# History of the Literature of the Scandinavian North/Part 2/Chapter 3

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CHAPTER III.
THE PERIOD OF LEARNING (1560-1700).
THE Reformation did not accomplish as much for the advancement of popular enlightenment and popular literature as had at first been expected from it. So long as the real struggle continued it was found expedient to abandon the appliances of learning, or at least not to employ them where they came in conflict with the needs of the common people. But as soon as the struggle had subsided, and when the new doctrine had become rooted, the old practices were gradually resumed. The honor of learning could not be gained through Danish, but only through the Latin, and this was the case throughout the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. The Danish was not extensively employed except in a very few branches of literature. It was used only when the people were directly concerned, as for instance in the case of devotional books, of which a large number were written in Danish. The only one of the sciences accessible to the laity was history, a few historical works being produced in the Danish language.
The age of the Reformation was accordingly followed by an age of learning, preeminently theological learning, and the university, which had been completely broken up by the great fermentation attending the struggle between Protestantism and Catholicism, and had now been opened again ​by Christian III, acquired a decided influence on the entire course of events. Just as the Danish university had originally been founded after a German pattern, so its reorganization and reconstruction into a Protestant university were like the new disposition of the affairs of the church, with which it became intimately connected, carried out wholly in a German spirit. The real model of the Copenhagen University was the Wittenberg institution, for Luther's friend, Bugenhagen, who had been summoned to Denmark by Christian III for the purpose of superintending the reconstruction of the church and the university, had been a professor in Wittenberg. It was now thought to be of the greatest importance to protect the doctrine against corruption of every kind, and accordingly the professors of theology were armed with the power of exercising censure, and this power, which was originally supposed to apply only to religious works, was gradually extended, and made to embrace other departments of literature, and thus necessarily became a great obstacle to the literary development of the country. The Latin soon gained the upper hand both in the university and in the other schools, and even the men who had the preservation of Danish at heart were unable to free themselves from the tyranny of the Latinists. It must be admitted that learning was now pursued with an ardor and success never before attained, but a spiritless pedantry soon became associated with it, and literature developed in a direction which could not but prove fatal to that cultivation of the national tongue which had been inaugurated under so favorable auspices in the time of the Reformation by the publication of works for the people. Just as the priests in the middle age had been the sole representatives of intellectual action, so the learned class now also gradually isolated themselves from the rest of the people and buried themselves in studies, which too frequently were empty and barren and utterly without any bearing on life and reality. The whole period is therefore, in spite of the array of splendid names of which it can boast, essen​tially a period of positive regression. Throughout this whole period scientific studies were pursued to an extent and with an ardor and industry worthy of the highest praise and commanding our admiration, but the attitude of the scholar in relation to his intellectual work was altogether different in the first and in the second half of this period. At the close of the sixteenth century and during the early part of the seventeenth, the scholar devoted himself to researches, because he really desired to solve the riddles which he did not understand, but during the greater part of the seventeenth century the chief aim was simply to become learned, to gather together as much knowledge as possible without any concern about the mutual relation of facts and without regard to the value of learning for the mind and heart. There was no true learning, and thus it was possible that side by side with a most energetic production of new materials there was a great deal of day-dreaming and fruitless occupation with a mass of trifling details, and so it came to pass that the learning of the polyhistor thrived as it never has before or since.
The reformation of the church unquestionably had for a time a beneficial influence on theological learning. The scholasticism which had become petrified into a barren form disappeared. Everybody could now consult the Bible for himself, and an earnest effort to appropriate its contents was manifest. But it soon appeared that the time for a genuine appreciation of truth had not yet come, and that the road now entered upon could not but lead to intellectual slavery. What the great humanists of the Reformation period had stated, namely, that there was danger that the increasing influence of theology would produce a second age of barbarism, was but too true, though the age did not by any means confine itself to theology, but following the impulse given by the humanists, it entered every department of science. Theology, however, intruded itself everywhere, and put its stamp on the whole century. It was not long before it lost that ​freshness by which it had been characterized during the years of strife and fermentation, and the more theology was developed, the more it relapsed into subtleties fully on the level with the scholastic methods of an earlier day. In this field the censure was particularly able to exert its influence so detrimental to all healthy intellectual growth, and from the theological domain it also invaded the field of secular knowledge, becoming increasingly oppressive with the lapse of years. The dread of being denounced as a heretic compelled all scientific research to move in one definite approved groove, and woe unto him who dared to depart from it.
