L U DVI G H O LB E RG

TH E FOU NDER OF N ORW EG IAN LITERATU RE

AND AN OXFO RD STUDENT

H A MM E R M A . S . C . , .

OXFORD D . B A KW ELL BR A TREET B. H L C , O S

LU DVI G HOLB ERG

TH E FOU NDER OF N ORW EGIAN LITERAT U R E

A ND AN OX FORD STU DENT

A . H A MM E R M . c . s . L ,

OXFO RD B A D TREET B . EL RO ' H BLAC KW L, S

MC MXX

LU DVI G H OLB E R G I NTRODU CTORY NOTE

TH E lec tu re w as 23rd 1 919 following delivered on May , , at i o f Sir Magdalen College , Oxford , by invitat on the President ,

Herbert Warren , and in the presence , among others , of the L N . . orwegian Minister in ondon , Mr Benjamin Vogt In revising the manuscript I have thought it necessary to enlarge it o n a few points where I had to condense the lecture W I in order to keep it ithin the confin es Of an hour . have also added a few supplementary footnotes and a brief reference to the bulky Holberg literature which m a y perhaps prove o f

interest to Holberg students in England . In paying my respectful thanks to the President Of Magdalen College and the distinguished audience for their kind reception I beg to sum up my feelings in the words o f Holberg

' himself ' M u ms san e n ominibu s devin ctu m Oxoniensibu s me

’ tenerz fateor . S . C . H .

HRI TIANIA NO A S RW Y . C , D 1 ecember , 1 9 9 .

LU DVIG H OLBERG

MR RE S IDE NT . P , E N YOUR E XCE LL OY, A I ND E NTLE ME N L D E S A G ,

I .

' o to o u n L I propose t Speak y about my cou tryman , udvig t N n a Holberg , the mos famous orwegia student whose n me was ever entered on the records Of this University . If this

n o the to had t been case , I should hardly have ventured i fo r t ascend th s platform , I feel tha here , if anywhere , it must be an indispensable condition that the subject should match the place . For just as Oxford is not primarily Of t its an institution educa ion , but through traditions , its i o f companionships , its achievements , the very embod ment i i i i so British gen us , Br tish ch valry and British asp rations , L t in udvig Holberg is , indeed , no au hor the ordinary sense r N i Of the word . He is the founde of modern orweg an and

‘ D s ri l anish literature , the greate t playw ght , the first critica i - a h storian , the most human and most broad minded mor list and philosopher o f two nations ; a man whose constant work was o ne Of educating ; who revolutionised the conception o f life in two kingdoms and paved the way for the intellectual f F O t . o r as 1 and political liberty the fu ure all this , am going is hi to Show you , he , next to his genius , ghly indebted to n all To E gland and , above , to Oxford . this place he made his wa N 2 13 i y when he quitted orway years ago , mbued with a deep and early sympathy for E nglan d ; from this place he to C t i D went openhagen , the joint capital at hat t me Of enmark N Of o and orway , enriched by assets the highest impo rtance t i - h s . to o u o o r life work I , therefore , want thank y for the pp tu nity you have given me to pay a joint tribute to Oxford

and Holberg . 6

L i - Lu dovicu s Holber iu s N orve u s udv g Holberg g , g , as he Signed his name in the Admission Index Of the B odleian Librar — y was born at Bergen , the present capital of Western N D m o n 3rd 1 684 . was orway, ece ber , His father, who a w l - fi N L e l known Of cer in the orwegian army, died when ewis was his w as 1 0 L w an infant ; mother, when he years Old . e is

w as i six who the youngest Of twelve brothers and s sters , Of i whom attained the r majority, therefore very early became acquai nted with the sterner aspects o f life and grew up a l l b o Of t o f one y y, deprived the ender care a parental home . It was at that time the custom in Norway to give pay to sons o f Officers and to initiate them at an early age in military t a i d actics , the s lar es they got being used to efray the expenses

o f . f l their education These petty Of icers were ca led corporals , and Le v is was now promptly appointed corporal in the R t Upland egiment far away from his native own , in one f i o the midland distr cts . This was a rather cu rious beginning for a man so decidedly i- ili i was his ant m tar st as Holberg throughout life . his i L In autobiography , publ shed in atin in he o f i n his n makes fun the ep sode , describi g tra sformation from a petty Offic er into a professor Of philosophy as a sort o f Ovidian metam orphosis which might exp ose me to the ri sk o f being sent back from my professorial chair to the camp , ' if the authorities were disposed to question my qualifications . N hi s f otwithstanding this , appointment as petty O ficer O his was to become Of importance to him . As soon as he g t — commission he left Bergen for the midland counties a t e

markable journey at that time, by sea and land , through a — great part o f West and Mid No rw ay un til he finally arri ved

‘ the l at the Fron Vicarage , one Of the finest places in val ey o f Gu db ran dsdalen and at present o n e Of o u r most popu lar

a o f Fro n o n tourist districts . The vic r , who was his relation

’ i a i his mother s side , soon d scovered his rem rkable abilit es , his i passion for l terature , in which he had already made some

st l i lu stre An n li tran slatio n Of t is w o rk Epi o a a d v iru m per l m . E g sh h u d r h l M o ir o Lewis H o lb er written b H imsel in L a tin n e t e tit e Of em s f g . y f ,

a nd n o w rst tran slated in to n lish w as u b lis ed in Lo n d o n H u n t fi E g , p h (

lark e 1 827 . C ) , 7

i n o t lan tr fling attempts , and last but least , his gift for guages The two years which Holberg subsequently spent at Fron u e have , until a q ite recent date , b en practically unnoticed by u t see Holberg students , b it is easy to that they form an

