CHAPTER IV

BJÖRNSON: NORWEGIAN NOVELIST AND PLAYWRIGHT

The prize of 1903 has been awarded:

Björnson, Björnstjerne, born 1832, died April 26, 1910: “as a tribute acknowledging his noble, splendid and varied works of art which have always been distinguished by freshness of inspiration, and, at the same time, by unusual purity of soul.”[34]

One of the five members elected by the Norwegian Storthing, to select the winners of the prize for the promotion of peace, under terms of Nobel’s will, was Björnstjerne Björnson. It was a fitting choice for he was a vigorous advocate of world peace, an ardent worker in all causes for “the benefit of mankind.” When the award in literature for 1903 was given to him, he was already known as “Norway’s Father.” As writer of novels and plays, he had been read more widely than almost any other Scandinavian of his day, at that time surpassing Ibsen in translated works. As publicist and orator, as manager of theatres and civic legislator, he exerted national influence. In giving him the Nobel prize the adjudicators had in memory, especially, his earlier tales of peasant life which intermingled poetic idealism with sagas and realistic pictures of Norwegian life. His plays of later years, _Beyond Human Power_, _The Editor_, and _Sigurd Slembe_, were problem plays that awakened discussion in many countries; they were more universal and realistic in tone than the earlier fiction. Björnson had a remarkable combination of virility and gentleness. He was a Viking clansman, as he often averred, but he was also a poet, loving the folk songs and pictorial delights of rugged Norway with deep, ardent affection. The symbol of his strength, represented twice in the lingual root of his name--Björn, a bear--was fitting for his large, fearless mind and spiritual energy. He was a warrior when occasion demanded resistance to evil; he was a skald when he wrote tales of peasantry.

[Illustration:

_By courtesy of The American-Scandinavian Foundation_

BJÖRNSTJERNE BJÖRNSON]

He was born in 1832 at Kvikne, in the valley of the Dovre Mountains. He lived seven years after the Nobel prize was given to him, keeping his mentality alert until almost the end of his seventy-eight years. His father was pastor in this small place, without beauty of scenery or fertility of soil. When the boy was six years old the family moved to a region of marked contrasts, in Romsdale. His memories of this picturesque scenery and his delights in the valleys, hills, and fjord, were commemorated in his poem, “Over the Lofty Mountains.” His school days at Molde were busy and happy; he read with insatiable appetite for sagas and history, and became devoted to the Swedish poet, Wergeland. At seventeen he went to Christiania to prepare for the University. Here he was a schoolmate of Ibsen; with typical humor he wrote--and treasured--this doggerel of these early days:

Overstrained and lean, of the colour of gypsum, Behind a beard, huge and black, was seen Henrik Ibsen.

The two families cemented their friendship of many years by the marriage of Björnson’s daughter, Bergliot, a singer of much talent, to the son of Ibsen.

At Christiania, Björnson became much interested in Danish literature, especially drama, and he began his play, _The Newly-married Couple_, which was not finished until a decade later. He completed, however, a one-act play, _Between the Battles_, which was staged in Christiania with only moderate success. For a time he abandoned drama and devoted himself to the peasant tales, to characters of types familiar to him, against a background of Norwegian folklore. He was proud to recall that his forefathers were peasants; he knew the common people and sympathized with their customs and ambitions. He sought to blend sagas and scenes from modern life, with mutual interpretation. Those early stories of simple life, _Arne_, _The Fisher Maiden_, _A Happy Boy_, and _Synnöve Solbakken_, were well received in Denmark and Germany, as well as his own country. Soon they were translated into English and commended for their simplicity, poetry, and national spirit. Sir Edmund Gosse, writing in the late 1880’s, said of Björnson: “His spirit was as masculine as a Viking’s and as pure and tender as a maiden’s. Through these little romances there blows a wind as fragrant and refreshing as the odour of the Trondhjem balsam willows, blown out to sea to welcome the newcomer; and just as this rare scent is the first thing that tells the traveller of Norway, so the purity of Björnson’s _novelettes_ is usually the first thing to attract a foreigner to Norwegian literature.”[35]