Niels Hemmingsen (1513-1600), Denmark's greatest theologian in the sixteenth century, had bitter experiences in this respect even in his time. He was the son of poor peasants on the island of Lolland, and, having lost his father, he was as a mere boy adopted by his paternal uncle, who was a village smith, and there he was to learn his uncle's trade. Meanwhile his love of books was so great that he overcame all obstacles and succeeded in getting into school. When he was prepared to enter the university, the Copenhagen University had become utterly broken up. He therefore continued his studies three years longer in Lund, where the rector happened to be one of the most celebrated humanists of Denmark, and under his direction he enjoyed exceptional opportunities of getting a thorough knowledge of Greek, and thence he went to Wittenberg in 1537, where he attended the university for five years and took the master's degree. By his industry and talents he won in a high degree the favor of Melancthon and on his recommendation he was made professor of Greek and afterward of theology at the University of Copenhagen. He published numerous theological works, mostly in the Latin language, and only one of his larger works, a volume on Christian dogmatics, "The Way of Life," was written in Danish. As a theological scholar who early received the cognomen, "The Teacher of Denmark," and who gathered around him a school of grateful disciples, ​he enjoyed a high reputation far beyond the boundaries of his own country, and by his many works intended for the Danish clergy, works written in a popular style, he contributed much to the elevation of the clerical profession. His views differed, however, essentially from the officially established orthodoxy in many important points. In regard to the Lord's supper, for instance, he had embraced and advocated Melancthon's opinions which were never in harmony with Calvin's nor with Luther's views. The friends of Calvin claimed him as their own, while the strictly orthodox Lutherans tried to make him an object of suspicion. The king, Frederick II, received warnings against him from Germany, and the result was that Hemmingsen was compelled to renounce his "heretical" doctrines. It being urged that he still continued to spread his supposed dangerous doctrines by word of mouth, the old man was without any legal procedure discharged from his position as professor and priest which he had filled with marked ability for a long series of years. He spent the remaining years of his life in Roskilde, deeply engaged in study and literary work. So long as king Frederik II lived he published nothing, but no sooner was the king dead, than there appeared in rapid succession from his pen a series of polemical writings, in all of which, despite his advanced years, he showed himself to be in possession of his whole intellectual vigor. A proof of the high reputation which he enjoyed is also found in the fact, that even after his dismissal he was regularly consulted in ecclesiastical matters, and that his writings continued to enjoy great popularity. The Pope placed his works on the list of dangerous books. Even in his lifetime many of his works were published in foreign countries, while the Danish bishops recommended his books as very profitable reading for the clergy.
​But the independent development of thought in the religious field, the development for which the Reformation had furnished the germs, was nevertheless essentially obstructed by this suppression of its most eminent champion. Every free utterance was forbidden, and henceforth the exclusive task of theology was to maintain and develop the established system and to see that religious thought was "kept permanently and rigorously within the limits assigned to it. A genuine type of this whole tendency, and at the same time its foremost representative, is Jesper Beochmand, Bishop of Zealand (1585-1652), the most learned theologian of Denmark in the seventeenth century. By his activity as a writer, university professor and as clergyman, he was above all others the man who impressed upon Danish theology the stamp which it long afterward bore, by guiding it into the groove of strict Lutheran orthodoxy in opposition to the more independent direction which Hemmingsen represented. He sprang from a prominent burgher family, and the circumstance that as a boy, scarcely sixteen years old, he was appointed instructor in the school in which he had received his own education is a proof of the confidence which his talents inspired. After having been a tutor (Hörer) for two years, he went abroad, studied for three years in the University of Leyden, devoting himself particularly to Greek, history, and philosophy, remained another couple of years in Holland, and then after serving two years as rector in the school where he had been educated as a boy, he was, in his twenty-fifth year, appointed professor in the University of Copenhagen. He was at first made professor of pedagogics, afterward of Greek, and, finally, in 1615, of theology. As theological professor his commanding and energetic individuality developed that great authority and exercised that decisive influence on his epoch, and his autocracy became even more established, when, in 1639, he became Bishop of Zealand, an office which he held together with his professorship in theology until his death in 1652. His literary activity belongs to ​the time between the year in which he became professor of theology and that in which he was raised to the episcopal dignity. His dogmatical works written in Latin also enjoyed great reputation abroad, while his most important Danish book, a family postil, was widely read long after his death, and was translated into several foreign languages. The Wittenberg school of theology is exclusively represented in his numerous works, which, judged by themselves, are both learned and important, and embrace subjects from every department of theology. During his stay abroad, where he devoted himself exclusively to the study of the humanities, he seems to have remained an entire stranger to the more liberal tendencies, which were at that time cropping out in theology, and which, particularly in Holland, received the support of the mighty intellect of Hugo Grotius. At the time when circumstances made him the theological leader in Denmark, the Lutheran orthodoxy had already gained the supremacy and he became one of its most scrupulous adherents. Thus he did not found any new school, but by his superior faculties and vast learning he distinguished himself in many directions within the limits of his individuality and circumstances, and his chief work, "Universæ Theologiæ Systema," on which his reputation is based in the whole Lutheran church, must be regarded as a particularly excellent work of its kind. His strong points are the subtlety with which each dogma is discussed in all its bearings, and the dialectic acumen, with which he meets real and imaginary objections on the part of his adversaries.
The devotional works constitute an important part of the religious literature of this period, not, indeed, so much on account of their quality as on account of their great quantity. These books, like the very elaborate funeral sermons then in vogue, consisted chiefly in Bible passages strung together in the most astonishing and tasteless manner. By ​the side of them existed a whole literature of stories about devils and witches. In these the superstition of the age is reflected, and they furnish a striking illustration of the low condition of intellectual culture at a time when erudite theology monopolized the pulpit and the educational institutions.
Besides, there prevailed during this period a decided taste for polymathy, which, in most cases, led to superficiality in all branches of knowledge. When the period of learning, therefore, in spite of these noxious tendencies, in spite of all the pedantry and of the growing restraining influence of the censure, still produced a number of distinguished men in the various departments of knowledge, then these scholars surely deserve all the more credit.
