The study of Darwin, Spencer, Mill,
and Comte led him still farther on to a position which may be called
that of the agnostic theist, that of Spencer, who does not deny God,
but says ignoramus. We may recall the late utterance of Bj?rnson,
quoted above: "Grundtvig and Goethe are my two poles." It was the
dogma of Hell, the teaching of eternal damnation and punishment,
that began Bj?rnson's breach with the Church. He saw how this
doctrine enslaved and dwarfed the souls of the peasants, and
blighted all liberal development, both personal and political.
Note 68.
POST FESTUM. Bj?rnson was a decided opponent of the whole system of
decorations and orders, royal and other. Here he attacks the Swedish
polar explorer, A. E. von Nordenskj?ld (November 18, 1832-August 20,
1901), who earlier had taken the same stand. After Nordenskj?ld had
successfully made the Northern Passage, there was a great formal
reception for him on his return to Stockholm, April 24, 1880, at
which King Oskar II decorated him. He also received similar honors
from most of the rulers of Europe.
Note 69.
ROMSDAL. Written in 1880 on a lecture tour along the western coast.
The scenery and the people described Bj?rnson knew intimately from
his boyhood's years at Nes and in Molde, and from later visits to
his parents at the former place. Collin says: "The whole poem fits
like a frame about the poet and his life-work .
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