Mr. Georg Brandes, in his excellent study of Björnson in _Creative Spirits of the Nineteenth Century_, affirms that the popularity of these peasant tales was not so great throughout Norway as one is inclined to believe from later reports. “People loved the peasant in the abstract” but they did not know him, nor were they deeply interested in his welfare or his aspirations. Moreover, the critics found them sentimental and failed to appreciate the legends and parables which were often interspersed, like the beautiful symbolism in the opening paragraphs of _Arne_ with the several trees--juniper, oak, birch, and heather--seeking to clothe the mountain. In the two tales, _Synnöve Solbakken_ and _Arne_, Björnson represented two heroes of Norwegian life; Thorbjörn of the first story was the youth of physical virility, developed by contact with gentler influences; Arne, by contrast, was dreamy and poetic, in need of more robust experiences. There are wistful strains of melody in this story of _Arne_--this yearning for the ideal. Sir Edmund Gosse has translated one of these lyrics in rhymed couplets:

Through the forest the boy wends all day long, For there he has heard such a wonderful song.

He carved him a flute of the willow tree, And tried what the tune within it might be.

The tune came out of it sad and gay, But while he listened it passed away.

He fell asleep, and once more it sung, And over his forehead it lovingly hung.

He thought he would catch it and wildly woke, And the tune in the frail night faded and broke.

“Oh God, my God, take me up to Thee, For the tune Thou hast made is consuming me.”

And the Lord God said, “’Tis a friend divine, Though never one hour shalt thou hold it thine.

Yet all other music is poor and thin By the side of this which thou never shalt win.”[36]

The character of Arne, the poetic, restless boy who tries to break away from the rock-ribbed confines of Norway, is an individual and a national type; his mother, Marit, is one of the most real, appealing women of Norwegian fiction. In these two peasant tales, and the lighter, more joyful romance of _A Happy Boy_, is found some of the best poetry by Björnson. Many of these verses are found in _Poems and Songs_, translated by Arthur Hubbell Palmer from the Norwegian in the original meters.[37] “Synnöve’s Song,” “The Day of Sunshine,” and “Ballad of Tailor Nils,” from _Arne_, are typical examples of his lyrics. Included in this anthology are patriotic poems. One of these, entitled “Song of Norway,” from _Synnöve Solbakken_ (1859) is one of the most familiar of National Songs, beginning,

Yes, we love this land that towers Where the ocean foams; Rugged, stormswept, it embowers Many thousand homes.

Love it, love it, of you thinking, Father, mother dear, And that night of saga sinking Dreamful to us here.[38]

Thirty years later, for the silver wedding anniversary of Herman Anker and his wife, Björnson wrote another poem of patriotic and idealistic strains, beginning,

Land That Shall Be! Thither, when thwarted our longings, we sail,-- Sighs to the clouds, that we breathe when we fail, Form a mirage of rich valley and mead Over our need,-- Visions revealing the future until Faith shall fulfill,-- The land that shall be![39]

Ever after a visit to Upsala University and a longer residence in Copenhagen, Björnson had cravings to write and to direct plays. In the latter position he served for a time, 1857-1859, at Bergen. His first plays were of saga heroes and chieftains, like Halvard of _Between the Battles_ and _Sigurd Slembe_ or _Sigurd the Bad_. They possess militant virtues and moral integrity but they are driven to misdeeds and despair by opposition to their good intentions. Thus Sigurd seeks to make peace with his half-brother, Harold Gille, but is betrayed into revenge and murder. Mr. Brandes suggests that in these plays the spiritual sufferings of Björnson--who would elevate and harmonize the Norwegian people but finds himself misunderstood and rejected in his idealism--are revealed by analogy. He stresses the difference between Björnson and Ibsen in this respect and others; the former seeks comradeship and unity; the latter is “solitary by nature.” Björnson portrays all aspects of nature; Ibsen seldom uses such descriptions. With fine distinctions between the two men, in nature and literature, Mr. Brandes writes: “Henrik Ibsen is a judge, stern as one of the judges of Israel of old; Björnson is a prophet, the delightful herald of a better age. In the depths of his nature, Ibsen is a great revolutionist.... Björnson’s is a conciliatory mind; he wages warfare without bitterness. His poetry sparkles with the sunshine of April, while that of Ibsen, with its deep earnestness, seems to lurk in dark shadows.” Ibsen loved the idea; Björnson loved humanity.[40]