o f his e interesting link in the chain events connected with lif . l fo r His schoo days at Fron were not pleasant to him , the t assistant master , who had to ake care Of the boys , was rather L i as . h s r inferior a teacher His atin was bad , views na row Of i and pedantic , his chief instrument instruct on the birch , o f which he made assiduous application . Holberg , who rather early reacted instinctively and strongly to all strokes Of i Spontaneousness , very soon conceived a deep disl ke and h contempt for these pedagogic met ods, and his power Of i i L reflection made ts combinations and conclus ons . atin and pedantry became to a certain extent synonym ous notions him it was o ne o f i to , and to be his pleasures as a wr ter to record and hand Over to derision the W hole system o f travestied learning which w as o ne Of the characteristic o f a features his ge. This was the negative aspect Of his sojourn at the Fron ' I Vicarage . ts positive aspect was the time he Spent in the V G library Of the icarage , where , among a number Of reek and L a i atin classics , he also found sever l modern fore gn books, n i i cluding some Bibles in English and French , an Engl sh an d r a French dictiona y , a French grammar , and an English w — i u reader, ith colloquial sentences rather a cur o s collection Of books for a Nor wegian inland county towards the end Of T the seventeenth century . hese books , as far as we know , were the first specimens Of English and French literature which

saw was . he ever , but he fascinated by them They were to him messages from the great marvellous world hundreds o f miles beyond the mountains by which he was surrounded . DO i you wonder that he was longing and dream ng, Silent and solitary as he was by disposition P i But he was not dreaming only . Being a qu ck Observer Of i things surrounding him , we may nfer that he was deeply . impressed by the customs and manners o f the peasants 8

i u i b i among whom he lived , the r cool , nobtrus ve way Of ehav ng s themselves , their ound judgment , their manual cleverness , i their trad tions , songs and fairy tales , and last but not least ,

i its u i r so their dialect , w th pec l ar words and ph ases , decidedly ff his o wn di erent from Bergen tongue and way of speaking . in his b Indeed , numerous passages works are stamped y mi his Obvious re niscences from Fron sojourn .

o n e After an absence which , in more respects than ,

' his 1 698 ripened him above age , Holberg , in , returned to he hi s di Bergen , where resumed stu es under conditions which D ri did not please him at all . u ng his absence the grammar school Of the city had been subjected to a thorough reform by w ho w as m an able manager , himself an ardent ad irer Of the L . i a classics Accordingly , at n more than ever bec me the i o f ch ef subject Of instruction , the command the language being laboriously aimed at by means Of disputation s which were at once linguistic exercises and a medium Of theological i al and metaphys c fencing . him w lf Holberg , who always felt alien to subtleties Of this . ui kind , was therefore q te agreeable when very soon after the 1 702 o ut as o ne heavy fire at Bergen in , which stands Of the

o f w as to most remarkable events in the annals the city , he sent A he w his B . . t University Of Copenhagen , here he passed n o e examination . He does t s em to have been favourably impressed in any particular degree either by the capital itself o r by the conditions ruling at the University . Other in wise , his reminiscences he would hardly have passed by o n his life as a student in absolute silence ; the other hand , she him Of Bergen , as presented herself to towards the end o r o r 1702 after he had been away f some seven eight months , w as e ll o f certainly no ch ery place , being sti under the gloom f h the devastations O the fire . He t erefore quite naturally availed himself Of the earliest opportunity Of getting away . o f his at The two following years life , but for a short stay a i Copenhagen , where he completed his theologic l stud es and hi r attained a gh deg ee , he spent chiefly in flogging his is pupils and converting Norwegian boors. This a humorous expression o f his fo r the way in which he performed his duties 9 as a tutor to the children o f the vicar at VOSS -now one Of the

- - — b est known districts on the Bergen Christiania Railway an d i occas onally replaced him in the pulpit . By his o wn saying he succeeded decidedly better as a preacher than as a tutor n o t a which , by the way, does say very much , s he never , u T e excelled in either Of these f nctions . h chief interest c o n nec ted with his stay at Voss is the fact that it strengthened his e l early Fron r co lections Of the peasants . We are entitled to infer from his famous Description of B er en hi thi -fiv e h has g , w ch appeared rty years later, t at he l i taken a specia nterest in Voss , and that he has studied the h r tri istory and the topog aphy Of the dis ct , and we hardly jump at conclusions in assuming that hi s po pularity with

‘ was to the peasants due, not to his sermons , but the straight

i . forward , unpretending way in wh ch he approached them him as i i He carried with from VOSS , he had carr ed w th him F i n N from ron , favourable mpressio s Of the orwegian peasantry o f i to the manly qualities whom he Often returns in his wr tings . In 1 704 Holberg set o ut o n the first Of the five famous journeys which he was to undertake to vari ous parts Of - no Europe within the next twenty two years . I shall t spend many words o n this particular journey beyond the fact '

