Chapter 11

Note 16. MAGNUS THE BLIND. Magnus was born in 1115, and became King in 1130. He had Harald Gille as co-regent. Their agreement was that Harald could not demand a larger share in the kingdom as long as Magnus lived. But Magnus made himself hated by his own deeds, and in 1131 a breach resulted between the Kings. The chieftains were on Harald's side. He seized Magnus in 1135, had him blinded and castrated, and sent him into the monastery at Nidarholm. Sigurd Slembe, who made war on Harald and conquered him, freed Magnus from the monastery and caused him to fight in his army. He died in the sea-battle of Holmengraa.

Note 17. SIN, DEATH. Written during the latter half of 1862 in Munich, and possibly, according to an oral statement of Björnson's, under impressions received from German ecclesiastical art: "It is only natural that in Munich symbolical poems should present themselves."

Note 18. FRIDA. This poem was first printed March 24, 1863, soon after the death, at the age of twenty-two, of her whom it commemorates. She was a younger sister of the leading Danish literary critic, Clemens Petersen, born 1834. He became Björnson's friend in 1856 and aided greatly in opening the way for him in Denmark. Until 1868 Petersen had much influence on public opinion. Soon after that he came to America, and did not return to Copenhagen until 1904. He was a follower of Heiberg, but more liberal.

Note 19. BERGEN. Written in 1863 for a musical festival in which Björnson and Ibsen took part. Bergen's unusually favorable situation made it for a long time Norway's first city in commerce; it has only recently fallen behind Christiania. It has ever had a large local fleet and great traffic in its harbor. Founded about 1070 by King Olaf the Quiet, Bergen was very important in the older history of the land, as the residence of the Kings, until about 1350, when Hanseatic control began, continuing until late in the sixteenth century. In the seventeenth century Bergen was incomparably the first commercial city in the Danish-Norwegian monarchy; in the eighteenth it was surpassed by Copenhagen. The people of Bergen have always been distinctly liberal in thought and feeling. Holberg, Ludvig (1684-1754), was born in Bergen, but resided in most of his life in Denmark. His comedies, which founded modern Danish-Norwegian literature, are indeed immortal. Dahl, John Christian Clausen (1788-1857), a Norwegian landscape painter, who, though born in Bergen, went in 1811 to Copenhagen and from 1818 resided in Dresden. As subjects he preferred water, rock, and strand, and showed a realistic tendency in his light-effects. Welhaven, see Note 36. Ole Bull (1810-1880), a violinist of world-wide renown. In his later life he passed most of his time in the United States, but every year he returned to the home which he maintained near Bergen, at a distance of about two hours by steamer. Carrying out a plan conceived in 1848, he established in Bergen with his own means the first Norwegian National Theater, which was opened January 2, 1850. Collin says that the last line of the poem sums up Björnson's view of Norway's historical memories as motive power for new achievement. This seems realized in Bergen's recent development,--it now had the largest steam-fleet of all the cities in Norway.

Note 20. P. A. MUNCH. Peter Andreas Munch (born in Christiania, December 15, 1810; died in Rome, May 25, 1863) became professor of history in 1841 and Keeper of the Archives in 1861. He was not only one of the greatest historians of Norway, but also a philologist, an ethnographer, an archaeologist, a geographer, and a publicist. His chief field was the prehistoric age and the medieval period. He traveled much in the Scandinavian lands and elsewhere in Europe, made several long stays in Rome, and was buried there. His main and best known work is the History of the Norwegian People, in eight large volumes, published from 1851 to 1863. This and his other writings greatly strengthened the national self-consciousness and sense of independence. Munch had a phenomenal memory, marked talent for music and drawing, playful humor, incredible capacity for work, rare intuition for epoch-making discoveries. In a speech in 1892 Björnson placed Munch by the side of Wergeland (see Note 78) as a fosterer of national self-consciousness and faith in the future: "We can remember when we were young, how P. A. Munch's History came out in parts, and how he fought with the Danish professors, to get Norway brought home again from Danish captivity in history also, --we can remember how eventful it was for us, and how it had its share in molding us. ... He had his large share in what our generation has done. I put his work in this way by the side of Wergeland's." Through provincial Asian forests, etc. These lines refer to the so-called "immigration-theory" advanced by Rudolf Keyser and elaborated by Munch, which maintained that the remote ancestors of the Swedes and the Norwegians migrated from the northeast into the Scandinavian peninsula about 300 B.C.: the Swedes from Finland and the Northmen through Lapland. These scholars also held that Old Norse literature, as being the product of Norway and Iceland, was distinctly Norse, and not "Northern" or joint-Scandinavian. When I call, paraphrase of Isaiah xlviii, 13 Who again shall reunite fit? Munch left no peer in international reputation. Coursed the sea-ways toward his standard. Not only was Munch honored throughout Europe, but he was the first to secure for Norwegian history its rightful place in European history.