Sir Arthur Quiller-Couch, in his study of Björnson, in _Adventures in Criticism_[41] divides his writings into three periods which he calls “simplicity, confusion and dire confusion.” The first group of tales are those of idyllic type, already considered in _Arne_ and _A Happy Boy_; the second represent a transition towards the realistic and self-conscious, exampled in _The Fisher Maiden_ and _Magnhild_; the third, showing more complications of thought and style, are like _The Heritage of the Kurts_ (originally entitled _Flags Are Flying_) and _In God’s Way_. The influence of German and French realists may be traced in these later novels, especially the former with its portrayal of polygamous conditions. Other critics consider _Magnhild_ an advance in characterization over any previous fiction by Björnson, especially in the musician Tande and the relationship between him and Magnhild. If the author intends to show that a woman may be happy in other ways than love, he does not “get the message over” until it is interpreted by Mr. Brandes or other critics. Rationalism mingles with idealism in the first scenes of _In God’s Way_.

As the years passed, Björnson traveled on the continent, in England and to America for a visit in 1881. He sharpened his outlook upon life but he never lost his “passion for truth,” his hatred of oppression in any form, his belief that individuals and nations might be joined by friendship rather than separated by antagonisms. He was deeply impressed by certain forms of hypocrisy which he witnessed in Norway and he attacked such abuses in the problem plays, _The King_, _The Editor_, and _The Bankrupt_. Unlike the traditional patriot who says, “My country--right or wrong--but my country!” Björnson adopted as his slogan, “Norway must be right at all cost!” His plays, which revealed innate evils, made him unpopular with politicians and brought about threats of violence. He used to tell, with humor, of the visit of some aggressive opponents among the young men who threw stones at his windows but went away singing the refrain of his National Song,

Yes, we love this land that towers, etc.

As dramatist, Björnson attained a skill which is being recognized by students of to-day. _The Newly-married Couple_, which was, probably, the first play to be written in original draft but held for later publication, has a psychological theme, well constructed--the adjustment necessary between the love of a maiden for her parents and the new, strange love for her husband. The characters are vital and the lines effective. Another early play, _Lame Hulda_ (_Halta Hulda_), was more emotionally intense; the heroine, lame for twenty-four years, experiences a brief, tragic passion for a man whose love is pledged elsewhere. There is lack of those elements of comedy that lighten the lessons of _The Newly-married Couple_. To the earlier period of play writing belongs, also, _Maria Stuart in Scotland_, a brilliant retelling of the familiar romance but lacking dramatic situations at the close; Björnson was always at his best in Scandinavian background; nevertheless John Knox is a commanding personality in this play. In this time of mental conflict between the ideal and the realities in life as they affected his development, he wrote that vigorous novel, _The Fisher Maiden_, with vivid characterization, and one of his most pictorial poems, _The Young Viking_.

Truth is the demand of the dramatist, in every crisis in life, as depicted in his problem plays, from _The Bankrupt_ to _A Gauntlet_. With skill he shows The King, thwarted in his high ideals and his love, trying to “serve the freedom of the spirit,” to be a true “citizen-king” but ending his life in despair because of the deceit of others. _The Bankrupt_ has a strong character in Berent, the lawyer; the “problem” centers about the merchant’s temptation to use the money of others. _The Editor_ aroused much controversy, because it was claimed that Björnson had here satirized a Swedish editor but the charge was unfounded; rather the editor and his victims, Halvadan and Harald, typify journalistic conditions in every land. Mr. Brandes suggests that the dramatist may have been modeling these two brothers from the older poet, Wergeland and himself, in their struggles to create love for truth and freedom. In _Leonarda_, with lyrical as well as dramatic qualities, Björnson spoke a message of more tolerance and historical significance through three generations of Norwegian society. Two excellent translators of his plays have been Edwin Björkman and R. Farquharson Sharp (_see_ bibliography).