G . that he visited West ermany and Holland , which at that time were under the spell Of the Operations o n the Western o u r i Front , for, as y remembe , we find ourselves at that t me at the commencement o f the Spanish War of Succession . It f is su ficient to state that the journey lasted about a year, and t H in ex eri hat olberg , the meantime , had many chequered p enc es wa o f ; by y example , that it is impossible for a man with i o n u se o w n l terary talents to get at Amsterdam , where , to his ’ ex i r pression , trade occup es eve y man s thoughts , where i i G u philosophy is at a d scount , and where even men l ke roti s ' and S alm asius have to give way to shipowners and merchants . N i i He therefore ultimately had to return to orway, arr v ng in i Christianssand w Was an exhausted condit on at , here he i to s i . a sisted by a fr end , Mr Br x, whom he happened meet i i r a there . This fr end k ndly recommended Holbe g to sever l i et io o f the principal inhab tants , and he very soon g a reputat n 1 0 a s in — o n a teacher , especially French , although as he learnt — a later occasion in Paris his French was n o t S O perfect as o f C ris ian n the natives h t ssa d seemed to think . Unfortunately he very soon happened to raise the feminine

the . o f w as world Of town against himself Full irony as he , ' ' and delighted with everything which had an air Of novelty — ' as he describes himself he was greatly amused o n e day b y coming across an anonymous pamphlet in which the author - t endeavoured to prove , by sixty four arguments , hat women o n] have no s . He promptly learned the chief arguments by t ni o f b reachin heart , and ook every Opportu ty g the paradox and Of defending it with an earnestness proportioned to the ‘ w a in all o f s . zeal or indignation with which it opposed y, course , he had to submit and to renounce his heresy , after hi w ch peace was restored . Holberg , who was very musical , o n and played excellently the flute , was subsequently intro du c ed i e to some Of the most respected famil es in the town , wher he seems to have been very much appreciated . It will always be a matter Of conjecture w hether he contracted at Christians v ril sand , howe er tempora y , what has been styled a heart r if S O the o f Christian ssan d e heumatism but , ladies hav had their revenge; their descendants may still be proud Of the tribute which Holberg in his auto - biography pays to the

- accomplishments Of their great great grandmothers . 1 706 Christian ssan d In the Spring Of Holberg left , embark in - g for England at Arendal , the well known neighbouring in sea— town , conspicuous even those days for its faring reputa 1 . in ta tion may, perhaps , this connection , ke leave to Observe b o that I am a native Of that town , and Often , when a y, ai i o u t in b eat o f s l ng my to the mouth the harbour , where it ri o r o n o ne opens towards the ho zon far away, resting Of the many islets during the wonderful nights o f the Norwegian i fo r the summer , wa ting early fishing hours at sunrise , I would remind myself that these rocks and skerri es outside Of my native town were the last part o f Norway o n which Holberg

looked back when , under the press Of a fair wind , his swift him to a o f his barque carried away Engl nd , the fairyland

westward dreams . I I

' Adieu , adieu my native shore ’ Fades o er the water blue ; 7 - The night winds Sigh , the breakers roar ,

And shrieks the wild sea mew .

’ — It was Norway s Childe Harold the most solitary figure in o u r cultural history - who was taking leave Of his c n see ountry , ever to her rugged shores and her magnificent ri inland scene es again . There was , indeed , nothing poetical him — - about , for as you know the age was a decidedly prosaic o ne life , and Holberg , later in , confessed that up to the age ' Of 30 he would yawn when he heard th e finest piece o f ' Y to . et see r o u r poetry read him , as we can him f om the present vantage ground , he was at that moment i o f embod ment Of the genius the Norwegian n ation , which it s once more , as in the saga period , hoisted sails for Western d a Europe , bol , eager Of dventures , fascinated at the very

thought Of getting away .

11 .

I want to lay stress on the Norwegian origin and education o n his o u r in tw o Of Holberg , stay among peasantry char a c teristic o n t parts of the country , and also the fac that he

was over 2 1 when he left Norway for ever . If these things o Of i were not indispensable for a fair c nception his l fework , Ye I should cert ainly not have dwelt o n them . t a few particulars are still wanted to give a finishing touch to his

portrait . He set o u t in life with a delicate figure and an extremely ul n e youthf appeara ce , but in return he was poss ssed of some first - solid , staunch qualities which moulded him into a rate hi s h is character . From mother, w ose family still numerously

' r n N u a epresented i orway , he had inherited a so nd re lism which made him fim i ly resolved to get a position in life and

o n x . to settle down comfortably a fi ed salary From his father , a Of whose family no trace is left mong us, he had inherited what has been called the itinerary element Of his nature 1 2

his passion for travelling , initiated by his early Fron journey , his i to r ip eagerness to see foreign countr es , st oll about the b i i o ne r n g cities , to pass along the h gh roads from count y i to

a a di e - a n nother, covering extraordin ry stanc s energetic

o f - student , a haunter libraries , always on the look out for new w books , but above anything else , always and every here , a s o f m en keen Ob erver and things , enriching himself with f i . knowledge from the fresh , nexhaustible sources Of li e

Besides this , he was a true son Of Bergen , the most hetero ’ ' en eo u s Of N —a Of di g town orway sort Noah s Ark , accor ng hi s o w n — t t o w n to expression wi h a developmen Of its which , in Of a iff the course centuries , has made the n tives Of Bergen d er considerably in views and manners from the rest o f their f countrymen . Even in our days these di ferences still make

u a themselves felt in some degree . All this yo must be r in e mind when you speak about Holberg . The remarkabl influence exercised upon him by Bergen gives the clue to his

e y —m to w i his i p rsonalit his genius as a play r ght , to l beral views

hi ri i e i as . as an sto an , to his clear , real stic r ason ng a philosopher It al t is ways Bergen , never Copenhagen , which is uppermos

n i his mind .

- N i . How excellently this young , highly gifted orweg an was prepared fo r a thorough appreciation o f contemporary En gland ' During the forty- Six years which had passed since the

R o f 1 660 - a s —had estoration , England you will remember t ri u Of i wi nessed a pe od f ll pol tical and literary activity, but a i in bove all , remarkable for its prodig ous advance the field

f ' . t O Of science This progress was , it is true , a ma ter Euro o f pean rather than English concern, but the inquiring spirit and the rationalist desire to get to the bottom Of things which

were the hallmarks of the age were in no country developed . L n u more strikingly than in England . atin was still the la g age R S in which scientific works were written , but the oyal ociety had already unfolded its n ational programme o f bringing all things as near the mathematical plainness as possible , an d o f i preferr ng the language Of artisans , countrymen and ' merchants to that Of wits a n d scholars .