One of the most marked individuals of the period was Tyge Brahe (born 1546), who belonged to one of the oldest noble families of Denmark. Prom his early youth he occupied himself with astronomy, and already in his sixteenth year he began to make observations, which he carefully recorded. In 1572 he discovered a new star, and reported his discovery in his first work, "De Stella Nova." But by his scientific works, and especially by his marriage to a girl of humble parentage, he aroused the ill-will of his noble family to such an extent that he preferred to leave Denmark in 1575. King Frederik II, however, induced him to return, made him a present of the little island Hveen, in Öresund, and gave him liberal help in the building of two grand observatories, Uranienborg and Stjerneborg. From here his fame soon spread throughout Europe, and the little island in the sound became the trysting-place of savants from all lands; even kings and princes did not think it beneath their dignity to make pilgrimages to the Isle of Hveen. But when in ​1588 his royal patron died, his rivals and enemies at court began to denigrate and revile him in every possible manner; so that he at length, weary of their unceasing persecutions, resolved to leave his country forever. He was at first received by the Vice-regent of Holstein, the learned Count Heinrich Rantzau, who placed at his disposal the castle of Wandsbeck. Here he published in 1598 a description of his observatories and instruments with illustrations, under the title "Astronomiæ Instauratæ Mechanica," and this superb work he dedicated to the German Emperor, Rudolph II. The latter invited him to come to Prague and promised him solid support for the continuation of his studies. Tyge Brahe accepted the invitation, but was soon disappointed in his expectations, for the emperor, who was continually in financial straits, was unable to keep the splendid promises he had made to him, and Brahe was obliged to work under rather discouraging conditions. In addition to this Tyge Brahe had in Keppler found an assistant, who soon discovered the errors on which Brahe's whole system was based. The latter did not long survive its master, who died in 1601, though in the eyes of the men of that age it possessed this advantage over the Copernican system, that it was in harmony with the Bible, while the latter conflicted with the Scriptures. And still Tyge Brahe made his name immortal through his services to astronomy, since he, in spite of his errors and his astrological daydreams, made positive contributions to the progress of science. For thirty years he had made regular and careful observations in regard to the movements of the planets. These he had recorded and used as the basis of calculations, and it was only on the foundation of these vast preliminary labors, which in accuracy surpassed all that practical astronomy had previously achieved, that Keppler was able to produce his celebrated theories and laws. As has been well said: "Tyge Brahe made the observations, Keppler discovered the law, and Newton conceived the nature of the law." That stupidity and reckless hatred, which had driven Denmark's greatest ​scholar into exile, also vented itself on the world-renowned house which he had built for his science. A few years after Tyge Brahe had abandoned the Isle of Hveen, there remained scarcely a vestige of the proud Uranienborg observatory.
Tyge Brahe's ablest pupil was the peasant born Christian Longberg (Longomontanus), who in his fifteenth year deserted the plow to become a student. During the last twelve years of Tyge Brahe's life he was his constant assistant, and accompanied him in his voluntary exile; but after Tyge's death he returned to Denmark, where he obtained a professorship and died in 1647. As a scholar he gained a considerable reputation through his publication of astronomical works, and this applies even in a higher degree to Ole Römer (1644-1710). This eminent man again gave a mighty impulse to astronomy and to kindred sciences, when after the death of Longomontanus they had for a time relapsed into their old grooves. He early devoted himself to mathematics, and during a ten years' sojourn in France (1671-1681) he gained for himself a European celebrity by his various mechanical inventions and scientific discoveries among which the most important is his calculation of the velocity of light (1675), which marks a new era in scientific research. On his return to Denmark he became professor of astronomy and he continued to his dying day to labor for the advancement of this science by making observations and in other ways, and he enriched it by many new and important discoveries. The numerous instruments which he devised and which he partly made himself, gave him the name of "The Danish Archimedes." Long after his death the observatory still possessed fifty-four of his instruments. The most of his observations were destroyed by the Copenhagen conflagration in 1728.
In the field of medicine and natural science Denmark had in this period several distinguished men. Olr Worm, who rendered special services to the study of Norse antiquities and ​who will be referred to again in that connection, also enjoyed a high reputation as a physician. Kaspar Bartholin (1585-1629), the progenitor of a whole family of scholars, published a series of excellent anatomical, medical and physical works, which also received great recognition abroad. His main activity as a scientific author begins with the year 1611, when he became professor in the university, and ends with the year 1623, when he, after an unexpected recovery from a dangerous malady, in accordance with a vow which he made during his illness, devoted himself to theology and became a theological professor the following year. His son Thomas Bartholin (1616-80) gained a European reputation as an anatomist. Already when he made his great journey through Europe, to the most celebrated universities, during the years 1637-46, his name was so well and favorably known that he was elected prorector and university "syndicus" in Padua, and the Messina academy offered him a professorship. He did not accept the position for the reason that he was unwilling to leave his own country for ever. He made his greatest reputation by his discovery of the lymphatic system,— a discovery which was, however, made about simultaneously by the Swedish scholar Olof Rudbek. Bartholin left numerous works full of important observations in almost every branch of medical science. From 1673 until his death he edited the "Acta medica et philosophica," a collection in five volumes, and he made himself numerous contributions to it. In the "Cista medica" and in various other works he contributed much valuable information in regard to the history of medicine in Denmark. Although he was exceedingly industrious in this field of study he still found time to occupy himself with other branches, such as theology and national history, and to write on these subjects dissertations, the ability of which was generally acknowledged. Thus Bartholin was affected by the mania of polymathy, which in his time had begun to become prevalent, but he must be regarded as a polyhistor in the best sense of the word, for he ​combined a knowledge of several branches of knowledge with a complete mastery of one as his specialty. Among his pupils were many able men, among whom was also his own son, Kaspar Bartholin (1655-1738), a most excellent physician and anatomist.
A still more distinguished disciple of Bartholin was Ole Borch (1626-1690). Like his teacher he was also a polyhistor, but in a much wider sense, for he distinguished himself as philosopher, chemist, anatomist, botanist, physician, and philologist, and in all of these branches he wrote works of acknowledged merit. But chemistry and Latin were his specialties. In Latin he wrote poems, which, in their day, were received with great favor.
