Svend Poulsen Svend Poulsen ( - ) , also referred to as Svend Poulsen Gønge ( ) was a Danish military commander in the 17th century , serving in the armies of Christian IV , Frederick III , and Christian V . He fought in the Torstenson War , Second Northern War , and the Scanian War , and led the " snaphane " militia in guerilla warfare against Sweden in occupied Zealand from 1658 to 1659 . He was popularized under the name Gøngehøvdingen ( ) in 1853 , when his exploits were fictionalized under that name by Danish author Carit Etlar . The historicity of his aliases has since been disputed . Historical account . Little is known for certain about the youth of Svend Poulsen . He was probably born around 1610 in north - western Scania or southern Halland . He was a soldier in the army of Christian IV during the 1625 - 1629 Danish intervention in the Thirty Years ' War , and also served in the Dutch Army . He was made an officer in the Danish army in the Torstenson War from 1643 to 1645 . He was a citizen of Laholm in Halland , even after it came under Swedish reign in 1645 . During the 1657 – 1658 Dano - Swedish War of the greater Second Northern War theatre , Poulsen commandeered a company of dragoon s in April 1657 , in the defence of Ängelholm in Scania against Sweden . He took part in a number of skirmishes , and was promoted captain in December 1657 . After the cession of Scania and Halland at the Treaty of Roskilde of 1658 , Svend Poulsen and his dragoons moved to Zealand , where they were ordered to disband . Poulsen commandeered his dragoons once more at the outbreak of the 1658 – 1660 Dano - Swedish War , and integrated his company into the defence of Copenhagen . Poulsen himself was sent into occupied Zealand in order to organize a guerilla warfare resistance . On August 22 , 1658 , a decree ordered the peasants of Zealand to assist Poulsen in harassing the Swedish occupying forces . He assembled a company of " snaphane " militia within the month of August , though he lacked substantial support from the local populace . He led several successful charges against smaller Swedish contingents , but was finally forced to retreat . He returned to Copenhagen , and later rejoined the regular army . He was probably a part of the city defence during the Assault on Copenhagen in February 1659 . He left the army at the conclusion of the war in 1660 , and was given the desolate Lundbygård manor at Præstø . The manor caused Poulsen financial hardships , and in 1666 he appealed for Frederick III to help him , and was in turn granted an additional manor . His financial situation did not improve . Poulsen had to abandon Lundbygård due to tax debts in 1673 . He was granted a lifelong state pension that year , and settled in a smaller residence . He rejoined the army of Christian V for the Scanian War from 1675 to 1679 , and first served on Stevns , before he was promoted to the rank of major and commandeered a dragoon company in Scania . Some doubt has been cast on his status as major and exact role in the Scanian War . He died around 1680 , an old man weakened by illness . Name . He was born Svend Poulsen around 1610 . A 1673 protocol has the earliest reference to him as " Svend Poulsen Gynge " , Gynge being the contemporary Danish name for the two Göinge ( ) hundreds in Scania . Danish historians in the 19th century , used the Gynge name to establish Svend Poulsen as hailing from Göinge and leading Göinge soldiers , both in Scania in 1657 and on Zealand in 1658 . This made him known by the extended name of " Svend Poulsen Gønge " , as well as the fictional construction " Gøngehøvdingen " ( ) . In 1853 , Danish author Carit Etlar published the novel " Gjøngehøvdingen " , a fictional account of Svend Poulsen ' s exploits as a " snaphane " during the 1658 – 1660 Dano - Swedish War . The book was hugely popular , and " Gøngehøvdingen " stuck as the prevailing alias for Svend Poulsen in Denmark . It has since been argued , that Svend Poulsen wasn ' t necessarily linked to Göinge at all . In the 109 primary source s pertaining to Svend Poulsen , only three mention the Gynge / Göinge name ; none of these three are written by Svend Poulsen himself . Likewise , the men in his 1657 dragoon company were from Halland and not Göinge . The 1658 " snaphane " company on Zealand were made up of locals and did not contain any Göinge people , who served the army elsewhere . The authors of the 19th century historical accounts of Svend Poulsen were also unclear on the historicity of their claims , rehashing each other ' s myths and fictions , while transforming Svend Poulsen into a Göinge leader . His only documented link to Göinge prior to 1673 , seems to be fighting in Scania during the 1657 – 1658 Dano - Swedish War , in close proximity to Göinge . In fiction . Etlar ' s " Gjøngehøvdingen " popularized Svend Poulsen as a righteous and brave leader figure , and he has since been portrayed in a number of fictional works : Additionally , Orla Klausen published the comic book series " Gøngehøvdingen " of five albums from 1989 to 1993 . In 1998 , Nils Hartmann published the children ' s book " Gøngehøvdingen " .