BJORNSON

bjornson, bjornstjerne (1832-1910), norwegian poet, novelist and dramatist, was born on the 8th of december 1832 at the farmstead of bjorngen, in kvikne, in osterdal, norway. in 1837 his father, who had been pastor of kvikne, was transferred to the parish of noesset, in romsdal; in this romantic district the childhood of bjornson was spent. after some teaching at the neighbouring town of molde, he was sent at the age of seventeen to a well-known school in christiania to study for the university; his instinct for poetry was already awakened, and indeed he had written verses from his eleventh year. he matriculated at the university of christiania in 1852, and soon began to work as a journalist, especially as a dramatic critic. in 1857 appeared _synnove solbakken_, the first of bjornson's peasant-novels; in 1858 this was followed by _arne_, in 1860 by _a happy boy_, and in 1868 by _the fisher maiden_. these are the most important specimens of his _bonde-fortaellinger_ or peasant-tales--a section of his literary work which has made a profound impression in his own country, and has made him popular throughout the world. two of the tales, _arne_ and _synnove solbakken_, offer perhaps finer examples of the pure peasant-story than are to be found elsewhere in literature. bjornson was anxious "to create a new saga in the light of the peasant," as he put it, and he thought this should be done, not merely in prose fiction, but in national dramas or _folke-stykker_. the earliest of these was a one-act piece the scene of which is laid in the 12th century, _between the battles_, was written in 1855, but not produced until 1857. he was especially influenced at this time by the study of baggesen and ochlenschlager, during a visit to copenhagen 1856-1857. _between the battles_ was followed by _lame hulda_ in 1858, and _king sverre_ in 1861. all these efforts, however, were far excelled by the splendid trilogy of _sigurd the bastard_, which bjornson issued in 1862. this raised him to the front rank among the younger poets of europe. his _sigurd the crusader_ should be added to the category of these heroic plays, although it was not printed until 1872. at the close of 1857 bjornson had been appointed director of the theatre at bergen, a post which he held, with much journalistic work, for two years, when he returned to the capital. from 1860 to 1863 he travelled widely throughout europe. early in 1865 he undertook the management of the christiania theatre, and brought out his popular comedy of _the newly married_ and his romantic tragedy of _mary stuart in scotland_. although bjornson has introduced into his novels and plays songs of extraordinary beauty, he was never a very copious writer of verse; in 1870 he published his _poems and songs_ and the epic cycle called _arnljot gelline_; the latter volume contains the magnificent ode called "bergliot," bjornson's finest contribution to lyrical poetry. between 1864 and 1874, in the very prime of life, bjornson displayed a slackening of the intellectual forces very remarkable in a man of his energy; he was indeed during these years mainly occupied with politics, and with his business as a theatrical manager. this was the period of bjornson's most fiery propaganda as a radical agitator. in 1871 he began to supplement his journalistic work in this direction by delivering lectures over the length and breadth of the northern countries. he possessed to a surprising degree the arts of the orator, combined with a magnificent physical prestige. from 1873 to 1876 bjornson was absent from norway, and in the peace of voluntary exile he recovered his imaginative powers. his new departure as a dramatic author began with _a bankruptcy_ and _the editor_ in 1874, social dramas of an extremely modern and realistic cast. the poet now settled on his estate of aulestad in gausdal. in 1877 he published another novel, _magnhild_--an imperfect production, in which his ideas on social questions were seen to be in a state of fermentation, and gave expression to his republican sentiments in the polemical play called _the king_, to a later edition of which he prefixed an essay on "intellectual freedom," in further explanation of his position. _captain mansana_, an episode of the war of italian independence, belongs to 1878. extremely anxious to obtain a full success on the stage, bjornson concentrated his powers on a drama of social life, _leonardo_ (1879), which raised a violent controversy. a satirical play, _the new system_, was produced a few weeks later. although these plays of bjornson's second period were greatly discussed, none of them (except _a bankruptcy_) pleased on the boards. when once more he produced a social drama, _a gauntlet_, in 1883, he was unable to persuade any manager to stage it, except in a modified form, though this play gives the full measure of his power as a dramatist. in the autumn of the same year, bjornson published a mystical or symbolic drama _beyond our powers_, dealing with the abnormal features of religious excitement with extraordinary force; this was not acted until 1899, when it achieved a great success. meanwhile, bjornson's political attitude had brought upon him a charge of high treason, and he took refuge for a time in germany, returning to norway in 1882. convinced that the theatre was practically closed to him, he turned back to the novel, and published in 1884, _flags are flying in town and port_, embodying his theories on heredity and education. in 1889 he printed another long and still more remarkable novel, _in god's way_, which is chiefly concerned with the same problems. the same year saw the publication of a comedy, _geography and love_, which continues to be played with success. a number of short stories, of a more or less didactic character, dealing with startling points of emotional experience, were collected in 1894; among them those which produced the greatest sensation were _dust, mother's hands_, and _absalom's hair_. later plays were a political tragedy called _paul lange and tora parsberg_ (1898), a second part of _beyond our powers_ (1895), _laboremus_ (1901), _at storhove_ (1902), and _daglannet_ (1904). in 1899, at the opening of the national theatre, bjornson received an ovation, and his saga-drama of _sigurd the crusader_ was performed. a subject which interested him greatly, and on which he occupied his indefatigable pen, was the question of the _bonde-maal_, the adopting of a national language for norway distinct from the _dansk-norsk_ (dano-norwegian), in which her literature has hitherto been written. bjornson's strong and sometimes rather narrow patriotism did not blind him to the fatal folly of such a proposal, and his lectures and pamphlets against the _maal-straev_ in its extreme form did more than anything else to save the language in this dangerous moment. bjornson was one of the original members of the nobel committee, and was re-elected in 1900. in 1903 he was awarded the nobel prize for literature. bjornson had done as much as any other man to rouse norwegian national feeling, but in 1903, on the verge of the rupture between norway and sweden, he preached conciliation and moderation to the norwegians. he was an eloquent advocate of pan-germanism, and, writing to the _figaro_ in 1905, he outlined a pan-germanic alliance of northern europe and north america. he died on the 26th of april 1910. see bjornson's _samlede vaerker_ (copenhagen, 1900-1902, 11 vols.); _the novels of bjornstjerne bjornson_ (1894, &c.), edited by edmund gosse; g. brandes, _critical studies_ (1899); e. tissot, _le drame norvegien_ (1893); c.d. af wirsen, _kritiker_ (1901); chr. collin, _bjornstjerne bjornson_ (2 vols., german ed., 1903), the most complete biography and criticism at present available; and b. halvorsen, _norsk forfatter lexikon_ (1885). 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