Note 21. KING FREDERIK THE SEVENTH. His death occurred November 15, 1863, just before the crisis with Prussia and Austria. He was born October 6, 1808, the son of Prince Christian Frederik, later King Christian VIII of Denmark, and his first wife. The early divorce of his parents resulted in his education being neglected; he was left for several years in the hands of relatives and strangers; had unsympathetic teachers and almost no trace of parental guidance. All his life he had less than average attainments in knowledge, except in a practical way in Scandinavian archaeology. He had natural dignity, but a broad, undisciplined nature, and shunned court etiquette and constraint. In 1834, he was in effect banished to Jaegerspris, a royal estate near Frederikssund, and later was sent on a cruise to Iceland. Afterwards he resided in disfavor in Fredericia, where his tendencies to plain, direct intercourse with people of all classes were further developed. When Christian VIII ascended the throne, Frederik's position was somewhat improved, and his free association with officials and commoners made him very popular. It was found that he could show at times surprisingly clear and sure insight into practical conditions. His interest continued active in archaeological investigations, sea- voyaging, and fishing. During the increasing national and political difficulties Frederik, because of his pronounced Danish feeling and sympathy with the common people, was disposed to take a stand more national and constitutionally liberal than could please the government circles. This became known among the people and made him a still greater favorite. In 1847 he submitted a proposal for the introduction of a joint Constitution for the entire monarchy, but King Christian died before action could be taken. Frederik VII ascended the throne January 20, 1848. The change of ministry which he made in March as a result of the Schleswig revolt, his opposition to the division of Schleswig, and his establishment of really constitutional government made his popularity forever secure, although he was not a sure and purposeful ruler. Frederik's character played an important part in the relations of Denmark with Sweden and Norway. The personal friendship between the two Kings united the countries more closely and lifted political "Scandinavism" to the height it reached shortly before the war of 1864 with Prussia and Austria over Schleswig-Holstein. This "Scandinavism" is referred to in the poem by the words "to the North," "his course," and similar expressions. It was the name given to the sense of kinship of the three Northern peoples and the desire of closer union, whether in spiritual or material or political relations. It was evoked first by poets and scholars, and gathered strength from 1843 on in meetings of university students. In 1848 there was warm sympathy in both Sweden and Norway with the cause of Denmark; the assistance of volunteers and even of Swedish- Norwegian troops was given. Towards 1864 the three countries came more closely together politically, promises of help to Denmark were made by Sweden and Norway, and there was even talk of a treaty of alliance. But the end of the war of 1864, and Germany's victory over France in 1870-71, destroyed the hopes of political Scandinavism, and thereafter it became rather cultural and practical, at least until 1905, when Norway's full independence of Sweden led to emphasis on individual nationality. The war of 1914-15 may bring about a revival of political Scandinavism. (See also Note 38.)

Note 22. TO SWEDEN. This poem and several following breathe the spirit of Scandinavism described above. Yellow-blue. The flag of Sweden shows a yellow cross on a blue ground. Christian Fourth, King of Denmark and Norway, 1588-1648. Haakon Earl, see Note 14. Palnatoki, the legendary leader of the Jomsborg vikings. Ancient enemies are now allies, and so also Tordenskjold (see Note 5) fights by the side of, not against, Charles XII. Jenny=the famous singer, Jenny Lind, 1820-1887. Lützen. Gustavus Adolphus prayed and his troops sang hymns before the battle. Narwa, where Charles XII, in November, 1700, was victorious over the Russians under Peter the Great.

