Hans of Iceland, Vol. 2 of 2

In Short

This volume pairs Victor Hugo’s early romantic melodrama of Northern rebellion with his groundbreaking, fiercely compassionate protest against state-sanctioned execution. Hans of Iceland concludes the sprawling saga of young Ordener, who risks his life amid revolting miners, treacherous noble plots, and a mythical mountain monster to prove the innocence of his beloved’s exiled father. Bound beside it is The Last Day of a Condemned, a devastating, psychological monomyth tracking a nameless prisoner's final hours in Bicêtre. Together, they reveal a titan of French literature finding his voice and dismantling systemic cruelty.

The Story

The narrative opens in the cold, treacherous mountain passes of Norway, where a regiment of Danish musketeers marches through gloomy ravines. Monotony gives way to violent unrest as royal miners revolt against the Crown, driven by the deceptive schemes of the agitator Hacket. Ordener, a young nobleman of miraculous resilience, infiltrates the rebel ranks. Armed with the safe-conduct pass of a hanged counterfeiter, he earns the trust of the fierce young leader Norbith. Ordener accepts a sword not to overthrow the king, but to uncover the truth and save Schumacker, the disgraced former chancellor imprisoned at Munkholm.

Meanwhile, Schumacker's daughter Ethel remains in ignorance of the political tempest surrounding her. Visited in secret by a veiled noblewoman, Ethel confesses her love for Ordener, unaware that her visitor is weighing the political ramifications of an impending court alliance. As the royal troops spring a deadly ambush upon the rebels in a narrow rocky defile, chaotic slaughter ensues. The insurgents, pinned between precipitous cliffs and a raging torrent, fight desperately with clubs and pitchforks before being cut down.

In the aftermath, a dramatic tribunal convenes. Schumacker, Ordener, and their alleged accomplices face charges of high treason. To shield Ethel's father, Ordener falsely claims sole responsibility for the uprising. Just as the court prepares to send the prisoners to the scaffold, a merciful bishop produces a sealed casket recovered from a dead doctor. Inside lies a written confession exposing the true villain: the private secretary Musdœmon, who engineered the rebellion to destroy Schumacker. As the guilty conspirators fall into ruin and Musdœmon meets a grim end at the hands of his own brother, the executioner, Ordener and Ethel are finally united.

The book then shifts dramatically from romantic adventure to stark interior realism in The Last Day of a Condemned. A nameless prisoner sits locked in a damp cell at Bicêtre, shackled and utterly consumed by five terrifying words: "Condemned to death." Over five agonizing weeks, he records his inner life. He remembers his blissful, innocent childhood, his youth, and the quiet evening he shared a book and a first kiss with a beloved girl under the stars.

These memories sharply contrast with his grim reality: the clanking irons of galley slaves being fettered for Toulon, the unfeeling banter of prison guards, and the terrifying shadow of the scaffold. He reflects bitterly on the hypocrisy of legal systems that claim enlightenment while continuing to spill human blood. As the final hours tick away and the fatal cart approaches, his mind wavers between profound remorse and a desperate, unheeded plea for mercy.

How It Unfolds

The march through the defile Lieutenant Randmer and old Captain Lory trade melancholy banter about their losses as Danish musketeers trek through bleak mountain passes toward Skongen.

Ordener joins the rebels Using a dead counterfeiter's pass, Ordener convinces the rebel miners to spare his life, accepting a sword from Norbith to join their cause against the Crown.

A dangerous secret revealed A veiled lady visits Ethel in her prison quarters, subtly extracting the secret that Ethel loves Ordener while warning her of Schumacker's impending ruin.

Slaughter in the ravine Royal troops ambush the insurgent miners in a narrow, rocky pass, dropping heavy gunfire on the trapped rebels who fight back frantically with farming tools.

The tribunal at Munkholm Schumacker and Ordener stand trial for high treason, where Ordener nobility claims full guilt for the uprising to spare Ethel's father from the scaffold.

