Viking Tales of the North
The manner in which he had enabled his hearers to see and understand for themselves all that beautiful, of which, Lidbäck had only talked and produced the opinions of various critics, made the difference between them only too remarkable. Notwithstanding this, the teacher still preserved the same friendship and goodwill for the pupil by whom he was thrown so much in the shade. For the rest, though it is far from our meaning to under-value all that was noble in the sentiments of Lidbäck any more than all that was solid in his erudition, we cannot help remarking that Tegnér; peculiar manner of thinking and acting makes his superiority, nay, even his sarcastic witticisms, pleasing and pleasant even to those who are their objects.
There was in Lund another individual who found in Tegnér a dangerous rival. It was Ling, who was not less famous for his northern minstrelsy than for his system of scientific gymnastics. To them both, not less than to Geijer, who harped for us the beautiful “Song of the Viking,” and who invoked (living as before!) “The Last Champion” and “The Last Skald” from their ancient barrows, belongs the glory, as Oehlenschläger and Grundtvig had done in Denmark, of having inspired a new life into the Swedish literature, by employing once more the Scandinavian myth and saga. But if the bard of the “Asas” has, like Grundtvig, made us more familiar with the raw force and wild greatness of the olden champions, the chanter of “Fridthjof” has, with Oehlenschläger, attracted more general attention to the forms and images of antiquity by investing them with the milder features of the poetical ideal. Even before that period when the views and efforts of both were developed, Ling and Tegnér could not harmonize. It is curious enough that the gymnastic fencing-master who presented his naked breast to the stabs, not of foils but of the points of swords, possessed a temperament far more irritable and sensitive. But in spite of all their momentary misunderstandings, the honorable true-fast and open-hearted character of both caused them always to retain a firm and mutual friendship, and to acknowledge uninterruptedly each others’s worth and merits.
In the year 1806, when he added the office of under-librarian to his assistant-lectureship in aesthetics, besides being notary in the philosophic faculty, he was enabled to complete his nuptial contract with Miss Anna M. G. Myhrman, who added domestic happiness to his literary honors. It was owing to her care and skill as the head of the household, together with his professional industry, that, although his income never exceeded sixty barrels of grain, they still were possessed of a comfortable subsistence.
At this period a number of the younger officers in the university formed a sort of club, called the “Herberge,” and of which Tegnér was a member. It had no political tendency, and scarcely any regulations. They conversed on literature in general, and of the government of the university in particular. “Here,” writes Tegnér, “was found the pith of views and sentiments which were afterward not without their influence on the university. They played at ball with ideas and witticisms–children of the moment which might well have deserved to have been more generally known.” but among them all, the man who was most willingly listened to, both for his striking mots and his amiable character, was Tegnér; now no longer compelled to exert himself for his studies, and passing an agreeable family life, he had become a cheerful and sociable companion. Many of the individuals visiting this club have gained considerable renown, as teachers at the university or in the church. Tegnér as a poet and Agardh as a savan both enjoy foreign celebrity. Three are bishops: Tegnér in Vexiö, Agardh in Carlstad, and Heurlin in Visby. The last is also acting secretary of state for ecclesiastical affairs and the department of public instructions. Both Heurlin and Agardh have also distinguished themselves at the diets, and possess a political importance which Tegnér, although esteemed for his independence, has never endeavored to acquire.
Through several lyrical pieces which displayed a genius of a lofty order, Tegnér had already gained an increasing reputation as a poet, when his poem “Svea,” which received the great prize of the Swedish Academy in 1811, excited a universal sensation by its patriotic spirit, no less than its poetic beauty. Among those things which make this poem remarkable is the change of form which occurs toward its close. From Alexandrine, distinguished for that refined strength, and measured and well preserved harmony which this kind of verse demands, the skald, in a sudden transport, is carried away to a dithyrambic song, whose various tones are in unison with the richly-varied changes of its subject. This is a poetical vision, in which the mythological images of the antique poesy shadow forth what the Swedish nation at the present moment thought and felt, experienced and hoped. Even although such should not have been the intention of our bard, still the union of these two different styles shows his opinions in reference to the great schism then arising in the Swedish literature.
