was like a nightmare. After parting ways with that group, he traveled mostly alone, and that's when he first found out how cold the North could really be, especially if he was a scared newcomer with empty pockets.
The city of Ulrikshofn was one of the few places in the world that Jómar had heard of when he left his hometown. There were supposed to be lovable and generous people who seemed almost supernatural in appearance and behavior. Wealth and happiness could be found in Ulrikshofn, farthest south.
Jómar decided to go there in search of treasures and adventures, but no less to pursue the innocence of his youth and to get as far away from the North as possible.
The newcomer in the neighborhood east of Eystri brú is considered quite dull. He doesn't have much experience in anything, knows and knows little, and behaves somewhat strangely, but most people overlook that.
He longs for purpose and stability in his life, loving people, freedom and a future to enjoy. But he finds it difficult to accept the charms that come his way.
He can be very curmudgeonly and withdrawn if his reality becomes too real, but if he pretends to be in fairy worlds, he grows stronger and is up for anything.
Jómar is a very kind-hearted man with a strong and independent sense of justice. He thinks a lot about the difference between right and wrong, but sometimes it is difficult for him where exactly the line lies.
He is ashamed of his past and keeps it to himself. He judges himself harshly and fears that others might do the same. He fears being alone again.
He has strong emotions and likes to let them control him. Sometimes it leads to him doing the right thing in the situation but other times he has a lonely misery.
Rosemary
Rósmáría is an older woman who rents a room next to Jómari in the guesthouse east of Eystri brú in Úlrikshöfn. She lives there alone and has done it for a long timei, has long since stopped working and seems to be doing quite well. Since she has never had children, she has to rely a lot on friends and acquaintances to help her in her old age, but she does not lack benefactors.
She has always walked with a cane since she was young and therefore she has had to learn to take life with a little calmness. But she thinks it's better because in the summer she doesn't miss all these people who have such good stories to tell.
This old woman is often considered one of the best news sources in the neighborhood and sometimes people turn to her for gossip or advice. She also possesses knowledge that the most educated men have not yet come across through their researchand reading. Many things can never be learned from a book.
Their neighborhood is small and low-key, and most of the people who grow up there leave for the city when they reach adulthood, but she knows well most of her neighbors who have chosen to stay in their home neighborhood.
She has a good influence on Jómar and tries to tame him a little. She wasit doesn't take long to pamper him with some food and curious chat. He looks to her somewhat for food and company and to help her.
Sometimes it's as if she sees through Jómar and often finds the right words to say, even if she doesn't get him to open up much. She has a calming and reassuring presence and has the best interests of others at heart.
She is a kind and strong rock and does not give up easily on those who need a little help in life, however long they are realizing it themselves. She inspires her friends even though she can't follow them in their achievements. It is enough for her to know that everything is going well. Everything works out for the best in the end.
Jómar is lucky to have met her when he came to the city. It is to his credit that he has good and strong relationships within the neighborhood and how well his front door and reputation are cleaned. She brings out Jómar's best qualities so that he can learn to know himself again.
Rósmária has lived in this neighborhood all her life and never wanted to be anywhere else. She has watched the society there develop rapidly and a lot in the past decades. She knows all the joys and sorrows of the neighborhood and understands the people around her well. She is in favor of most of the changes that have taken place in society, where people are more and more forced to take life in stride and solve problems and problems with love as their guiding light.
Jon Thjostur
Jón þjóstur is the only merchant in the neighborhood east of Eystri Brú. He works alone in the store and stands there alone all shifts. He himself takes care of all orders for goods into the neighborhood and accepts deliveries. He tries to answer as much demand as possible in the neighborhood, but of course he only runs one small shopn and often people have to look out of the neighborhood to a bigger market to find what he doesn't sell.
He knows most people in the neighborhood and although he is sometimes judgmental and intemperate, he is generally well-liked and friendly, impressive and smooth in communication.
At one time, he took over all operations of the store after his father. If he hadn't taken the role, it would have fallen to his older sister, but he decided to take on this responsibility so that she could chase her love away from the neighborhood and settle elsewhere in the city.
He is mostly in correspondence with his sister, as they each have plenty to do, he with running the shop and she with a large family. He himself never acted on his advice, but he was happy with his sister who entered into a mixed marriage. He hardly mentions his sister in general but his mind is with her most of the time and he has don't regret anything about her.
Jón Þjóstur has worked in the shop most of his life and he is verydisciplined and relentless when it comes to business. His shop is one of the more expensive in the city as it costs more to transport the goods to such a remote area far away from the port. He does not cut prices for individuals or lend money, and he does not trade with thieves or people in a different condition.
However, he is not as lovable to everyone and at times he can seem threatening and overwhelming, especially when he has a fight with the neighborhood idiot. Their relationship goes back a long way and has never been good, mirrored by envy and contempt and shame on both sides.