1 4

1 683 Liber ere rinaram o r the famous P g , Admission Index , shows a total Of 1 12 names Of Danish and Norw egian origin ; durin the 1 708 g next twenty years , up to , their number was 6 o w 4 6 D 14 N T 0 rich . , f l were anes and were orwegians hese figures are interesting as an unmistakable proof Of the growing intercourse between the DanO-Norwegian m o narc hv and Eng w i land, h ch by this time had commenced to make itself o f decidedly felt in the field commerce . r o f L F om the commencement the eighteenth century ondon , the famous fire o f which in 1 666 had given a great impetus to S - N m the small timber ports Of outh Eastern orway, beca e D a city o f growing importance to o u r country . uring their holidays the Norwegian Oxford students used to spend their i in L o f D t me ondon , where there was a numerous colony anes and Norwegians and a constant influx o f seamen and mer S N wa es . s chants , pecially from outh orway It not , therefore , i altogether by chan ce that Holberg arr ved in England . He f ai o n o . s led , in fact the westward current the time ri i ri 1 8th 1 706 i On their ar val at th s University , Ap l , , hav ng d G L covere their way from ravesend to ondon , and from L o n hi s ondon to Oxford foot , Holberg and friend soon found o ut that their finances were at S O low an ebb that before they could proceed with their studies they had to provide for their n o domestic necessities . Fortunately Oxford was particularly i 40 Su fli cien t t expens ve place at that time , £ a year being o w as pull a man through , and Holberg always very economical , and understood remarkably well the difficult art o f making Y r both ends meet . et their fi st months at Oxford were passed under very strained conditions until Mr . Brix succeeded in getting a supply o f money from a banker in London . In e the m antime , they had raised the necessary funds themselves by giving lessons in music and languages, and it is a char ’

c ris ic . o f a a te t evidence Holberg s cleverness th t , after the r his i h depa ture of fr end , whic took place comparatively soon , he managed to study at Magdalen College for more than i eighteen . months , w th no other money than that Obtained through his lessons as master Of languages and Of the flute . The more you try to sound the marvellous au tho iship o f I S

Holberg the more yo u feel convinced Of the irnpo rtance ~ o f ul his stay at Oxford . It wo d require several lectures to trace the w ayin which his impressions and his experiences Of Oxford

w i as i have moulded him as an historian , as a play r ght , a ph lo

~ sopher and moralist . I can only tell you that b e took With

' him from this place to Copenhagen and to the Dan O-Norwegian i n hi s s community not only the conv ctio of future mis ion , but

' practically the very seeds Of what s hould ripen into o ne Of e ri c s the fiel i I t iM ' th d . acaula h he t crops in , Of l terature y ad known Holberg he would have had to g ive a somewhat different turn to his famous sentence France has ' been the ' di an d H interme ary between England Mankind . olb erg visited England twenty-fiv e years before Voltaire and twenty a n d b four years before Montesquieu , rought back first hand

irn ressio n s i - views and p , Sifted only through the med um Oi

his unbiassed mind . To it ri di ‘ put b efly . Holberg has been the interme ary b e

n N tween E gland and the orth . At Oxford Holberg planned the work by which he started in literature in 1 71 1 I ntrodu ction to the History of the E uro l ean Kin doms i o n n p g , conta ning a remarkable chapter Engla d t R m 1 702 and the English from the ime Of the o ans down to , t t with quota ions from various au hors , among them Milton , ‘

L o . William Camden , and ord Clarend n This work , against i c r i which many objections have been ra sed and , to a e ta n n o t t is extent , unjus ly , nevertheless stamped by the char

ri ic i all r ac te st features Of his genius , so famil ar to Holbe g — a fo r students his origin l way Of thinking, his contempt all sorts of ostentatious learning blocking the way by irrelevant

—' its facts , his plain language vigorous , manly, with a turn Of

1 33 H o lb er ub lis ed a b rief S n o i in Latin art I n 1 7 g p h y ps s , p ly rk I n 1 755 th e S n o si w as tra n slated into n li b ased o n this w o . y p s E g sh R l S i h b Gre o r S ar LI . . D F ello w Of th e o a o et t e tran lation y g y h p , y c y, s

di a ted to th e t en Prin c e Of W ale a fterw ards Geo r e I I I . b ein g d e c h s , g ' A sec o n d editio n o rrec ted a n d en lar ed a eared in I n ( , c g , pp 1 787 a n ew rev ised En glish editio n Of th e S yno psis w as pu b lished b y

lle Ox fo rd . B tran sla o rs r W illiam R a d liffe A . R . Of Oriel o e o t t a e c , , C g , h i i eir raise o f the o ri in al R ad liffe d es rib in it as u n an m o u s n th p g , c c g a work which by its dispo sition a nd a rrangemen t in the ma tter of history ha s b een emin en tly u sefu l to yo u ng stu den ts a nd i s appro ved by the highest

Orders o f litera tu re. 1 6

Ow n— is o h sound judgment , and perhaps , ab ve all , the gener ally fair way in which he arraigns his persons before the tribunal of history . S umming up his impressions and reminiscences twenty r his ra ' I con ess yea s later, Holberg says in autobiog phy f that I have man reaso ns or considerin m sel u nder reat ' y f g y f g ' t t x n ia s o bligations o he O o n .