Niels Stensen (1638-1686) was also one of Bartholin's scholars and probably the most distinguished one of them all. There is no doubt that in this period he ranks "second only to Tyge Brahe." Having for several years studied medicine and anatomy in Copenhagen he went to Leyden to complete his studies. Here he made several very important anatomical discoveries, and when he afterwards came to Paris his skilful directions attracted such wide attention that already in his thirtieth year he was regarded as the first anatomist of Europe. In Paris he fell in with Bossuet and at the instigation of the latter he was misled into religious musings to which he, at times, would almost wholly abandon himself. During his stay in Florence, where he had been appointed professor of anatomy at the Academy del Cimento, he went over to Catholicism. Still, he once more gathered his strength for hard work in the field of science, and in so doing he laid the foundation of an entirely new branch of study, viz: of geognosy. During his stay in Italy he studied the mountain formations, made examinations of fossils, etc., and the result of these investigations is embodied in his "De solido intra ​solidum naturaliter oontento disertationis prodromus," a work which at once attracted wide attention. The ideas presented were, however, vastly beyond the comprehension of his contemporaries, and they were not accordingly sufficiently appreciated. Not before a century later were his ideas again taken up and the study of geognosy continued on the foundation he had laid. As indicated by the title "Prodromus," the work was intended simply as a forerunner of a more elaborate work, which was never published, although the author had nearly finished it. The reason was, doubtless, that his religious and theological meditations became so absorbing that he found time for nothing else. In 1670 he returned to Denmark on the invitation of Frederik III, but as the king died shortly afterward Stensen went back to Florence. The minister of state Griffenfeldt succeeded in inducing him to come once more for a brief period to Denmark, and from 1672 to 1674 he conducted the anatomical department of the Copenhagen University; then he was again drawn back to Italy, where in 1675, he was consecrated as a Catholic priest. Henceforth he devoted himself exclusively to the service of the church and became wholly lost to science. In 1677 the pope appointed him bishop in partibus, and soon afterward apostolic vicar for northern Germany and Denmark. In this capacity he died in Schwerin in 1686.
This brief notice of the most prominent scholars of this period may suffice to show that although there was, generally speaking, a certain sluggishness in the intellectual life of that age, there were still produced, even in the strictly scientific field, works that were of no small importance. It is only to be regretted that the literature more and more abandoned the people and became the exclusive possession of the learned. It was reserved for a later time to make accessible to the people the results with which science had been enriched during this period and the importance of popularizing knowledge ​did not fairly begin to be realized before the eighteenth century. Until then only the clergy and the nobility took any interest in intellectual work. The nobility did earnest, praiseworthy work in the pursuit of culture, and assisted with marked liberality the students of science. There were many noblemen of fine culture, and among them were to be found men of profound learning. Thus in addition to Tyge Brahe, Holger Rosenkranz (1574-1642) deserves to be mentioned as an excellent theologian, well versed in Greek and Hebrew. After acquiring a vast amount of knowledge at the most celebrated German universities, he, belonging to one of the most distinguished families of the country, was naturally called into practical life, but his love of science was so strong that he finally resigned his place in the council of the realm and devoted himself exclusively to study. His religious views did not wholly accord with the orthodoxy then prevalent, and to avoid the censure of the theologians he published the most of his works abroad. Both his books and his extensive correspondence with scholars in Denmark and in foreign lands gave him the highest reputation for learning. Meanwhile he did not completely avoid a conflict with the strict Lutheran theologians, and he was at onetime in imminent danger. He continued to carry on a violent controversy with his adversaries until his death, and the fact that he was not prosecuted, was chiefly owing to the regard entertained for his noble rank. Noble ladies also occupied themselves successfully with literature and science, and Birgitte Thott (1610-1662), produced a translation of Seneca, which was very excellent for the time. The most remarkable authoress of that time was the unfortunate wife of Korfitz Ulfeldt, Leonora Christina (1621-1698), a daughter of Christian IV, whose book "Jammersminde" is a simple and touching description of her long and severe sufferings in prison. It is one of the most charming and striking books in the whole field of Danish literature, and bears throughout the stamp of ​a sublime and generous spirit, richly endowed and developed and ripened to a rare degree of nobleness by life's severe school. It is unquestionably the best prose work from the seventeenth century.
Though the scientific efforts of the period of learning paid but little attention to the national element, still the latter was not wholly disregarded. On the contrary, there flowed through this entire period a national and to some extent a popular current; which, though it was not strong enough to give the times a direction different from that after which the period is named, still it is of great interest as a continuation or result of the great popular movement created by the Reformation, and on account of the influence it may be said to have had in general on the relation between the literature and the people.
Among the men who rendered special service to this cause, we must not forget to mention Anders Sörensen Vedel (1542-1616), a son of a merchant in Veile (Vedel) from which town he received his surname. In his earlier years he travelled for a few years abroad as Tyge Brahe's tutor, became magister in Wittenberg, and after his return to Denmark, court preacher to Frederik II. From his earliest youth he had applied himself with diligence to the study of national history, and receiving encouragement from many friends, he undertook the important task of translating Saxo Grammaticus, and his version of this celebrated work was published in 1575. In this manner this book at length became accessible to the whole people. It was exquisitely translated into a remarkably pure and noble language, a fact which is of all the more credit to Vedel, when we consider that he was, properly speaking, the first to break the ground for the historical style. Vedel's translation of Saxo, on account of its comparatively excellent Danish, occupies in fact a foremost rank in the literature of its time, and it will forever remain ​one of Denmark's most remarkable and important linguistic monuments.
