The Introduction is designed not so much to offer new and original
criticism as to present the opinions generally held in Scandinavia,
and, of course, chiefly in Norway. The lyric poetry of Bj?rnson has
been excellently discussed by Christian Collin in Bj?rnstjerne
Bj?rnson. Hans Barndom og Ungdom by Henrik Jaeger in Illustreret
norsk literaturhistorie, and by various authors, including Swedes
and Danes, in articles of Bj?rnstjerne Bj?rnson. Festskrift I
anledning af hans 70 aars f?delsdag. To all of these special
indebtedness is here acknowledged.
New Haven, Connecticut, June, 1915
Note 1
NILS FINN. "There has hardly been written later so excellent a
continuation of the old Norwegian humorous ballad as this poem (from
the winter of 1856-57),written originally in the Romsdal dialect
with which Bj?rnson wished 'to astonish the Danes.'" (Collin, ii,
147.)
Note 2.
VENEVIL. Midsummer Day=sanktehans=Saint John's (Feast), on June 24,
next to Christmas the chief popular festival in Norway; the time
when nature and human life have fullest light and power.
Note 3.
OVER THE LOFTY MOUNTAINS. "Really Bj?rnson's first patriotic song.
... Describes one of the main motive forces in all the history of
the Norwegian people, the inner impulse to expansion and the
adventurous longing for what is great and distant. ... Written in
the narrow, hemmed-in Eikis valley.
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