This is no phrase Of politeness . It is the opinion o f a man a s whose correct and bl meless demeanour, no les than his si i al his i l i i w o n ncer ty, his loy ty , and ntel ectual ab l ties , had him the appreciation o f his professors and the friendship Of

- is . His i h fellow students Engl sh was excellent , and he does is i a . e s not conce l the fact that he a bit proud Of it Inde d , it somewhat of a sacrifice n o t to indulge in quotations from ’ — Holberg s autobiography particularly S O at the point at — which we find ourselves n o w fo r his desc ription o f hi s stay no t at Oxford is highly attractive , only from a literary but a Vi h uman point Of ew . Altogether his autobiography is a ti hi n o curiously fascina ng work , Of w ch one will repent making in i the acquaintance . It ought to reappear a modern Engl sh

translation .

’ I I I .

After an interesting decade the importance o f which to the ’ development o f Holberg s genius cannot be over-rated we meet him in 1 71 8 as Professor o f Metaphysics in Copenhagen i 1 708 — University . After hav ng left Oxford in he had to — sum up the period as briefly as possible spent his time in in i studies at home and travels abroad . He never rev sited i i England , but he l ved and rooted in the Engl sh world Of in G i in R o r thought , and whether ermany, in Par s, ome , at a nd o n o f his Copenhagen , he studied reasoned the basis Hi . s a m i Oxford experiences princip l work fro this per od , r duction to the Law o N ature and o Nation s I nt o f f , although ’ little more than an abridgement o f Pufendorf s great work o n i s as o f his the same subject , is ntere ting a proof independent

views and his patriotic ambitions as an historian . I 7

It wo uld be an exaggeration unworthy o f the reserved way

to in which Holberg used to express himself , say that he owed t to every hing England . He was certainly also highly in F to . S t debted rance e ting apart what he owes to Holland , G n t erma y and Italy , I hink we may square the debt by saying that while England moulded his character and gave

the i Ohiefl first impetus to his genius as an histor an , France y contributed to the unfolding Of his genius as a humorous

. e Of the N n o o writer He is the Moli re orth and , doubt , ne d ran ratic Of the greatest authors ever born . ’ 1 71 9 i t In Holberg s genius , which , unt l then , had kep i s i strictl y w thin the rules pre cribed by his professorsh p , t f i apparen ly cool and indi ferent to the outs de world , suddenly burst into a fit of laughter which resou nded through the N T is . h eder aars orth his was immortal heroic poem , P P , 1 71 9 s which appeared in the autumn Of , and which mark nothing less than a new era in Norwegian and Danish

literature . ’ eder aar s b 5 eer G nt the ara in P P , like I sen P y , only p llel ’

o u r . S r y e literature , is written in verse Ibsen h m s are

stamped by his mastership Of form , and move in shifting stanzas according to the requiremen ts Of the situation and

the emotion they are intended to create . Holberg walks throughout his poem on the high -heeled Alexandrines Of the eer G nt N age . P y is the embodiment of the orwegian soul w h eder aars N . n orway , as seen from it in P P is the ce tral D its e fi u res gallery of contemporary enmark , with all qu er g T i e D . s enmark , as seen from without hat why Holb rg could never have written Peder Paars if he had been born and bred

D e i e. a ane . He had to be an outsider to get the right persp ct v

The gist of the poem is quickly told . Peder Paars , a plain

D o f i a w i his e anish citizen a prov nci l to n , wants to v sit sw et heart a t some other provincial town a few miles Off. He has

o f fo r D as is to go by sea , course , enmark , you know , pre a n i eminently a country composed of isles , d, l ke Odysseus and m n r a Aeneas , he has some ighty enemies amo g the immo t l gods who will not allow him to co mplete his very reasonab le a i his journey . He is Shipwrecked and washed shore w th 1 8

o n An lro lt f D followers , the very smallest o all anish isles . i i the h His exper ences in th s place form c ief part Of the poem , fo r o u t-Oi- - it in this little , the way island Holberg gives us , as D l were , contemporary enmark in a nutshel . Finally , the goddess Of love pities him ; he succeeds in m aking his escape

from Anholt , and arrives subsequently at Jutland , where he i Li has another ser es Of remarkable experiences . ke Peer

G is ' u t - ynt , he p into a mad house , but some time afterwards is an d i he released is escorted in tr umph out of town . The last glimpse we get o f him is where he is made a soldier an d has to strip himself Of all he is possessed of in order to be set i a free and become a civ lian gain . Here the poem ends ru n the ab ptly, unfi ished , as if the author has got tired ; but o u t o f i torso stands as the work a gen us , and for two centuries it has stood the test Of time and towers still as one o f the most N l impo sing works Of fiction in orthern iterature . eder rs Holberg had a double purpose with P Paa . By the form he chose he intended to aim a decisive blow at the learned as m eet it o apparatus of classic poetry we , especially in H mer ' r and Virgil . The e was at that time a lively discussion going