Vedel was now requested to continue Saxo's chronicle and to bring it down to his own time, in order that there might be a complete history of Denmark, and as the most conspicuous men in the realm joined in the request, Vedel, after much doubt and hesitation, undertook this difficult and comprehensive task, and fully conscious of its great importance, he henceforth devoted all his energies to it. And yet it brought him scarcely anything but disappointments. As a matter of course the work could only progress slowly, as there were no historical collections or other chronicles to consult. Moreover, Vedel was far too conscientious and thorough to be satisfied with any superficial performance, or to seek to complete his work as quickly as it was desired by some distinguished individuals who seemed to think that the whole work could be written in a few years. Doubts were also expressed as to the real value of a work written in Danish, and, consequently, unintelligible to foreign scholars. And so it finally came to pass that Vedel fell into disfavor, and in 1594 he received royal instructions to deliver all the materials, collected by him with great care and trouble, partly on extensive journeys, which he for many years had made throughout the country, together with the portions already completed, to Niels Krag, who was professor of Greek, and in that very year had been appointed royal historiographer. It was supposed that the latter from all these materials, and from what might further be collected, would be able within six years at the latest to compile a history of Denmark from King Frode down to his own time, and that, too, in the Latin language. On account of this change Krag neglected his duty as professor in the university, and yet he was not able to do more than describe the first seventeen years of the reign of Christian III. After his death Vedel's collections were dispersed. All that has been preserved are a short dissertation on "how Danish history should be writ​ten," in which he develops the plan of his proposed work, and a few fragments of digested materials for the work. One of these fragments, "King Svend Haraldsson Forkbeard," was published about a hundred years after Vedel's death.
Vedel also rendered important services to literature by his publication of the oldest collection of popular ballads from the Middle Ages. It contains one hundred ballads explained and annotated, and appeared in 1591. He also left behind him, in manuscript, another smaller collection called "Tragica," which was not published before 1657. It was not, of course, Vedel's purpose to subject these ballads to any real criticism; he merely collected what he found and endeavored to clothe it in the most attractive form possible, and to this end he made such changes and additions as seemed to him necessary. These works are, nevertheless, of the greatest importance, for the people's taste for the old poetry was thus kept alive, and without these collections a large number of the ballads would have perished.
The Norwegian preacher Peter Claussön (1545-1614) rendered great services to the history of Norway by his translation of the old sagas of the kings. Like Vedel's his work is marked by its excellent style. This also applies to his other writings, as for instance his "Norriges og omliggende Öers Beskrivelse"—a description of Norway and adjacent islands—in which is found historical material of value. His language is remarkably pure and his style is even and artless.
The execution of the work begun by Vedel was undertaken by the chancellor of the realm, Arild Huitfeld (1549-1609). From 1595 to 1604 he edited in ten volumes a chronicle of the Danish kingdom together with a chronicle of the bishops, and he calls it himself a preparation for a more ornate and ​perfect history to be written in Latin. This work is of great importance as a collection of original documents, and it contains a multitude of acts, letters and similar valuable contributions to the history of Denmark, which otherwise would have perished, but it is as far as possible from being what Vedel had intended, a popular description of the events of his native country in the ages past. The materials are almost wholly in crude form and the style is very faulty. It is, we admit, upon the whole even and clear, but it is dry and colorless and in all respects inferior to Vedel's simple and attractive style.
A detailed chronicle of the time of Frederik II was compiled by Peter Besen (1625-1688), on the basis of a manuscript left by Huitfeldt.
Danish historiography in the national tongue during the period of learning is in the main limited to these works, and of the men mentioned Vedel alone is of any real importance to the national literature. Aside from these works, the chronicling of the events of the national history was attended to in an official way by the royal historiographers. Frederik II had created this office in 1553, and it was expressly stipulated that everything proceeding from the same should be written in the Latin language. The first of these royally appointed historians was Hans Svaning (1508-1584), who compiled a history of the reigns of kings Johan and Christian II. Klaus Lyskander (1558-1623) deserves special mention. His work "Scriptores Danici" is the first attempt at a history of Danish literature, or rather, at a dictionary of authors, a work which even at the present time is of importance for a knowledge of the literature of the sixteenth century. In a book written in Danish "Danske Kongers Slægtbog," a kind of genealogy of the Danish kings, intended to serve as an introduction to a great historical work in the national tongue, he proved himself the possessor of a remarkable talent for style, which if properly applied might have been productive of great results. But he was so wholly lacking in critical ​sense that he carried the genealogical tree of the Danish kings up to Adam, always giving the length of their reigns, and this moreover with perfect faith in the correctness of the dates which he pretends to have copied from "old documents." He was inspired with deep interest in his own native tongue, and in it he made some efforts not wholly unsuccessful as a poet, and thus he may justly be numbered among the truly national authors of the age of learning. Among the historians we must also mention. Stefan Stefanius (1599-1650), chiefly on account of his edition of Svend Aagesön's and Saxo's works, the latter of which he enriched with a wealth of learned notes.
Toward the close of the sixteenth century there was awakened a hitherto unknown interest in the Antiquities of the North. It was probably owing to the circumstance that men had begun at this time to devote themselves extensively, to the study of history, and so the taste for this kind of inquiry was cultivated. In this connection scholars were naturally led to the study of Old Norse language and literature, and this again had a beneficial influence on the Danish, which, up to this time, had been kept a stranger to literature. Vedel had already in his time, both through his historical studies and through his love of Danish, been induced to study the Old Norse tongue, and for this purpose he projected various plans. He also began antiquarian studies in reference to an introduction for the great history of Denmark which he was preparing, made copies of runic alphabets, etc. Still, all this was merely the feeble beginning of a genuine antiquarian study. The first man who achieved something worthy of note in this respect was the above named physician and naturalist, Ole Worm (1588-1654). He made a number of collections, among which were to be found many archæological ​objects, and he wrote important works on runic inscriptions and other monuments, by all of which he awakened a general interest in an important source of history, which had hitherto been almost wholly neglected. His chief work in this direction, the "Monumenta Danica," contains a survey of Danish runic monuments, together with an interpretation of the inscriptions, historical elucidations, etc. In spite of its weak points and faults, it will always be of value because it furnishes descriptions and illustrations of a number of antiquities which have since perished. Though the illustrations are by no means remarkable for exactness, they still have more or less value. He also wrote a dissertation on the golden horn found in 1639, and this is properly speaking the first antiquarian work in the Danish literature. Of other antiquarians in the learned period there is but little to be said when we have mentioned Otto Sperling the younger, who was the first to point out of what vast importance the study of Icelandic would in time become for the study of northern history.
