The sun., 1883-12-30

po more Intimately known than any other Euro
pcan peoples to tho descendants OF those Jute
Anglian. and Saxon emigrants from tho Ger
man Lowlands who colonized Britain. and
whose posterty dominates the Western world
The slight attention paid TO Scandinavian
authors is tho less parlonable because far moro
than would ut first sight be- supposed bas been
done by scholars to bring the master works Of
tho old Morse, Danish and swedish l;erat,ires
within the reach OF English readers. Besides
tho extracts above mentioned from the Elder
Edda. for which we are indebted to Messrs.
Magnusson and Morris Mr.. Rasmus d. Ander-
son has lately published translations OF tho
Younger Edda. of the Saga OF Thorstcn
Vikingsson. and n version from the original
1colandic Of Frthiofs Saga while the modern
Swedish paraphrase of the latter work has
often. rs wo shall see. been reproduced
in English. An English metricnl transla-
tion Of the celebrated Iceiandic religious
poem called Tho Lily" which belongs
to tho second half OF the fourteenth cen
tury. was brought out not long ngo by
Mr.. +. Magnusson In England. Indeed an
examination OF tho scandinavian bihliography.
prepared for this book by Mr.. Thorvald Solberg.
will show that even with reference to old Morse
literature n great deal has been accomplished
in tho way Of transportation and intcrpretn-
tion. Much has been efYectcd also FOR tho intro
duction OF Danish authors to English readers.
though the omissions nre inexplicabe. For
instance mono OF tho comedies OF Ludwig Hol-
berg seem 10 have been transferred to English.
though thero ia an English version of his His
tory OF Norway and OF "Neils klim's Under
ground ] Journey" to which 'Guiver's Travels"
is tho only analogue IN our language. Again.
three of tho stories OF tho modern Danish nov
elist. II. +. Ewald have within the last sixteen
years appeared in an English dress. but Jo-
hannes Ewald. tho foremost of Danish singers
and one OF the greatest lyric poets that tho
North has produced, is as yet apparently inac-
cessibIe to English readers. not even his prose
works having boen translated. Tho second
great poet OF tho so called " age Of eniigh,eu-
ment in Denmark and Norway eighteenth
century,. the Norwegian Johnn Herman Nos-
sci. is also unreprosentcd by any English ver-
sion. On the other hand the two names which
have reflected lustre on the Danish stage in
our own century those OF Ohlcnschlaegor and
Hertz are. or should be. familiar through some
cre9tGhle transiatons Of their most remarka-
bio compositions. Tho formers epic poem.
Tho Gods of the North" and the tragedy.
lluk konjari" wore reproduced in English
some forty years ago. and moro recently
| the tragedy of "Coroggio" and the dra-
| matte poem of Aladdin have been
translated by Theodore Martin. or Hertzs
famous lyric drama entitled King Rdnt's
| of which that by Theodore Martin is said by
| Danish scholars to convey most faithfully tho
! grace and beauty Of the original. OF the writ
| ingsOf Dhlcnschinegar' r's fellow student Grundt-
! Wig. none. Wa bricve. have been translated. and
| he is known to EGslishmen rathcr as are
| lgiuus rcformer than as n poet. though his
| countrymcn looked upon him ~ skEld. in the
oll-fashioncd sense Of the word. The dramas
| of iiciOcrg who. like Ohlcnschlacgcr. belonged
| to tho romanticists. arc rs yet unreprescntcd
! in English versions. and so aro tho poems OF
1ngcmnnn. though three of the latter's histor-
cal novels wherein he sought to do for Den
mark what Walter Scott had don0 for Scotland.
have been translated We are more fortunate
in our means Of making acquaintance with
the two greatest writer's thit Norway has
| produced. who are at tho same time the ioro-
most writer's now living in Scandinavia. All OF
| B0rnson's stories have appeared in English
transations: but there is. wo Nelieve. no pub
lished English version of any Of his dramas. OF
| OF his lyric and epic poems. or 1bsen. who Is
far superior to BjOrnson rs dramatist. we
have English versions Of only two plays. viz.
The Emperor and the Galilcan" and ;" Nora
That any attempt would be made to present
in English the lyric and epic poems Of Vinis
was scarcely to be expected seeing thai
he belongs to the Maalstracver school. which
during tho present century has endcavored tC
substitute for the Danish Norwegian tongue q
written language based on tho LandsmGalct OF
country vernacular.
None OF the writings of Stjcrnhjem. the mos
imposing literary figure Of the golden age o
Sweden. have as yct we believe. been mad,
accessible to English readers. DIR. Horn sums
up the results OF Stjerniclm's poetical actvit,
in the remark that the Swedish language
which up to that time had bocn hard and un
manageable received from his pen form NOR,
I adapted TO poetry. and certain impulses th;i
led to still richer deyelopment.' 1t WAS nat
ural that contemporary OF Gustavus Adolphu
/ should adopt foreign models. but he is said 4
, have displayed - much moro striking orici
: nality than other Swedish writers Of his time
I or than any OF his immediate successors an
: imltators. During the eighteenth cen
tury. French influence became more an
more dominant In Sweden. and reache
I the acme OF ascondnncy in what i
known as the Gustavian period u7S0
1900. The most eminent member OF tn
: Swedish French school at this epoch was Kcll
) gren. whose lyrics are pronounced by DR.. Eior
Z the best in Swedish literature. None Of hi
D writings have been reproduced in English. O
/ the poets belonging to the national schoo
b which. even during tho last century. held itse
n absolutely aloof from French nfrectatlons an
t. strove to build up truly native literature
VI Is inc IuOSI ulstlnbuloncu.
o Ill used to call him. II seems. tho Anacreon {
Il the North but ho may be more appropriated
: described as the Burns OF sweden. When re
: manticism gained its victory over classicism /
J. Sweden. B.mun was made ono Of It's idol
k and at the present day his songs are know
J. and celebrated throughout the whole Nortl
o They have never. however. been translate
], into our language. We must learn Swedish
also. il we would read tho satircal an
X idyic poems OF Anna Lenngren. whic
IL wero first published anonymously. and WEI
% for a long time attributed to Religion. I'll
II sano may be said OF the lyric poet Attcrbon
70 the greatest Of tho Phosphorists," HI III
% Swedish romanticists OF q German typo wei
i called. Neither is any OF the work. Of Sta,
A. neius represented in all English version. q
It the other hand the standard bearer of q
i Gothic school. Esaias Tcanor. Is tolcrably we
h known 10 English readers. His Children
Al tho Lords supper was translated by Mr.. Lonl
20 fellow many years ago and there are no le
n than twsnty-ons English versions OF h
Il