Without at all degrading the belles-lettres of the older school, he himself was building up the new. But he never went over to our phosphorism, which was so called from “Phosphorus,” a literary review which was to announce a new dawn on the Swedish “Parnassos” mount. On this subject he himself writes as follows: “The German theories and the fashionable “Carbuncle Poetry” (8) I could not bear. It is true I thought a change was necessary in our Swedish verse; but it could and ought to be brought about in a more independent manner. The new school seemed to me too negative, and its critical crusade too unjust. I therefore did not mix myself up in the contest, with the exception, perhaps, of a few pleasantries which I wrote or spoke.” (9)
As Lord Byron, in spite of the disrepute into which his enchanting poems brought the older bards, himself did them justice, and among the rest especially valued Pope, just that author whom his own admirers particularly despised; so Tegnér also in the most solemn terms protested against the efforts of the Phosphorists to degrade our older poets, and especially Leopold, whose serious muse, although she never composed so charming a song as “The Rape of the Lock,” has notwithstanding, surpassed the English satirist in a flow of light, lively, Voltaire -resembling wit.
At the commencement of 1812, Tegnér, during a visit in Stockholm, made the personal acquaintance of Leopold Rosenstein and other members of the Swedish Academy. Already had he gained their admiration; he now added also their most faithful friendship and esteem.
Besides the Phosphoristic coterie, which could in some respects be compared with “The Poets of the Lake” in England, and among whom Wordsworth may be considered as having some resemblance in depth of thought and feeling to Atterbom, there arose one other literary union under the name of “Göther” (the Goths). Their object was the knowledge and employment of the ancient northern myth and saga in the fine arts. The author of “Svea: was invited to become a member, and in it’s magazine, “Idun,” first appeared specimens of “Fridthjof,” which immediately excited great expectations.
In the year 1812 a new field was opened for the activity of Tegnér, at the University of Lund. It was then that the Greek literature, which had hitherto belonged to the same professorship as the Eastern languages, was erected into a separate chair. The Oriental department remained under the care of Norberg, and it was at his recommendation that Tegnér–as a generally acknowledged Hellenist, without a rival at the university–was proposed by its Chancellor, Von Engeström (then first cabinet minister), and was nominated by His Majesty, without the usual routine, to the professorship of Grecian literature. He received, on his appointment, the living of Stäfje as his prebend.
Thus he entered the ecclesiastical order, and wrote in consequence “Prestvigningen” (the Consecration to the Priesthood), a poem beaming with heavenly beauty. But as his actual occupation lay within the sphere of the university, he principally devoted–and that with extraordinary zeal and energy–his time and labor to that department. Naturally enough (and the remark is almost superfluous) he, with his poetical mind, was sure to direct the attention of his youthful hearers to the beauties of Greek literature–the surest method to win them over to the language. But at the same time, a thing we should not have expected from a poet, he united thereto severe demands for a solid acquaintance with its grammatical organization, and brought the study of Greek to a height and splendor hitherto unknown at the University of Lund.
Norberg, who had for his sake resigned this branch of his public duties, neither showed nor felt (for all that he felt he showed) any vexation at being thus, perhaps, surpassed by his successor. Their friendly relation to each other was not disturbed for one instant.
In the meantime the fame of Tegnér as a poet was continually on the increase. This was partly grounded on a multitude of lyrical pieces, the one surpassed by the other, although all were of the most various kinds, and partly on two more lengthy compositions, which have also appeared in foreign translations, “Axel” and “The Young Communicants” (Nattvardsbarnen), In consequence of this, the Swedish Academy of Eighteen could not delay summoning him to their body. He was elected successor to Oxenstjerna, whose portrait (in Tegnér’s inauguration speech) has a beauty inseparable from its object, but which betrays the coloring of our poet’s pencil.