The study of northern antiquities was essentially advanced by the Icelanders, who with great zeal sought out and investigated the old literary treasures preserved in that island. Without their assistance nothing of importance could have been accomplished in this field either in Denmark or in Sweden. All the great impulses came from the Icelanders, and from their midst were generally selected the "royal translators" and "royal antiquaries," whose works were the basis of later researches.
During the learned period but few occupied themselves with the study of the Danish language, and the work they did was rather defective, but still their efforts are worthy of recognition. This is particularly true of the preacher Peder Syv (1631-1702), who, on account of his thorough knowledge ​of Danish, received the title of "philologus regius linguæ Danicæ." He published various works on the Danish language. His first work especially, "Betænkninger om det Cimbriske Sprog" (Remarks on the Cimbrian language), is marked by great freshness and enthusiasm. Its main purpose is to inquire into what ought to be done in one way and another to promote the culture of Danish in order that it may be restored to its place of honor, but at the same time the author also discusses purely philological problems. Already in this work Syv proves himself one of the best informed and most profound scholars in this field, and he continued to the day of his death to work with indefatigable zeal for the advancement of Danish. His "Danske Sprogkunst," published in 1685, is especially interesting as the first Danish grammar written in Danish. In 1668 a "Grammatica Danica," written in Latin, had been published by the well known theological writer Erik Pontoppidan, a rather interesting work and particularly valuable on account of its digression on comparative philology. One of Peder Syv's remarks which recurs again and again in his writings is most characteristic of the "learned age" in which he lived. He seems almost to beg pardon for taking the liberty of writing in Danish and he now and then finds it necessary "to reproduce the whole sentence in Latin in order that it may be better understood." Peder Syv also edited Vedel's collection of popular ballads with many additions, and a vast collection of proverbs, which has justly been called the "treasury of Danish proverbs," and this it has in fact been even down to our times. It contains all that could be found of genuine old Danish proverbs, saws, adages, etc., gathered from the lips of the people and from a number of printed and written sources. A history of literature by him, entitled "den danske Boglade" (The Danish Library) and containing many instructive notices of the old Danish literature, exists only in manuscript. He was also engaged on a compilation of a Danish ​dictionary, but he never got beyond merely preparatory work on it.
This also applies to the lexicographical work which was undertaken on a grand scale by the privy councillor Mathias Moth (1647-1719), first secretary to Christian V. He devoted many years and much profound criticism to the work and had the cooperation of all scholars who took an interest in the work and had the ability to contribute to its progress. The exceptionally rich collections which he left in manuscript were used in the compilation of the very complete dictionary of the Danish language published by the royal society of sciences, but the materials of Moth's collection were by no means exhausted. They still contain much that is of value, and the linguists of to-day may gather from them many facts with which to elucidate the vocabulary and history of the Danish language.
Poetry was by no means neglected during the learned period. On the contrary, there were many poets both in Danish and in Latin, but with few exceptions they were nothing but rhymesters and they dealt largely with religious themes. Among the few genuine poets of this age we may mention the following:
Hans Sthen (1544-1603?) whose drama "Kortvending" has already been mentioned, composed religious songs, which frequently betray a genuine poetical sentiment and in which there are numerous passages that remind us of the popular ballads. We also have from him a didactic poem "Lykkens Hjul" (the wheel of fortune), the contents of which resemble his drama.
Anders Arrebo (1587-1637), a man of genuine poetic talents, first published a few occasional historical poems, ​which were received with great favor. Scarcely thirty years old, he became bishop of Throndhjem, but only a few years later he was deposed from his office "on account of his frivolous conduct." The young bishop was fond of a gay life, and, an enemy of the rigid rules prescribed for the clergy, he did not shrink "from beating time to the dance on the drum when he was present on festive occasions, or even from taking part in the dance with the others or singing his own songs to the tunes of the popular ballads without scrupulously weighing his own words;" and as he at the same time did not lack enemies, his position soon became untenable, although he can scarcely be charged with really improper conduct. After some time he was, however, again permitted to enter the priesthood, and he died as a preacher in Vordingborg in Zealand, honored and beloved by his parishioners. Soon after his deposition his translation of the psalms of David was published. It soon became very popular and long continued to be a favorite volume. His great and lasting renown he gained by his celebrated poem "Hexaëmeron," on account of which he was styled "the father of Danish poetry." It is a free imitation of the French poem by Bartas on the creation of the world, but many parts of it are wholly original. There are many passages of genuine poetic beauty, and the author frequently falls unconsciously into the style of the popular ballad, of which he was a perfect master. But Arrebo's greatest merit and that by which he really made himself worthy of his surname, is his effort to introduce into Danish poetry the renaissance which had spread from Italy throughout Europe. Already in his translation of the psalms of David he had made an irresolute attempt at a metrical reform, and in his "Hexaëmeron" he entirely abandoned the old method, which contented itself with a definite number of syllables, and adopted the system set forth by Marten Opitz in his "Prosodia Germanica," according to which the metre depends on the number of accented syllables. The first part of the "Hexaëmeron" is written in hexameters with rhymes ​in the middle and at the end of the verse. This necessitates a fixed cæsural pause and thus one of the chief characteristics of the metre, its flexibility and ease, was lost. But in the following parts Arrebo rids himself of these self imposed difficulties, abandons the hexameter and chooses the Alexandrine, which Opitz had recommended as the heroic metre, yet in a form very different from the French metre of the same name, but precisely as it had been preserved in Germany and as it henceforth was used for a long time in Danish epics and dramas.