He has found the power that comes with hatred and anger, but that power is usually followed by painful regret and an empty heart. Enough is never enough and you can always go further until you go too far and then you can never turn back. It was never right for him to abuse his power, he knows that, butstill silent about it even many years later.
He has calmed down a lot and disciplined himself with age, but he is still very determined and just as well-mannered. He himself knows that he can be unnecessarily approachable and ruthless, but deep down he usually means well. However, in the right company, he has the ability to brutally backbite people he doesn't like, to make fun of people, and just as well to promote a mob.
As loud and bulky as he can be, arrogant, proud and stubborn, maybe that's just his way of hiding how small he is inside. Jómar does not understand it. For him, big men are just big and not small.
Dagmar
Dagmar is one of Jómar's neighbors and lives in a huge mansion on the same street as him. She looks good but has a tendency to be a bit careless, naughty and childish. Sometimes the line between innocent pranks and harmful teasing blurs for her, but she compensates for this nonsense with a positive radiance and optimism.
She has many good acquaintances but not so many close friends, but something clicks between them Jómars and over time they develop a strong bond.
Although Dagmar gets along well and no one has anything against her, her understanding of the world is different from that of most of the people of Ulrikshavn. She was born into slavery, which is legal under strict conditions in Úlrikshöfjn, but she was one of the lucky ones and her freedom was bought.
For this reason, she relates particularly well to Jómar, because although she has no confirmation of this, she suspects that their pasts are not so different after all. They understand each other.
Soon after becoming a free woman, she married the man who had freed her along with his three wives to whom he was married. She is the fourth wife in this big marriage and enjoys a nice and good home. She gets along well with her married sisters and loves her husband dearly. She has in her hands everything she needs and everything she could ever want, she will never have to toil again in her life or sit under any kind of oppression.
Even so, she has a tendency to go after her family and freak them out, but she just loves it when they come back to her to forgive her like she has forgiven so many times.
Her sister and husband are well aware of her sneaks and tricks, but after all this time together, it can be said that they have learned to tolerate Dagmara's tricks and learned to live with them for the most part. They have come to the conclusion that it is not worth it to fight her and pursue her hideous ways. She changes late from this.
Dagmar is an eternal ringleader who tends to rock the boat a bit, but wherever she sees an opportunity, she wants to be like everyone else and make the world a better place. She is convinced that life is good and her existence could not be better, but something is missingstill She just doesn't quite know what it could be.
Maybe she just needs little Jómar. Maybe she just needs someone outside the home to share her life and heart with, someone she can trust with anything and someone who understands her as she is today. Best friend in the whole world.
Benoni
Benoní is Jómar's neighbor who lives next door to the guest house, in the big white house in the neighborhood east of Eystri Brú. Jómar gets to know him quite quickly, and Benóní gets to know the new residents of the neighborhood as soon as he becomes his friend. It's good for Jómar, since this neighbor of his is a trustee of the neighborhood.
Trustees are individuals on behalf of the Town Hall who are sent to live in all neighborhoods of Ulrikshavn. Their job is to serve the residents of the neighborhood they live in with everything in terms of crimes, grants, social assistance and general interests of the neighborhood. The position is filled by a highly motivated person who works well with people.
Benóní is good at his job. He knows the laws and regulations of the city and maintains his knowledge well. He is calm and logical, and he is passionate about people and society in general. He also gets curious when something comes up that he hasn't studied before.
Benóní works hard every day, except four days a year when he asks people not to bother him. He is a good confidant and solves his tasks well and neatly, and he often goes the extra mile to help people who personally need his help.
It's largely thanks to him that the neighborhood is as peaceful and friendly as it really is, because it wasn't always that way. But he prefers to solve problems in a fair and honest way, even if it takes time, rather than resorting to quick solutions or harsh punishments where anger and fear lead the way.
He fights for what is important to him, fights for people's rights and he takes up the gauntlet for those who are down in life. He is equally attracted to needy people who long for a hand to hold. For example, he is married four times and his wives were all maids in the past.
It's no secret, but people don't talk about where the Benónis' wives come from or the fact that they struggle to have some offspring. Everyone knows this and knows the grief of the home, but this situation has become as commonplace within the neighborhood as anything else.
Although Benóní works hard and earns well, although his women never have to work more than they choose ever again and although the home is rich with pleasures and love, they don't seem to be able to fulfill all their wishes.
Benóní has learned not to do anything recklessly and he tries to face every problem calmly and calmly. So when everything goes well, a smile crosses your face. He achieves most of what he sets his mind to, and he knows how to be decisive and push people when needed. Besides, he has a tendency to flatter a little, but it's very innocent and brings even more faces to smile.