' On in England and France as to whether classic o r modern t t poetry ought to be preferred , and bo h views had heir eager

a . o u dvocates and opponents Holberg , as y may easily i wi d magine , sided th the defen ers Of modern literature , so n o f t e b e partly because , being a true h age to which he iff ri o f o longed , he was as ind erent to the fresh o ginality H mer w as n - as he u touched by the high sounding imitation of Virgil ,

and in his poem he mixes them up in a nro st disrespect way . What is considerably more irn po rtan t to u s than the form f is o . Of his poem , however, the substance it The former belongs to the taste of an age which has disappeared long ago ; — — the latter is as I have already suggested a cultural portrait r D t v of contempora y enmark , and at the same ime a mar ellous t gallery full of human characters , s amped by the eternal r i w as Of ma k Of l fe itself . Holberg , like Hamlet , opinion that ' hi t o f D and there was somet ng rotten in the sta e enmark , f he made up his mind to set her right by the sound Cure o irony . ' c Os n r act He could have h e no bette remedy ; for , in f , the I 9 c o n rmu nity in which he found himself was not disgraced by vices which preyed on the very pith Of the nation and em

dangered its future . The chief fault wi th it w as that owing to a dev elo pnrerrt which forms a highly -interesting chapter — in the cultural history of the country but which it would too l a —D take ong to det il enmark , as Holberg found her two e i c ntur es ago , was about to be stifled by an atmosphere o f

i S u r pedantry , humbug , hypocr sy and unsound ambition . rounded by laws an d orders in council which interfered with their daily life in the most foolish way and increased the

Of D n number misdemeanants , the . a ish people was about to ‘ lose its self- respect and absorb itself in an indiscriminate mi ’ i tation of foreign nations . Holberg s keen glance pierced through all this foolery into the v ery depth o f the national e character . He saw that the Danish people was sound at th

i o f o n core , and he therefore merrily dives ted t e piece of these the masquerade garm ents after the other . He wanted to Show t hum people among which he lived tha life is truth , not bug , and that instead Of the comfortable advice Disguise 'hide ' ' n o t ' there is the more noble appeal Be thyself, and fear There is a whole literature o n Peder Paars in Norwegian D it sa and anish , and is only fair to y that opinions of the critics vary as to the intrinsic value of the different parts Of

the poem from a literary point Of view . On the other hand ,

full credit is given to the poem from a cultural standpoint .

G eder Pa ars no t o nl enerally speaking, P is v the first dazzling

’ display o f Holberg s genius as a humorous and satirical h i writer it also reveals him as t e future playwr ght , who wi i i thin a few years was to send pit , boxes and galler es nto o f fits laughter. W as in Indeed , we may ask the question there ever any country a professor o f metaphysics with so adequate a store ' Of humour and with a more irresistible fancy to display it 2 0

IV .

Holberg as a dramatic author is certainly o n e Of the most interesting chapters in the history Of Norwegian and Danish literature and none has been subjected to a more searching i examinat on . It is admitted byall critics that he is indebted to the famous — —u playwrights o f ancient Rome Plautus and Teren tiu s and he certainly also owes something to the Italian comedy with which he had become acquainted both in Italy and in Paris . His relation to Moliere whom he admired very much has been o f a matter discussion , even in France , and there are in some o f his plays characters and scenes which remind one Of the R English dramatists Of the estoration . But he never stooped The i to mere imitation . comedies which have established h s fam e all bear the indelible stamp Of his originality and Of his genius . Let us take a short review Of some o f the most famous o f his comedies . First you make the acquaintance Of the Tinker Politician

al i o f so a typic representat ve the time , occupied with specula t ions and discussions o n public affairs that he has no time o w to look aft er his n trade . It consequently goes from bad in s - i to worse . He is the central figure a elf appo nted board

- —a d - Of Blue Apron Politicians sad ler , a cutler, a wig maker ,

'

S O o n . o and They are over head and ears in p litics , discussing S i W ar o f S i the events of the pan sh uccession , giving adv ce to Prince Eu géne and the Duke of Marlborough or denouncing t i i his heir dispositions , wh le expound ng the most startling t o rical theories and making the most absurd geographical T assertions . hey are also eagerly taking down their own i author ties . HOlb erg has been so cautious as to make Hamburg the s his i cene Of comedy, for it would certa nly not have been tolerated if the action had been made to take place at Copen S o f hagen . ome Of the remarks made by the characters the

a a a . pl y h ve , therefore , ret ined a wonderful actuality By

2 2 expressed in the Old saying ' All is not gold that glitters and the substance Of it is to serve as a warnin g against the bad custom o f the time O f sending young people abroad before they have developed the necessary amount o f self- knowledge

and commonsense to profit by their stay .

acob o o n Th boc The B ra in S oldier In j y or gg g , we meet a - the t highly developed specimen Of military fool . I hink this comedy stands o u t as one Of the most daring attacks in o n - I any literature the military profession . t is a picture Of - re early eighteenth century militarism in its worst form , D n deemed by no sympathetic feature , the anish army bei g al G f n at that time practic ly flooded by erman O ficers , braggi g

G D the i and swearing , mixing erman and anish in most horr ble i b u t a t way , scolding and flogg ng their soldiers , the emer en c g y cowards , eager to save their skins . t to As a ma ter Of course , Holberg also introduces us what L a E rasmu s M on ta nn s we may call the atin fool . His n me is —an r D unsurpassable t anslation Of the plain anish name , r Rasmus Berg . He exhi bits his lea ning as a constant display Of paradox es and gives only one evidence o f soun d judgment

o f t his and insight . Erasmus is capable proving tha mother sto ne b ecau se n n o r his t is a / a sto e cannot fly , can mo her ; b u t as the poor peasant woman gets afraid Of this astounding

are n metamorphosis and already thinks her legs turni g cold , he graciously comforts her by the assurance that S he can think

an d a . o u speak , which a stone c nnot Consequently y are ' H e a no stone , mother can lso prove by several arguments l n o n e o f that children are entit ed to thrash their Old pare ts , the arguments being that yo u have to resto re what has been

' o u him the bestowed upon y . It serves right when whole i a i him n o t e a o f all par sh fin lly rises aga nst , b c use these i r o f the t w fool sh asse tions , but because only heory in hich is i u he perfectly right , and wh ch he proves by fair arg ments , hi has to that Of the earth being round . On t s oint he give in p — and admit that the earth is flat like a pancake the only condition o n which the father Of his sweetheart will give his t consen to the marriage . L in -in Room crrrio u s r In the y g , a most port ait Of contem 2 3

po rary customs and manners in connection with such a daily — ' event as the birth Of a child we find ourselves in a female

r u ri galle y , uns rpassed in any literature for va ety, liveliness r and ealism . It might be worthy Of a whole lecture o n what would certainly prove a highly interesting subject ' Holberg S x and the Fair e .