The greatest of all Danish poets in the period of learning was Thomas Kingo, born 1634 in the village of Slangerup, in Zealand, where his father, who was of Scotch descent, eked out a miserable living as a weaver. He became pastor in his native village, where in 1674 he published the first part of his devotional songs ("Aandelige Sjungekor.") When the second part appeared in 1681, he was bishop in Fuhnen, where he died in 1703. Some of his hymns are set to tunes borrowed from secular ballads, some of which may have been Scotch popular airs, or they may have been composed by Kingo himself, who was very musical, in which case they may contain reminiscences of impressions made on him by tunes which he heard in the home of his childhood. All his hymns, forty-one in number, are inspired by a deep, intense faith, and by a warm poetical enthusiasm, and hence, wherever the religious sentiment and predisposition is present, they never fail to produce the proper edifying effect, and they touch the hearts of the highly cultured, no less than those of the common people. On their first appearance they were at once greeted with boundless appreciation and admiration, and many of them are still used in the service of the Danish Church, and will continue to be so used as long as the Danish tongue endures. Many of these hymns still remain ​unsurpassed, notwithstanding the fact that Denmark has had many fine psalmists. There is no doubt that Kingo's example has had great influence on the development of the psalm literature in Denmark. Kingo has also written a number of secular poems, varying in style and contents. These were also highly esteemed by his contemporaries, and they procured him many influential patrons, but on the whole they are destitute of value, for they differ in no wise from the other soulless and tasteless metric productions, with which that age was flooded. Only when his poetry is permeated by his strong and intense faith, does it have power fully to spread its wings. For his fame as one of Denmark's greatest poets Kingo is indebted to his hymns alone. He gave a full and vigorous expression to all that which in the earlier Danish psalms had proved only a feeble, stammering utterance. What had before existed merely in the bud, expanded in Kingo into a beautiful and fragrant flower. A feature, which in a high degree contributes to the sonorousness of Kingo's hymns, is his perfect mastery of the spirit of the language, a rare accomplishment in his time. Of this he was perfectly conscious, and he expressed it with elegance in connection with his love for his native language. Complaints in regard to the neglect of the vernacular were not unfrequent in the latter half of the learned period, but no one has shown more effectually than Kingo demonstrated, that this neglect was undeserved, or what grand results might be achieved with that despised native tqngue, when it chanced to fall into the right hands.
Dorthe Engelbrechtsdotter (1635-1716), the wife of a Norwegian clergyman, composed many religious and devotional songs, which gained the favor of her contemporaries to such an extent that the name of the "eleventh muse" was bestowed on her. (Sappho was, according to the ideas of that age, regarded as the tenth.) She was also popular as a ​writer of songs for special occasions, such as birthdays, weddings, etc. Her poetry is not, however, of any very high order.
The Norwegian preacher, Peder Dass (1647-1708), like Kingo, of Scotch descent, ranks much higher as a poet. His secular songs surpass in poetic sentiment, in strength and freshness, the religious poems which he composed, but still his reputation as a poet is mainly based on the latter. In his secular songs there also occasionally bursts forth a deep, earnest religious feeling, and although they are not all to be rated at the same value, and while some of them scarcely rise above ordinary prose, still they glow with such warmth of sentiment, and are characterized by a style so graphic, and a humor so bold and bewitching, that it is not surprising to find that Dass has remained to this day the favorite poet of the common mass in Norway, and indeed justly, since all that he has written is marked by a truly national and popular stamp. Prominent among his religious poems are his paraphrase of Luther's little catechism and a volume of biblical poetry, and the best known of his secular songs is "Nordlands Trompet," a description of the north of Norway.
But little more is to be said of the secular poetry in Denmark during the period of learning. There attaches, of course, a certain interest to the manner in which the renaissance introduced by Arrebo was gradually spread. His Hexaëmeron was not printed before twenty years after his death, but long before that a long extract of it had been produced by Hans Mikkelsen Ravn, in his "Eythmologia Danica," and this at once found many imitators. It is only to be regretted that Arrebo's influence did not reach so far as to impart a national color to the new school, for the national element was thrust completely into the background, and the verses presented nothing but hollow forms. Söeen Terkelsen's translation of the romance, "Astrée," by d'Urfi, con​tributed to the rapid spread of the renaissance, as did also a selection of songs contained therein, and which he published, together with other songs translated by him, under the title of "Asträa Sjungekor," (Asträa songchoir). These songs, written to pleasing melodies, at once became widely circulated, and thus the people soon became accustomed to the new forms.
Among those who made themselves masters of the new style was also the above-mentioned linguist, Peder Syv, whose poetical gifts were not of a mean order. He has not unjustly been called the oldest Danish epigrammatist, and the first original Danish bucolic poet. But the man of that age who enjoyed the greatest reputation as a poet was Anders Bording (1619-77). He possessed great skill in versification, and though he now and then indulges in rather capricious freaks, still his poetic talent was not of any very high order. Among other things he published Denmark's first political gazette, "Den danske Mercurius," which appeared once a month, from 1666-77, and was written in rhyme. We must also mention Jakob Worm, 1642-93, Kingo's stepson, who wrote such bold satires that they caused him to be sentenced to death, but this sentence was afterwards commuted to banishment for life, and, finally, Laurids Kok, the author of the Dannevirke song (a song on Thyra Danebod, who built the Dannevirke fortification), in which the style of the popular ballad is very successfully imitated, and which is still one of the most favorite songs of the Danish people. In the so-called "Kjæmpebog" (hero-book), by an unknown writer, there also occur many reminiscences of the old ballads.