Jomar adores Benóní, with a twinkle in his eyes, right from the first time he saw him and just as well from the first time he heard his name. Just as well since he was a little boy in Markhólar and they didn't know each other. Benóní is a living copy of a man who came to Markhóli years before, with blue eyes and black hair and pockets full of gold. Benóní is Jómar's role model, protector, mentor and just as well the knight on the white horse.
Nikki switch
Nikulás is the main villain and scapegoat of the neighborhood east of Eystri brú. Aloneall kinds of boredom and uselessness seem to follow him wherever he turns up. Usually, not much happens to him, but if he shows himself, he is usually drunk with a bottle in his pocket.
Jómar and Nikki bytta don't get along well. They look down on each other, but Nikulás is certainly the more hostile, but his hostility towards Jómar stems from self-pity and envy.
Nikulás has more enemies in the neighborhood and the merchant, Jón Þjóst, should be mentioned. The feud between them has a long history, ever since they were little and that is a completely different story. But Nikulás has always been a bit strange and awkward, right from the beginning. He had parents who worked hard and probably didn't get the attention he needed growing up, but they were rich and bought him joy.
When he was struggling, he got into a fight with rather poor fellow students who spoiled him and encouraged him even more to buy himself joy. When that false group of friends disintegrated and he was left alone, friendless, expelled from school and with a fragmented identity, the only solution was to buy himself even more joy.
Later he inherited his parents' fortune, but then he had realized that all this bought joy was meant to feed his hands. Nowadays, he just buys joy in a bottle and puts it in his pocket.
What remains is the shadow of a man who was bullied and denied all his opportunities in life. Most people call him Nikka bytta, others just call him Nikka, but those who know the man well and have some respect for him know that he just wants to be called Nikulás.
Some people want to see him overcome his difficulties, but it's hard to help someone who won't accept help. They understand that Nikulás is just an ordinary man who owns a little boat and has made some wrong decisions in life.
Jómar has no respect for him. From the moment he first saw the poor fellow, there was something about him that filled him with unease. Jómari seems to Nikulás unstable and inconsiderate. He doesn't seem to respect others around him and can't control himself. But shouldn't one be kind to those outside? Like Benoni?
People whisper to Jómar and tell him not to follow Nikulás or worry about his problems, and Jómar quickly realizes that of course it would be best to leave him alone. Unfortunately, the switch has a tendency to pop up wherever and whenever it's bad. Jómar wants to look at him with neutral eyes, but his anti-criticism certainly earns him the ill will of most of his neighbors., both among old acquaintances and newcomers.
Hildisif
Hildaif is Benónís's first wife, the eldest married sister and the mistress of the household. Her main role is to keep order and order in the home, assign chores, do laundry, keep in touch with the home's service providers and keep track of all the home's funds and funds, accounting and contracts.
Her heart is big and warm, but she hides her hard work behind an ice-cold temperament. She is not pitiful like her husband, not as patient or understanding. She understands what she wants to understand, but everything else does not penetrate the armor.
The hostess is smart and determined with a good nose. She doesn't boast, but means every word from the bottom of her heart when it comes down to it. She doesn't smile to please others, she doesn't shy away from her criticism and she doesn't lie about her opinions.
But despite her grumpy attitude, she means well and wants to do nothing but the right and best thing in the situation. Although she seems unrelenting to others, she is, after all, the hardest on herself. She takes on what others do not deserve and sacrifices many things to preserve the happiness of others.
When life gets a little busy, she thinks it's important to be able to step out into her flower garden so she doesn't forget how well you can grow something like this beautiful despite everything. There she forgets time and clears her mind.
Hildisif is the most principled character in the story, but she has a tendency to break her own moral code if she has a reason to. She has fully realized where her power lies and what she can get away with. Otherwise, she prefers to wade beneath her and avoid all unexpected events.
She wants to make sense to the one she loves and that's how she expresses her love. That's why her advice is heartfelt and well-intentioned every time. But she takes it as rejection if people don't follow her advice. If people do not follow her orders, she feels that people do not trust her. But trust cannot be bought. The only way to fix it is to do better.
Benóní is the trustee of the neighborhood, while Hildisif is Benónís' trustee. He brings all his worries and speculations to her and he listens as best he can to her advice and allows her to lead him, albeit on his own terms.
No matter what they fight about, their love never fades but grows stronger over the years, as they know each other better than anyone else could. Although they often disagree on their issues, it remains deep despite everything. Benóní gives purpose to Hildisifjar's life, but on the other hand, she sometimes has to shorten the leash to keep him on the ground.
Hildisif is the glue that holds the big white house together. She says what's hard to say and she does what's hard to do, so everything ends well. It is largely thanks to her that the family has stayed together so well despite all the past and difficulties. She is a rock and a great protector of the defenseless.