The “Epilogue at the Promotion in Lund in 1829,” together with many other occasional poems, gave him individual importance as a liberal-minded, clear-headed and deep-thinking man, who followed with his time without being carried away by its illusions. How well he was able, if he pleased, to imagine and execute even a mystic idea, is proved by his “Address to the Sun: (Sång till Solen), which Leopold, although still less than a Tegnér a lover of the mysterious and the fantastic, pronounced the very first of this minor poems, both in the light and lofty flight of its various thoughts, and in a purity of expression and harmony of verse which are kept up in spite of the most difficult of metres. But it is especially “Fridthjof” which has raised Tegnér to the first rank among the bards of modern times; spreading his fame not only around all Europe, but even the other regions and far other climes.
In the same year, 1824, when this admirable poem began to exalt his character as a skald, he obtained unexpected preferment in the bosom of the Swedish church. Although he had enjoyed no opportunity or reasonable occasion of distinguishing himself as a theologian, yet so much had he gained the respect of the clergy of Smâland, as a teacher of the academic youth and as a member of the chapter of Lund, that on a vacancy occurring in the bishopric of Vexiö, he obtained, almost unanimously, the first place on the list proposed for appointment. Probably his idyl, “The Young Communicants” (Nattvardsbarnen), had contributed to that confidence in his religious feelings which such a choice presupposed in his brethren. He was appointed bishop in 1824, and immediately justified this promotion by the most zealous guardianship of the educational institutions of his diocese. His speeches on public occasion of importance at the Gymnasium and the Schools, excited an extraordinary sensation. In them he developed, in the talented manner peculiar to himself, his enlightened views on the questions of the day relative to the reforms proposed in the establishments of education. These speeches have also been spread in foreign lands, by a German translation. How he fulfills his duties as one of the chiefs of the church, we may see in the remarkable document belonging to the assembly of the clergy in Vexiö in 1836. They have not, as usual, been confined within the limits of the diocese, or the cloth, but have also attracted the attention of the public at large, (10) and have convinced all classes that he does not less deserve his consideration as a theologian, a priest, and a guardian of religion and ecclesiastical rule, than as an accomplished and indefatigable guide of all the educational departments.
He has not, it is true, been particularly active at the diets, which he is bound to attend in his capacity as bishop; but as often as he has raised his voice the listening expectation of something at once solid and ingenious has found itself not only satisfied but surprised.
While yet professor he had been adorned with the order of the North Star, which has now become a common distinction for Swedish literati of merit. But on the breast of one skald far shining from the North, it reminds us of its original signification. Immediately after his advancement to the episcopal chair he was nominated Knight Commander of the same order.
Whether it is that his office, although it has not exhausted all his time, has turned away his attention form the art of the minstrel, or whether the cause may be that his weak health has somewhat darkened his changingly cheerful and melancholy disposition, true it is that, since the publication of “Fridthjof” he has only occasionally struck the chords of a lyre which has suffered no change in the tones with which it is wont at once to charm and to astonish. We hope, however, that he will yet finish, among other more considerable poems, one which has been long impatiently expected, and of which he has given delightful specimens under the name of “Gerda.” (11) As for himself, indeed, he requires for his glory no more than he already enjoys as one of the most magnificent geniuses of modern times.
The author of this biography will not venture a characteristic of Tegnér as a poet, nor indeed does it necessarily belong to the task he has chosen. But the opinion of that bard himself, as to the causes of his own popularity, must doubly tend to excite our attention, as characteristic both of his muse and of himself. I hasten, therefore, to insert his own observations on this subject:
“The Swede, like the Frenchman, prefers in poetry the light, the clear and the transparent. The profound, indeed, he demands, and values also; but it must be a depth that is pellucid. He wishes that he may see the gold sands at the bottom of the wave. Whatever is dark and muddy, so that it cannot give him any distinct image, let it be as far fetched as it may, he cannot suffer. He believes that
Th’ obscurely utter’d is th’ obscurely thought, (12)
and clearness is a necessary condition for whatever shall produce any effect upon him. In this he differs widely from the German, who in consequence of his contemplative nature, not only suffers, but even prefers, the mystical and the nebulous, in which he loves to foresee something deeply thought. He has more ‘Gemüth’ and gloomy seriousness than the Swede, who is more superficial and more frivolous. This is the source of those mystical feelings and hermorrhoidal sensations (hemmorrhoidal-känningarne) in the German poetry, for which we have no taste.