Note 23. OUR FOREFATHERS. A festival, memorial poem, written just before the outbreak of the Danish-German war. Danish troops were stationed along the river Eider, which the Germans crossed on February 1, 1864. The last lines of the poem refer to what is told in the saga of Magnus the Good about the battle of Lyrskog Heath (see Note 11): "The night before the battle Magnus was wakeful and prayed to God for victory. Towards morning he fell asleep and dreamed that his father, King Olaf the Saint, came to him and said: 'You are now very sick at heart and full of fear, because the Wends are coming against you with a great army; but you must not be afraid of the heathen host, though they be many together. I shall follow you into this battle and join in the fight, when you hear my horn.' At dawn the King wakened, and then all heard up in the air the ringing of a bell, and those of the King's men who had been in Nidaros [Trondhjem] recognized by its sound the bell which King Olaf had given to the church of St. Clement. Then Magnus had the signal for battle blown, and his men made such a furious onset on the Wends, that fifteen thousand fell and the rest fled."

Note 24. WHEN NORWAY WOULD NOT HELP. Written upon the adjournment of the extraordinary meeting of the Norwegian Storting, called in March, 1864. The action of the Storting providing for Norway's participation with Denmark in the war coupled this with conditions which made it equivalent to a refusal to help. Wessel, see Note 5. Dannebrog, see next note.

Note 25. TO THE DANNEBROG. The original title was "The 19th of April, 1864." Dybböl [Düppel]. This strongly fortified Danish place in Schleswig was taken by the Germans on April 18, 1864. Dannebrog, the traditional name of the Danish flag, consisting of a red ground whereon is a broad white cross, extending to all four margins. According to an old legend the original Dannebrog ("broge" is an old Danish word, meaning a piece of colored cloth) soared down from Heaven during the battle of Reval in 1219 and brought victory to the Danes, while a voice was heard promising the Danes a complete victory as often as they raised this banner against their enemies.

Note 26. TOAST FOR THE MEN OF EIDSVOLD. First called "Toast for the 17th of May;" written for the fiftieth anniversary of the adoption of the Constitution (see Note 5).

Note 26. THE NORRÖNA-RACE. Written for the fiftieth anniversary of the adoption of the Act of Union with Sweden. Norröna= Northern. Surtr. According to Norse mythology there were in the beginning two worlds, the first of which, called Muspell, was filled with fire, light, and warmth; over this Surtr ruled, sitting with a sword of flame at its border. The other world was Niflheim, cold and dark. Yggdrasil. The tree Yggdrasil is a symbol of the present world. Dragons, warships with carved dragons as figure-heads. Poland's night. For Gustavus Adolphus the Polish War, which he waged before he took part actively in the Thirty Years' War in Germany, was also undertaken for the defense of Protestantism. Saga, here=History.

Note 27. LECTOR THAASEN. Johan Edvard Thaasen (born in 1825; died February 17, 1865) was a classical philologist and a man of broad culture, well versed in Old Norse and in modern French and German literature. From 1852 he was teacher in the Cathedral School in Christiania, and from 1860 lecturer in Greek at the University, where he treated chiefly the Greek poets and archaeology. He came from a poor family and passed his early life under hard conditions. During the last few years he was sickly, and he died of consumption. In 1858 he was president of the Students' Union, and spokesman for the Norwegians at the Student Meeting in Copenhagen in 1862.

Note 28. DURING A JOURNEY IN SWEDEN. Written in the summer of 1866, Björnson's speeches then made a sensation by reason of the warmth of his feeling for Sweden. Ellen Key has written with approval of his characterization of the Swedes here, which agrees with that of Schück in his History of Swedish Literature, i, 325, 326.

Note 29. SONG FOR THE STUDENTS' GLEE CLUB. Written in 1863 for the journey of the Club to Bergen (see Note 19). Hald, Fredrikshald, see Note 5. Arendal. This city is an important shipping center. Sverre, see Note 5.

