(See also Note 23.)
Tr?nder, one from the region about Trondhjem.
Haakon from Hj?rungavaag. Haakon Jarl (970-995) was the last
pagan King in Norway. His defeat in 986 of the Jomsborg vikings,
allies of King Harald Bluetooth of Denmark, in a naval engagement at
Hj?rungavaag, a bay in western Norway, was the greatest naval battle
ever fought in that country.
Valhall, the hall where those slain in battle dwell after death.
Note 12.
TO MY WIFE. Written in Rome in 1861 or 1862, first printed in 1865.
Bj?rnson's wife was Karoline Reimers, born December 1, 1835. They
were married on September 11, 1858; she is still living (June,
1915). At the celebration of their golden wedding Bj?rnson
addressed touching words of gratitude to her, saying at the close:
"I know that you will live longer than I. It will be your lot to
cover the sheet over me. There is much in a man that needs to be
covered over. Of our life, Karoline, you shall have the honor. See
also the poem Those with Me, and notes thereto.
Note 13.
IN A HEAVY HOUR. Written in Italy rather late in 1861, after
Bj?rnson received tidings of the sharp criticism of his drama King
Sverre and of its lack of success on the stage in Christiania, where
it was first performed on October 9. In a letter from Hans
Christian Andersen Bj?rnson wrote on December 10, 1861: "At a time
when I was in a mood to write the following verses, which perhaps
tell so much that I need not tell more [the poem is quoted],--at a
time when I, the man, nay, the product of friendship, was in a mood
to write this, it came just like a Christmas hymn among strangers, to hear that you had dedicated to me your last four Tales.
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