* ↑ Nicolaus Hemmingii: Pastor, sive pastoris optimus vivendi agendique modus, Copenhagen, 1562. Postilla Evangeliorum, Copenhagen, 1561. Commentarius in omnes Epistolas apostolorum, Leipsic, 1572. Syntagma institutionum Christianarum, Copenhagen, 1574. Livsens Vei, Copenhagen, 1570. Niels Hemmingsen, by J. Möller, in "Historisk Kalendar," II, Copenhagen, 1815.
* ↑ Jesper Brochmand: Systema universæ Theologiæ. Copenhagen, 1633. Huspostil, Sabathens Helliggörelse, Copenhagen, 1635-38. Brochmand's Life, by J. Möller, in "Historisk Kalendar," III, Copenhagen, 1817.
* ↑ The most important devotional works of this age are those of Jens Dinesen Jersin, especially his "Vera Via Vitæ," Copenhagen, 1633, and "Troens Kamp og Seir," Copenhagen, 1635. Jens Dinesen Jersin, by S. M. Gjellerup, Copenhagen, 1868-70. The most remarkable work of superstition is Johan Brundsmand's Kjöge Huskors. Copenhagen, 1674.
* ↑ Tycho Brahe, "De Nova Stella," Copenhagen, 1573. F. R. Friis: Tyge Brahe, Copenhagen, 1871. J. L. Heiberg: "Hveen" (Prosaiske Skrifter).
* ↑ Thomas Bartholin: Acta medica et philosophica, Copenhagen, 1673-1680. Cista medica, Copenhagen, 1662.
* ↑ Oluf Borch, literary and biographical sketch by E. F Koch, Copenhagen, 1866.
* ↑ Nicolaus Steno: De Solido etc., Florence, 1669. J. Wichfeld: Erindringer om Niels Steensen, in "Historisk Tidsskrift," Vol. IV, 3rd Series. (Copenhagen).
* ↑ L. Ann. Senecæ Skrifter, fordanskede af Birgitte Thott, Sorö, 1658.
* ↑ Leonora Christina Ulfeldt's Jammersminde, edited by T. Birket Smith, Copenhagen, 1869.
* ↑ A. Sörensen Vedel. Saxo Grammaticus, translated into Danish, Copenhagen, 1575 (last edition, 1851). 100 udvalgte danske Viser, Ribe, 1591. Tragica, Copen hagen, 1657. Vedel's biography by C. F. Wegener is found in the last edition of his translation of Saxo.
* ↑ Peder Clanssön Friis' collected works were published by Dr. G. Storm in Christiania in 1877-1879. His translation of Snorre Sturleson's Heimskringla appeared in Copenhagen in 1633.
* ↑ Arild Huitfeldt: Danmarks Riges krönike, I—X, Copenhagen, 1595-1604. P. Resen, King Frederik II Krönike, Copenhagen, 1680. Joh. Svaningius: Christiernus II, Francof, 1658. Lyskander: Synopsis historiarum danicarum, Copenhagen, 1622. H. F. Rördam: Lyskanders Levned samt hans Bog om danske Skribenter (Scriptores Danici), Copenhagen, 1868.
* ↑ Olaus Wormius: Danicorum monumentorum libri sex, Copenhagen, 1643. (Additamenta, 1651), De cornu aureo, Copenhagen, 1641. Olai Wormii et doctorum virorum ad eum epistolæ, I-II, Copenhagen, 1751.
* ↑ Peder Syv: Nogle Betænkninger om det Cimbriske Sprog, Copenhagen, 1663. Danske ordsprog, I-II, Copenhagen, 1682-1688. Den danske Sprogkunat eller Grammatica, Copenhagen, 1685. Et hundred udvalgte danske Viser, foröget med det andet hundred, Copenhagen, 1695. Fr. W. Horn: Peder Syv, Copenhagen, 1878. Ericus Pontoppidanus: Grammatica Danica, Copenhagen, 1668.
* ↑ C. Molbech: Historisk Udsigt over de danske Ordbogs-Arbieder i det syttende og attende Aarhundrede, Copenhagen, 1827. (In Ny dansk Meagazin, IV.)
* ↑ H. F. Rördam: Arrebos Levnet og Skrifter, Copenhagen, 1857. G Rode: Renaissancens tidligste eftervirkning paa dansk poetisk Literatur, Copenhagen, 1866.
* ↑ Thomas Kingo's Psalmer og aandelige Sange, edited by P. A. Fenger, Copenhagen, 1827. Thomas Kingo, af A. C. L. Heiberg, Odense, 1852.
* ↑ Pettur Dass' samlede Skrifter, edited by A. E. Erichson, I-III. Christiania, 1873-77.
* ↑ Hans Mikkelsen Ravn (Corvinus) Rhytmologia Danica, Copenhagen, 1649. Sören Terkelsen: Astræa, oversat, Glükstadt, 1643-48. Astræe Sjungekor I-III, Lykstadt, 1648, Copenhagen, 1653-54.
* ↑ Peder Syv's poems in Betænkninger om det cimbriske Sprog, Copenhagen, 1663. Anders Bordings poetiske Skrifter, edited by Von Rostgaard, Copenhagen, 1733. Den danske Kæmpebog, edited by Fr. Barfod, Copenhagen, 1860.