Note 30. MRS. LOUISE BRUN. Louise Gulbrandsen was born in Bergen, December 16, 1831, and died in Christiania, January 21, 1866. In childhood she knew the narrowness and darkness of poverty. Made her first appearance as an actress at the opening performance of Ole Bull's theater in Bergen, January 2, 1850, when she also recited the Prologue. An attractive personality, a voice clear and flexible both in speech and song, and unusual mentality made her the most talented actress of her time in Norway. Her power was comprehensive; she began with romantic parts and always liked these best, though later she was distinguished in conversation-plays. In 1851 she married Johannes Brun, Norway's most gifted comedian. They came to Christiania in April, 1857. A picture drawn from life, etc., refers to the romantic drama, The Sisters at Kinnekullen, of the Dane, Carsten Hauch (1790-1872). It was his most frequently performed play, dealing with the mysterious power of gold over the human mind, as something demonic in the servitude it imposes. It had recently been played with Mrs. Brun in the part of Ulrika. He, who from fairy-tale, etc. Ole Bull, see Note 19. Thus is introduced here a poetical history and eulogy of Ole Bull's Norwegian Theater.

Note 31. TO JOHAN DAHL, BOOKDEALER. Johan Fjeldsted Dahl was born in Copenhagen, January 1, 1807, and died in Christiania, March 16, 1877. He came to Christiania in 1829, and established in 1832 a business of his own, both publishing and selling. In the mercantile, social, literary, and artistic life of the city he came to have an important place and influence. Dahl had published Norway's Dawn, by Welhaven, and in the time of the Wergeland-Welhaven conflict (see Note 36, and as to Wergeland, Note 78) a violent personal quarrel developed between Wergeland and Dahl about an entirely unimportant matter. Dahl had provided his porter with a green livery having red borders. Wergeland, who regarded Dahl as the leading representative of the "Copenhagenism" (Danish, anti-Norwegian tendencies) he was contending against, had an epigram printed, The Servant in Livery, and insulted the porter on the street. This led to a slashing newspaper feud between Wergeland and Dahl. After everybody's feelings had grown calmer, Wergeland wrote about the burlesque occurrence in a farce entitled The Parrot, and Dahl had humor enough, himself to publish this satirical skit. The light from his shop. Wergeland derisively styled Dahl's store "the first slander-shop of the city;" it was, in face, the meeting- place of the "party of intelligence," those interested in European culture and esthetic criticism, i.e., it was the resort of those opposed to Wergeland.

Note 32. TO SCULPTOR BORCH. Christopher Borch (1817-1896) was a lifelong friend, of whom in 1857 Björnson wrote in letter: "The most childlike, natural man I know, with his even, light walk, and his fine, small hands," and "there is poetry in that man. Oh, how you have misunderstood him!" It was this friend who, about the same time as these letters were written, helped Björnson open his spirit to the influence of Grundtvig (see Note 57). Borch for many years gave free instruction to convicts in the Akershus prison in drawing and other subjects, and so helped them to a future when they came out.

Note 33. CHOICE. A Danish publisher issued a calendar with poems on the months by different Scandinavian poets. When Björnson was invited to contribute, all the other months were already written up or assigned, and only April was left.

Note 34. NORWEGIAN SEAMEN'S SONG. Saint Olaf's Cross. Of the insignia of the Royal Norwegian Order of St. Olaf, founded in 1847 by King Oskar I; the characteristic feature is a white cross. Hafursfjord's great day (see Note 5), near Stavanger.

Note 35. HALFDAN KJERULF was born September 15, 1815, and died August 11, 1868. He early showed talent for music, and though he had to study law from 1834 on, he yet studied and wrote music with a crushing sense of lack of knowledge and opportunity. He was dangerously ill in 1839, and always weak physically. His father died in 1840, and Kjerulf then began to earn his living by music. A stipend received in 1850 enabled him to go to Leipzig for a year. In 1851 he settled in Christiania as a teacher of music, where for the rest of his life his influence as a composer was most important. His compositions are all of the lesser forms; his best work was done from 1860 to 1865. He was in general a pioneer of modern Norwegian music, and one of the first to draw from the inexhaustible fountain of folk-music. He wrote exquisite music for many songs of Welhaven, Wergeland, Moe, Björnson, and others.