“As regards the spirit itself and the views of the world in the poet’s own breast, we love the life-enjoying, the fresh, the bold, yes, even the overdaring.
“This is also true of the Swedish national character. However weakened, frivolous or degenerate the people may be, a viking-vein still lies at the bottom of the national temperament, and willingly will we recognize it also in the bard. The race of Fornjot (13) is not yet extinguished. Something Titanic and full of defiance runs through the people like a national feature.
Northland’s strength defies, and never
Death can conquest from us never,
For e’en should we fall at last,
Life in battle’s sport was past.
Roars the storm–how wiling dare we
Wrestling beard him! Willing bare we,
Thunder mocking, hairy breast–
there his arm can strike as best! (14)
“The proper natural image of the northern disposition is a cold an clear but fresh winter day, which steels and braces all the energies of man, to contend against and to conquer a hard climate and an unwilling soil. Wherever this clear breeze is found, wherever this fresh spirit blows, the nation recognizes its own inward life, and for its sake pardons other poetic faults. I know no better explanation.”
All whom Tegnér’s works have made acquainted with his noble genius know, however, another explanation, together with the above, which is undoubtedly both correctly and ingeniously thought, and has a great effect, not only upon his Swedish popularity but also upon his European fame. But notwithstanding all that is northern in the spirit and in the subject of his productions, his poetry has all the richness and luxurious beauty of the South. Indeed, as respects his fresh bright coloring, and the ever springing wealth of his thoughts and images, he may be compared to the verdant crown of an orange tree, whose strong and pure beaming green is adorned with full ripe fruit side by side with the newly opened blossom.
The above sketch by the celebrated Franz Michaël Franzén, the unsurpassed idyllic poet of Sweden, was written before Tegnér’s death. We will therefore supplement it with a few words.
Tegnér suffered much from sickness during the last years of his life. In 1833 he went to Bohemia to recruit his health. Here he became acquainted with many distinguished foreign literary men, but his journey did not have the desire effect upon his broken down constitution. He continued growing more and more feeble, and frequently expressed a fear that the might lose the powers of his mind. “God preserve my reason!” we read in one of his letters. “There is a vein of insanity in my family. With me it has hitherto shown itself in the form of poetry, which is a milder type of insanity: but who can vouch for it that it always will vent itself in this manner?” His fears were not unfounded, and, on the advice of his physicians, he had to submit to being sent to the Schleswig Insane Asylum, where he remained form the fall of 1840 until May, 1841. When he returned he was able to resume the duties of his office, but his strength soon failed him again, and his last years were spent in increasing bodily suffering and mental debility. We find him during this time building wonderful air-castles, planning long journeys and great national enterprises, and writing curious letters to this friends. We remember hearing Longfellow tell us that he received a letter form Tegnér about this time stating that the was contemplating publishing his works in an edition of one hundred volumes! One more song did he sing. It was his “Farewell to the Lyre,” a short poem full of strength and pathos. When these dying strains of the swan of the North and been sung, his soul burst its prison bars and took its heavenward flight. During his last illness, when the autumn sun was one day sending its bright rays into his room, he exclaimed: “I lift my hands to the mountains and dwelling of God!” These words he afterward frequently repeated, and they were his last. He died on the 2nd of November, 1846, and on the 17th an exceedingly large number of people accompanied the corpse to its last resting-place in Wexiö church-yard, where a white marble cross, resting on a base of Swedish granite, adorns Tegnér’s grave.
To all interested in reading Tegnér’s work in the original language, we recommend the Stockholm edition, published in three volumes by Norstedt. In it is to be found an interesting sketch of Tegnér’s life, written by his son-in-law, Professor C. W. Böttiger.
ENDNOTES:
8. Namby-pamby, glimmer-and-glitter poetry. Back
9. Tegnér’s letter to George Stephens. Back
10. They have been translated into German by Mohnike. Back
11. “Gerda” was never completed (American editors.) Back
12. Written in Lund in 1820. Back
13. The founder of the giant-race in Norway. Back
14. From “Gerda.” Back
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