Fritiofs Saga

Fritiofs Saga

In the personality of Esaias Tegnr the vigor and idealism of the Swedish people find their completest and most brilliant incarnation. A deep love of the grandeurs of nature, keen delight in adventure and daring deeds, a charming juvenility of spirit that at least in the prime of his life caused him to battle bravely and hopefully for great ideas, a clearness of perception and integrity of purpose that abhor shams and narrow prejudices and with reckless frankness denounce evils and abuses, a disposition tending at times to brooding and melancholy, all these elements, combined in Tegnr, have made him the idealized type of the Swedish people. He was cast in a heroic mold and his countrymen continue to regard him as the completed embodiment of their national ideals. And in the same measure that Tegnr stands forth as an expression of Swedish race characteristics it may be said that Fritiofs Saga is the quintessence of his own sentiments and ideals. Tegnr, according to his own words, "was born and reared in a remote mountain region where nature herself composes noble but wild music, and where the ancient gods apparently still wander about on winter evenings." His ancestry went back for several generations through the sturdy bonde class, though his father was a preacher and his mother the daughter of a preacher. The father's people dwelt in the province of Smland and the mother's ancestors had lived in the picturesque province of Vrmland. The future poet was born on the 13 of November, 1782, at Kyrkerud, Vrmland, his father holding a benefice in that province. While he was yet a mere child of nine the father died and the family was left in poverty. A friend of the Tegnr family, the judicial officer Branting, gave the young Esaias a home in his house. The lad soon wrote a good hand and was given a desk and a high, three-legged chair in the office. Branting took a fancy to the young clerk and soon fell into the habit of inviting him to accompany the master upon the many official journeys that had to be made through the bailiwick. Thus Esaias came to see the glories of nature in his native province, and deep and lasting impressions were left upon his mind. His quick imagination was further stirred by the heroic sagas of the North, in the reading of which he at times became so absorbed that the flight of the hours or the passing events were entirely unnoticed by him. Branting, who had become convinced that his young clerk was by nature endowed for a much higher station than a lowly clerkship offered, generously provided Esaias with an opportunity for systematic study. In 1796 he wrote a good friend in whose home an elder brother of Esaias was then acting as tutor, suggesting that the younger brother be given a home there also and thus have the advantage of the brother's tutelage. A ready acquiescence meeting this proposal, Esaias now went to Malma, the home of Captain Lwenhjelm, and at once plunged into the study of Latin, French and Greek under the brother's guidance. Independently of the instructor he at the same time acquired a knowledge of English and read principally the poems of Ossian, which greatly delighted him. ......Buy Now (To Read More)

Product details

Ebook Number: 8518
Author: Tegnér, Esaias
Release Date: Jul 1, 2005
Format: eBook
Language: Swedish

Contributors

Editor: Stomberg, Andrew A. (Andrew Adin), 1871-1943