Note 36. NORWEGIAN STUDENTS' GREETING TO PROFESSOR WELHAVEN. Johan Sebastian Cammermeyer Welhaven was born December 22, 1807, lived from 1828 in Christiania, was lector from 1840 to 1846, and from 1846 to 1868 professor of philosophy in the University; he died October 21, 1873. His poetical works were: Norway's Dawn, 1834; Poems, 1839; New Poems, 1845; Half a Hundred Poems, 1848; Pictures of Travel and Poems, 1851; A Collection of Poems, 1860. A polemical writer, gifted with wit and fine taste, and a social-political author, Welhaven represented in his earlier period the "party of intelligence"" over against the chauvinism of the radical Peasant party of Wergeland (see Note 78). He was an adherent of Danish culture and of the esthetic view of art and life, who hated all national exclusiveness and showed a love of his country no less true and intense than Wergeland's by chastising the Norwegians of his time for their big, empty words and their crass materialism. For this he was rewarded with abuse, and called "traitor to his country" and "matricide." In reality Welhaven was a dreamer, a worshiper of nature, a man of tender feeling. His subjective lyric poetry is not surpassed in richness of content and beauty of form by that of any other Norwegian. Outside of his ordinary University duties Welhaven was also active; he was a favorite speaker at student festivities and musical festivals, notably at the Student Meetings in Upsala, 1856, and in Copenhagen, 1862. But early in 1864 his health failed and he was unable thereafter to lecture regularly. In August, 1868, he requested to be retired; on September 24, the University Authorities granted his request and a pension at the highest rate; but the Storting, on November 12, reduced this to two-thirds of the amount proposed. The same day the students brought to Professor Welhaven their farewell greeting, marching with flags to his residence, where this poem of homage was sung.

Note 37. FORWARD. The composer Grieg and his wife spent Christmas Eve, 1868, with Björnson's family in Christiania. Grieg, who then gave to Björnson a copy of the first part of his Lyriske Smaastykker, has written the following account of the origin of this poem: "Among these was one with the title 'Fatherland's Song.' I played this for Björnson, who liked it so well that he said he wanted to write words for it. That made me glad, although afterwards I said to myself: It probably will remain a want, he has other things to think of. But the very next day I met him in full creative joy: 'It's going excellently. It shall be a song for all the youth of Norway. But there is something at the beginning that I haven't yet got hold of -- a certain wording. I feel that the melody demands it, and I shall not give it up. It must come.' Then we parted. The next forenoon, as I was giving a piano lesson to a young lady, I heard a ring at the entry-door, as if the whole bell apparatus would rattle down; then a noise as of wild hordes breaking in and a roar; 'Forward! Forward! Now I have it! Forward!' My pupil trembled like an aspen leaf. My wife in the next room was frightened out of her wits. But when the door flew open and Björnson stood there, glad and shining like a sun, there was a general jubilee, and we were the first to hear the beautiful new poem."

Note 38. THE MEETING. The Student Meetings, i.e., conventions of university students in the three countries, were originally an important part of "Scandinavism" (see Note 21). The first was held in 1843; that of 1862 was the last to have a distinctly political character. After 1864 the chief aim of these gatherings was to improve the position and strengthen the influence of the student in the community. In 1869 Christiania invited the Danish students to meet there with their Swedish and Norwegian comrades, in the interest of culture, better acquaintance with one another, people, and land, and cooperation in general for the future of the kingdoms. Gjallar-horn, Heimdall's horn, to be blown especially at the beginning of Ragnarok, symbolical here of the painful passing of the old order, which ushers in a new world.

Note 39. NORSE NATURE. See note to the preceding poem. King Halfdan the Black (died 860) was the father of Harald Fairhair. It was said of him that he once dreamed he had the most beautiful hair one could see, luxuriant locks of various lengths and colors, but one of them larger, brighter, and fairer than all the others. This was interpreted to mean that King Halfdan would have many descendants, and they would rule Norway with great honor; but one of them would surpass the others, and later this was said to be Olaf the Saint. Nore, the largest mountain of Ringerike.

Note 40. I PASSED BY THE HOUSE. Written in 1869. The translator has not been able to verify the statement that the poem refers to a cousin, to whom Björnson was devoted from his student days.