Burial Rites characters

Appears from the start

A servant woman held under a death sentence for her part in the killings of Natan Ketilsson and Pétur Jónsson. Removed from harsh confinement and placed with a farming family while the authorities prepare her execution, she arrives physically neglected and guarded against the judgment of strangers. The official account has already made her notorious, but her own history has not yet been heard.

Also known as Tóti

Appears from the start

A young assistant reverend whom Agnes has requested as her spiritual adviser before her execution. Inexperienced and uncertain of what help he can offer, he chooses to listen to her rather than approach her only as a condemned criminal.

Appears from the start

The capable, ailing mistress of the Kornsá farm. She resents the authorities for forcing her household to shelter a convicted murderer and is initially watchful and severe with Agnes, particularly out of concern for her daughters.

Appears from the start

Margrét's husband and the district officer at Kornsá. His public duty leaves him little power to refuse the order that Agnes be lodged on his farm, despite the disruption and fear it brings to his family.

Appears from the start

The more open-hearted of Jón and Margrét's daughters. Curious about Agnes and less committed to treating her as a monster, she is willing to see the exhausted woman behind the public story of the crime.

Appears from the start

Jón and Margrét's other daughter, attentive to reputation and the danger that Agnes's presence may pose to the household. She is more reserved than Steina and wary of becoming close to their unwanted guest.

Appears from the start

The district commissioner responsible for carrying out the authorities' arrangements for Agnes's custody, spiritual preparation, and eventual execution. Formal and controlling, he treats the case as a matter of order and public example.

First appears in chapter 2

A self-taught healer and farmer whose death at Illugastaðir lies at the center of the case against Agnes. He is already absent from the living action, known at first through official accusations, local stories, and Agnes's guarded memories.

Also known as Sigga

First appears in chapter 2

A young servant at Illugastaðir who was convicted with Agnes and Fridrik after Natan and Pétur were killed. Her youth and perceived innocence cause outsiders to distinguish her sharply from Agnes before either woman's full account is understood.

Also known as Fridrik

First appears in chapter 2

A young farm worker condemned for the Illugastaðir murders alongside Agnes. He is associated with Sigga and with the violence at the farm, though the early official version leaves the precise actions and motives of all three prisoners unsettled.

First appears in chapter 2

A visitor killed at Illugastaðir on the same night as Natan. His death forms part of the charge against Agnes, Sigga, and Fridrik, although he occupies a smaller place in the stories circulating about the case.