Unveiling the casket A dying doctor's hidden confession is presented by the bishop, exposing the private secretary Musdœmon as the true architect behind the illegal treason plot.

Retribution in the dark In a subterranean dungeon, the executioner Nychol ignores the frantic pleas of his brother Musdœmon, quietly carrying out his secret sentence for twelve gold ducats.

Imprisoned by an idea Inside a damp cell at Bicêtre, a doomed man awakens to the suffocating realization that he is sentenced to die, haunted constantly by his impending execution.

Spectacle of the galley slaves From a small grated cell window, the condemned prisoner watches the violent, festive uproar as prison guards chain galley slaves heading to hard labor in Toulon.

The final journey begins Riding in a van toward Paris alongside an indifferent officer complaining about lost snuff, the condemned man reflects on his lost youth and the hypocrisy of capital punishment.

The People

• Ordener Guldenlew: A brave, selfless young nobleman who risks his life and reputation, infiltrating rebel camps and taking blame for treason to save the father of the woman he loves.
• Ethel Schumacker: The devoted, innocent daughter of the disgraced chancellor, who lives in sheltered captivity reading the Edda and Gospel, desiring only peace and Ordener's safety.
• Schumacker: The proud, former Grand Chancellor of Norway, broken and embittered by imprisonment, who urges his daughter to accept an obscure husband to escape political malice.
• Turiaf Musdœmon: The villainous, scheming private secretary to Count d'Ahlefeld, who orchestrates a miner rebellion to execute Schumacker, only to be betrayed and executed by his own executioner brother.
• The Condemned Man: A cultured, educated, and nameless narrator facing the guillotine; once an innocent youth enjoying peaceful autumnal walks, now trapped in terrifying psychological isolation as his final hour approaches.

In Its Own Voice

"Condemned to death! These five weeks have I dwelt with this idea,--always alone with it, always frozen by its presence, always bent under its weight."

An inmate describes the suffocating, inescapable psychological horror of awaiting his execution in a Bicêtre dungeon cell.

"I lose more than you, said I."

The condemned prisoner quietly replies to a shallow prison messenger who is complaining about spilling his snuff-box against the cell bars.

"It belonged to the merciful popular rising of modern times to erase the barbarous enactments of Louis the Eleventh, of Richelieu, and of Robespierre, and to inscribe at the head of the code, 'the inviolability of human life!'"

The author reflects passionately on the missed opportunity of recent political revolutions to permanently abolish the death penalty.

What It's Really About

Underneath its dramatic trials, mountain ambushes, and gothic atmosphere, the volume mounts an unyielding assault on state cruelty and institutional hypocrisy. Hugo contrasts the ruthless political scheming of high court officials with the desperate struggle of marginalized miners, exposing how power constructs guilt to preserve itself. In the book's second half, the narrative strips away plot conventions entirely to lay bare the sheer horror of judicial murder. The text argues that society cannot claim civilization or Christian mercy while it maintains a mechanical apparatus for taking human life, asserting that the absolute inviolability of life must supersede political expediency and legal vengeance.

Why Read It Today

This text captures a legendary author at an exhilarating turning point in his early career. Readers who enjoy sweeping historical melodrama will find rich satisfaction in the opening narrative's perilous mountain defiles, political conspiracies, and noble sacrifices. Meanwhile, modern readers interested in social justice and psychological interiority will be deeply moved by the stark, modern brilliance of the book's second half.

The prose moves effortlessly between high romantic drama and raw, agonizing diary entries that make the reader feel every tick of the prison clock. Navigating the text requires some patience with 19th-century stylistic conventions, including dramatic trial scenes, occasional legal arguments, and period translation quirks like untranslated French prison slang songs. Yet these historical elements only heighten its authenticity. What remains long after reading is the haunting, deeply human plea against state violence—a timeless demonstration of how literature can illuminate the darkest corners of human justice.