' May I finally mention as perhaps the most deeply h uman

o f e e o n the Hill o r The Tran s orme all his comedies , j pp f d easant P . It is a representation Of a pra ctical joke played o n l h a poor peasant who is found in a fie d near the igh road , is senselessly intoxicated . He subsequently brought to the ’ t w mansion , put in o his lordship s bed and garbed ith his ’ lordship s finest nightshirt . He awakes and believes himself is L o f in Paradise , treated as a ord by the real owner the mansion w hose sham servility makes him behave himself i i e nsolently , and is once more intox cated and replaced wh re w as Ol t o f he found in his d dirty clothes . He is hen accused

intrusion and violent behaviour at the mansion , sentenced r the fo mally to death , and subjected , when asleep , under Of influence a drug , to a sham execution , the rope being n is fastened under his arms instead Of rou d his neck . He o finally l wered from the gallows , and brought back to life by

the same authorities who have sentenced him to death , after which he is dismissed with a few shillings—and the bitter c onviction that he has been treated as a plaything b y the Lord

Of the mansion . ’ The low social level Of the Danish peasantry in Holberg s d ays which contrasted S O unfavourably with the social stand ing o f theNorwegian peasants ; the state Of drunkenness to which they stooped in consequence o f the physical and moral

humiliations to which they were subjected , and which they wi shed to forget ; the commonsense and keen power Of reflection Of which they nevertheless were possessed and to which Holberg has paid the famous tribute I never speak with peasants without learning something from them all this has combined to makeJeppe perhaps the most famous

person in the Holberg gallery , conquering generation after

au stib le flow Of life . 2 4

b y D O l ~ It has justly been said the famous anish poet , eh en — sc lrlaeger (1 779 1 85 0) that if we might imagine that every document and record bearing upon Denmark at the commence ment of the eighteenth centu rysuddenly vanished from the ’ earth with the sole exception Of Holberg s comedies it would yet be possible to reconstr uct the Danish community o f the

t . T t ime on the basis of them his asser ion is no exaggeration , b u t nevertheless it only contains a half truth . In their outward appearance Holberg ’s comedies are D — i anish customs and manners , names and scenery be ng contemporary Danish portrait s hailing from Copenhagen o r — from the province b ut from within they are unmistakably

N . the the orwegian In fact , typical characters of Holberg gallery are not only his compatriots ; they are natives of

i ' Old - n ero ni Bergen like h mself The fashioned ge tleman , J

- mus , narrow minded , but possessed Of a solid stock Of commonsense which will stand no nonsense from the younger Ma delo n e generation ; his wife g , who has some recollections Of a merry youth and is not altogether proof against relapses ex tra v a arrc es the h into former g Henrik , clever servant wit

- t o f the ever inven ive brain , the champion Of the rights youth ;

Pern ille - irn ertinen t , the witty chamber maid , alternately p

and Obsequious , but always beaming with mirth , sure Of a safe , — as however narrow , escape every one of them, well as a Of t number less impor ant characters , are stamped by their Yo o w n . u dear , queer town may even meet them in the f I streets o Bergen tod ay . t was not therefore by chance that the national stage Of Norway was founded at Bergen in

o f The in the middle the nineteenth century . city which Holberg was born and in which his persons moved about in l f the Of N i e , quite naturally became birthplace the orwegian art - a scenic , and it is the l sting honour Of the actors and — actresses o f the B ergen Na tional S tage still the official name — Of the theatre Of the city to have contri buted to bu ild up a t Holberg tradition , which has been fur her developed by t r Of actors and actresses from o he parts the country , chiefly at the Chri stiania Theatre and its artistic heir the National

Theatre at Christiania . 1 728 was a In Copenhagen dev stated by a fire , the extent o f n nl which , comparatively speaki g , can o y be likened to the o f L - l w famous fire ondon sixty two years ear ier, to hich I have

r . was al eady made a reference In its consequences , it even

- more far reaching . It closes a chapter o f high political and cultural int erest in the history Of the Dane - Norwegian mon o ne w archy, and Opens a new , imbued ith an entirely different the u o f Spirit , characteristic feat res which were Pietism and G a D . erm nism enmark , and more especially Copenhagen ,

t l o f G u became an intellec ua province ermany, c stoms and i t manners be ng s amped by the new religious movement , and ordinary life surrounded b y a serenity which closed the m door on all pleasures and enjoy ents . It goes without saying that theatrical performances were considered most

i o s nful , and that , even if the national stage had not had t fire go into bankruptcy some years before the , playgoing w ma would have been promptly forbidden along ith balls , s i u erades . q , and other public and pr vate entertainments u Under these circ mstances Holberg who , not long ago had — published his autobiography as a sort Of apology a li ter h fo r ary event w ich , various reasons , has been very much discussed by Holberg students—had to give up his activity as a playwright and turn to a work more in conformi ty with o f his position as a professor in the University Copenhagen . so to i But before he did , he felt it his duty inform the publ c that he was the author Of the comedies which had hitherto appeared under the fictitiou s name o f a citizen o f a provincial n did no t a town . He certai ly tell the public nything new by this information , but he impressed it favourably and , what

he Of is more important still , has profited by it in the eyes h posterity . We are pleased to learn , t rough the authority Of Holberg himself o n the eve Of his long Silence a s a play o f a i wright , that he admits the authorship hisimmort l comed es 2 6 in face o f enemies whose machinations might have overthrown n o t him from behind , if he had turned round to meet them

and confronted them with an open visage .

