Author:
Esaias Tegnér.
Title: Frithiofs Saga af Esaias Tegnér. [The legend of Frithiof] - (A Review)
Publisher: London: The Quarterly Review, 1837.
Notes:An engaging contemporary analysis on the renowned and
historically important book.
An enthusiastic review and useful guide to Tegnér's saga closely follows the life of
its protagonist, Frithiof, providing text analysis and
explanation and further offers descriptive portraits of the saga's
setting - 'Northern land' - described
as possessing almost 'primeval
solitude and stillness.'
Friðþjófs saga
hins frækna
is a legendary saga from Iceland
which in its present form is from ca
1300. It is a continuation from Þorsteins
saga Víkingssonar, and it takes place in the
8th century
It was translated into
Swedish in 1737 and became
the basis for Esaias Tegnér's
poem Frithiofs saga (1825) and
even before it was completed it
was famous throughout Europe;
the aged Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
took up his pen to commend to his countrymen
this "alte, kraftige,
gigantischbarbarische Dichtart,"
("old, mighty, gigantic-barbaric style of verse")
and desired Amalie von Imhoff to translate it into
German. This romantic paraphrase of an ancient saga
was composed in twenty-four cantos, all differing in
verse form, modelled somewhat. Frithjof's saga is the best
known of all Swedish productions; it is said to have been
translated twenty-two times into English, twenty times into
German, and once at least into every European language, including modern Icelandic in 1866.
Esaias Tegnér (1782-1846), Swedish poet, bishop of Växjö. Tegnér was the most popular of the Swedish romantic poets. An optimistic nationalist and liberal in his youth, he later became melancholy and conservative and was subject to periods of madness. His militant anti-Russian Svea and Axel were followed by his great Frithjof's Saga, which is based on collections of Scandinavian sagas and is considered the masterpiece of the Swedish Gothic tradition. Tegnér's sermons and speeches are classics of the Swedish language.
A rare and special item to pair with the collector's copy of the book!
Condition:
37 pages. Book review. Excellent condition,
attractively bound in blue paper covers with label.
Back to Search Results
) 
VOYAGER PRESS BOOKS 1.888.656.2006
Print
Report item
