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Esaias Tegner |
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Asaias
Tegner (1782-1846), who wrote the best known of
all Swedish poems, was born in Wermland, the son of a pastor
whose parents were simple peasants. Esaias entered Lund
university, took a degree in philosophy in 1802, married
his childhood sweetheart in 1806 and became full professor
in 1812. He continued his university duties until 1824 when
he accepted the more lucrative post of Bishop in Vexio.
As Bishop he remained until his death, though the strain
of leaving Lund and the wife of a town councillor with whom
he had fallen in love brought on melancholy and fits of
madness for which he was briefly institutionalized. Tegner's
first poem of any importance was Svea, a patriotic
piece of 1811, and this was followed by his celebrated Song
to the Sun in 1817. Then came three longer poems on
which his fame rests — The First Communion (1820),
Axel (1822) and the Frithjofs Saga (1820-25).
The last made Swedish literature famous, and has been translated
into most languages — 20 times indeed into German
and 22 times into English. Tegner wrote little after his
release from the Schleswig asylum in 1841, suffering a major
stroke in 1843 and dying three years later.
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Tegner and the Norse sagas |
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Though Tegner tried in Gerda and Kronbruden
to repeat his earlier success, these epics were left unfinished.
Only Frithjofs won him instant
and continuing
popularity. A romantic paraphrase of an ancient
saga written in 24 cantos, the poem follows an earlier
Danish epic but is recast in a fresh and convincing way.
Sagas
are narratives of norsemen exploits and explorations, often
written with stark and vivid detail. They include tales
of Viking
voyages but also reflect on the harsh politics and social
conditions of contemporary Scandinavia. Their terse
realism forms an important part of medieval European literature,
and attracted many revivals in the nineteenth century —
William Morris's Volsunga
Saga being the best known to English readers.
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Reading Swedish poetry |
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Swedish is not widely spoken outside the country, and many
Swedes speak excellent English. But to read the rich poetry
of the last two centuries you may like to take these online
courses.
Swedish can be learnt with book, CD and cassette —
try languagequest,
dealtime,
abroadlanguages,
worldlanguage,
or pimsleur.
Frithjofs Saga is available in cheap paperback
form, and as free
electronic download. Good anthologies/translations on
Tegner and Swedish country include: Masterpieces of Swedish
Poetry (Ahlberg 1952), Friends, You Drunk Some Darkness
(Bly 1975) and Modern Swedish Poetry in Translation
(Harding and Hollo 1979). L. Gustafsson's Forays into
Swedish Poetry (1978), S. Rossel's A History of Scandinavian
Literature 1870-1980 (1982) are useful studies. Swedish
speakers will find the following sites useful: swenvskt
biografiskt, project
runeberg, wess,
argus, swedish
royal , dutchess,
lankskaffereit
and the swedish
book review.
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