By translation and inclusion in selected plays of merit from many languages, _Beyond Human Control_ has become one of the most familiar of Björnson’s social dramas. It is one of the chosen plays in _Chief Contemporary Dramatists_, Series I, by Thomas H. Dickinson. There are two parts to this drama, with differing _motifs_--the first in chronology and most widely read and staged is _Beyond Human Power_ (or _Beyond Our Power: Over Ævne_ I, 1883) dealing with problems of religious faith and fanaticism; the second part (_Over Ævne_ II, 1895) treats of differences of opinion between labor and capital. The first part, a complete play, has been given throughout Europe and was performed in New York in 1902, with Mrs. Patrick Campbell in the leading rôle. The characters are strongly balanced in interest; the wife of the self-sacrificing, impractical pastor, Clara Sang, is a masterly delineation of wifely loyalty and maternal responsibility. The Bishop is well drawn in antithesis to Pastor Sang. _A Gauntlet_ created discussion in Norway because of its daring theme--the advocacy of the same standards of social purity for men and women. It is less effective dramatically but morally it is vigorous.

Björnson’s later work in drama includes such good reading-plays as _Laboremus_, _Daglannet_, and _When the New Wine Blooms_.[42] As examples of literary work after the age of seventy, to which may be added the story, _Mary_,[43] with emotional power, they stand as testimonials to the vigor, mental and spiritual, of this worthy “Viking” of our day. After he received the Nobel prize, in accord with the proviso of the Code of Statutes, he made a noteworthy address upon the theme, “Poetry As a Manifestation of the Sense of Vital Surplus.” His own vitality and zest in life never lapsed. He declared that the possession of a new pair of trousers in his old age gave him a sense of delight like that of a child and he would get up an hour earlier “to get full enjoyment of these clothes.” Edwin Björkman, one of the most intuitive of his many translators, tells, in his _Voices of Tomorrow_[44] incidents in the later life of Björnson that verify his childlike nature, combined with serious, passionate efforts for human betterment. His wife, an actress by training, was his amanuensis and critic; between husband and wife existed a rare bond of sympathy: at formal dinners, and on social occasions of varied kinds, Björnson insisted that his wife should sit at his right hand, in spite of other conventions. As writer, speaker, “lay preacher,” and civic adviser, Björnson has an assured rank among “The Creative Spirits of the Nineteenth Century.”

FOOTNOTES:

[34] Inscription with the Nobel Prize Award in Literature, 1903.

[35] _Northern Studies_ by Edmund Gosse, Walter Scott, London, 1890. By permission of Sir Edmund Gosse.

[36] _Ibid._, p. 32. By permission of Sir Edmund Gosse.

[37] American-Scandinavian Foundation, 1915. By permission of translator and publisher.

[38] This has been adapted to song by Nordraak; another, “Forward,” has been set to music by Grieg.

[39] _Poems and Songs_ by Björnstjerne Björnson, translated by Arthur Hubbell Palmer, from the Norwegian in the original meters, London 1915. By permission of the American-Scandinavian Foundation.

[40] _Creative Spirits of the Nineteenth Century_ by Georg Brandes, translated by Rasmus B. Anderson, New York, 1923, p. 345. By permission of Thomas Y. Crowell Co.

[41] London and New York, 1925. New edition.

[42] Translated by Lee M. Hollander, _Poet Lore_, 1911.

[43] Translated by Mary Morison, 1910.

[44] New York, 1913.

##