Hildisif and Jómar often get along badly. She finds him dishonest and with a guilty conscience, and he doesn't take her advice to heart. She is not interested in him or his struggles, she does not want to acclimate him or guide him in this new environment and even less does she want to take him in. But they both benefit from learning to tolerate each other.
Sea ship
Hafliða is also married to Benóní and lives next door to Jómar. It doesn't matter much to her. She doesn't show much. She stays up late at night and sleeps until midday, and if visitors come to the garden, she shuts herself in her room and waits for them.
Some may be startled to see her. She is thin and pale and does not look particularly lively. She covers herself more than her married sisters, and more than most of the others in the city, and she chooses to dress in dark and late clothes like a mourning widow. Some who see her act say that she is like a hovering specter that passes between the windows of the house at dusk.
In fact, she is harmless. She doesn't like people and she doesn't like herself even less. She prefers to hide inside and never step out into the sun. She wants to hide herself and her shame and rejection from everyone else. She wants to hide how much she cries and what she has done to others. She does not look good and she thinks she is ugly and deformed.
She knows some of the residents of the neighborhood and sometimes she lets them meet her for a moment, but she doesn't chat. She looks away and tries not to think about how people judge her. She is said to be hypoxic. She is full of sadness and regret and lies and she is not happy. She gives nothing more. Not anymore.
Before, she had more power. She was always sedated and her life in slavery had been terrible, but she was more lively. In the past, she tried to carry off others. She was willing and set her goal high to show that she was worthy enough and just as well she dreamed of being better than others.
She bent down and bowed to others, but she had strong opinions. In particular, she tried to impress her husband and tried to exceed all his expectations. She wanted to be better. She wanted him to see that she was better than any other woman, and that they had each other and only each other, alone. That they could have a loving home and start their own family. Have children and be happy. But that dream fell apart and her hopes burned away with each long year that passed.
Hafliða had to endure a lot in the past. She longed for rescue, which finally came. But her heart was still black. Her hopes were glimmering hopes. She had seen the world differently. She had seen her life in the freedom of the hills and she knew what she wanted. But she was mistaken. She failed.
Although she no longer loves herself and may never have known it, she loves others around her. She loves her husband. She also loves her sisters-in-law, although she wishes she had never intended to compete with them. She didn't want to be anywhere else and still cares about life itself and her people. She has promised herself not to hurt anyone again. But she still longs for rescue.
She is rather slow to reconcile with Jómar out of her own whims, but in the end she loves him too. She lets him see her but she doesn't chat. She prowls the house like a dark-clad specter, glancing warily at him with her gray eyes, but then looks away.
Jómar doesn't quite know where he has this woman. He doesn't understand sleep apnea and he doesn't understand her loneliness. He doesn't know her. He is just as scared of her sometimes. Maybe he's scared of ghosts. And when she reaches out to him, the hairs on his back stand up.
Dare
Úra is one of the wives who live in the big white house in the neighborhood east of Eystri Brú.
She tries to be exceptionally honest and conscientious, except sometimes. She's always up to something and can't sit still. Her smile graces her wherever she goes, and she sports a small gap between her front teeth and two small sideburns.
She is the first to act if something needs to be done or to help someone with something. She has it to aShe gossips a little too much, and when she has been gossiping about other people all day, she sits down at night with her diary and gossips about it. But she always tells the truth or thereabouts.
Like the other wives of Benónís, she is a looser, but she doesn't carry it with her. It took her some time to get used to the freedom and it cost her, but all the bad things are behind her. Now the only advice is to enjoy life and look forward to the future. Everything will be fine and right in the end after all.
Thura and Dagmar get along extremely well, but apart from that, she has many friends and acquaintances around her and makes frequent visits.
She has lost all her family and friends from her previous life and has no way to find them again if it were possible. She often thinks back to those she once knew, but it's probably best for her as it is. It is not even certain that she wanted to look back at the faces of those she lost. Maybe they didn't want to see her now either. She is not who she used to be. She is changed, no longer herself and not the same woman she was when her husband and sister-in-law first met her. But it will be okay.
Thura has a big heart and wants to fill it with love. She enjoys her new life, loves her family and friends, her two cats and the cakes she can bake whenever she wants. She has forgiven everyone for everything that has happened so she can breathe easy and behave well. It was her decision to forgive. Her personal goal is to take no guilt with her to the grave.
you are fine with Jómar. He seems a bit childish and brash to her. You might as well laugh at him. Jómari likes her, on the other hand, how warm and encouraging she is towards him, but there is always something about her that throws him off track. He doesn't let her get too close to him. But she tries.
It's good to spend time with Úura, work with her, chat and play. But it's better to be careful around her, because she's good at sniffing out lies and exaggerations, and that doesn't describe her. She wants to help Jómari become a better man and forgive.
