She was young, poor, and alone in a harsh, unforgiving Icelandic landscape — and then she was sentenced to die. In 1830, Agnes Magnúsdóttir became the last person executed in Iceland, beheaded by axe for the murder of a powerful man.
Nearly 200 years later, her story still lingers. Was she a cold-blooded killer, or a woman trapped by circumstance?
In this episode, we speak to author Hannah Kent, whose bestselling novel Burial Rites reimagines Agnes’s final days. We explore how one woman’s life — and death — became legend, and why capital punishment remains a reality for half the world’s population today.
You can read Burial Rites here. You can also find Always Home, Always Homesick here.
CREDITS
Guest: Hannah Kent
Host: Claire Murphy
Senior Producer: Tahli Blackman
Audio Producer: Jacob Round
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We acknowledge the Traditional Owners of the Land we have recorded this podcast on, the Gadigal people of the Eora Nation. We pay our respects to their Elders past and present and extend that respect to all Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander cultures.