1 730 o f In Holberg was appointed Professor History , and ri for the next sixteen years , cove ng the whole Of the reign

C . i o f h Of hristian VI , he d splays the activity an istorian , an

' i c — essayist , and a ph losophi al writer another proof o f the hi s remarkable versatility Of genius . Within recent years ’ this phase Of Holberg s authorship has been subjected to a m n N close and interesting exa i ation , especially by orwegian

o Holberg students , and many valuable features , adding t ’ the correctness o f Holberg s portrait as an author and as a hi man , have been established beyond doubt . His storical

are works , Obsolete though they and superseded by modern i i ri Peder Paars contr butions , are mbued with the same spi t as — d e H ist r o D . Come i s. o en mark I hiS and the In his y f ( . III . ) greatest and most mature work ; in his Description of Den mark and N orway ; in his Description of B ergen ; in his Gen eral H istory of the Chu rch ; in his History of H ero es and in is Histor o H eroines h y f , to mention only the most important ri o f o f his h dis histo cal works this part life , in all Of t em we cover the same qualities which struck us as characteristic is features in his first work , deepened by h experiences and o f ar sharpened by his superior faculty Observation . In p ti cu lar c i , we noti e the light thread Of rony running through o f is the whole tissue h reflection and composition , stamping argument and style alike by the irresistible humour o f his I w i . t s t genius is as if the play right constan ly casting . a th o f histOri an glance on e manuscript over the shoulder the , and as if merry Thalia always takes a fancy to tease her K serene sister alliope . rn te the midst of his learned studies Holberg , in a relapse , as

it were , to his former satirical humour, surprised the public It by a work which very soon go t international reputation . L 1 74 1 L the t appeared at eipzig in , in atin , under itle Of

c lai K imi I ter S ubterran eum t Ni o l i , and was promp ly trans Of lated into a number European languages , among them i Niels Klim English . The first English translat on Of dates

2 8 telli ib le i g , and very conc se sentences . There are no f i u se suf ragettes e ther, to a modern term , for the women

all i are enjoy the rights wh ch among the European nations ,

bestowed upon men alone . A highly esteemed widow holds the Office of Minister Of Finance ; an elderly unmarried lady is Chief Justice - b oth to the perfect satisfaction Of their tr compa iots . The sciences t aught at the academies of Potu E are History , conomy, Mathematics and Jurisprudence . i Med cine is considered superfluous , as an academic science , . owing to the temperate and regular habits o f the Po tuites while Metaphysics is strictly prohibited , those inclined to

' such studies being promptly banished to the interior Of the firm am en The o v ermn ent t . g Of Potu is based upon the

' Of m e principles absolutis , but as the Princes always rul strictly in accordance with the principle Of justice and there — is a perfect equality among the citizens all ranks and titles — having been abolished centuries ago the Po tu ites are very pleased with the state Of public affairs and do n o t want any

n o l l change . It is t absolute y prohibited to make proposa s

tending to change the existing conditions , but reformers had i i s if better take care before launch ng the r proposal , for they are deemed futile by the commission appointed to

consider them , the schemer is sure to be hanged . K i fi Mr . lim , who is cons dered too versatile to hold any Of ce o f o f see importance in the Principality Potu , is vexed to hi o fiic e o f mself entrusted with the a royal courier , for which

the Po tuites find him excellently fitted owing to his fast legs .

ri i In this capacity he travels all over the p ncipality , hav ng a o f v number remarkable experiences , isiting , among other K the places , the famous Site Of learning Of eba , subterraneous K t . Oxford . Unfor unately , Mr lim cannot control his Euro a his i i pe n ambition as a reformer , but owing to foreign or g n his i ri c a e and nexpe en e , he escapes the g llows and is expell d i R instead . He subsequently arr ves in the epublic Of Mar i i tin a , the inhab tants of which form the most complete con P ui Martinians i trast to the o t tes. The are apes , and in the r u a o f co ntry, which , as can easily be seen , is me nt to be a sort thi underground France , every ng goes with a tremendous

30 tion as an historian ; his broad -mindedness as a p hilosopher his f . o o tolerance as a moralist As a work fiction , it yields t irn ertu rb ab le none in exuberant phantasy, and the p calmness o f the o f l argument and the sty e only adds to its worth . 1 74 6 o f o n In the reign Pietism came to an end , the death o f i . o f Chr stian VI The accession to the throne his frivolous , so n ri V w as intemperate , Frede ck whose first wife a daughter o f G a All . . o f n t eorge II , inaugur ted a new era gates e joymen

- were at once thrown open . Hymn books and Bibles were e flung away, and people crowded to theatres , masquerad s , ’ a i dancing halls and other entertainments . Holberg s dr mat c

’ ‘ b u t the vein began to flow again after a twenty years ebb , comedies o f his closing years can in no way be compared to

- f those which he produced in the hey day o his life . More valuable t o us than these comedies is the series o f smaller rm o f E istles um M oral essays in the fo p (five vol es) , and Tho u hts a g (two volumes) , which he wrote in these years long

o f sa i . with a number minor , and we may also y, infer or works These volumes are still a rich source o f inform ation to Holberg his students . In none of works do we get a more intimate to him personal acquaintance with him . We learn know in

- his his his modest , lonely , every day life sympathies and antipathies the anfractuosities o f his mind and o f hi s t ai l n o i S emper , which were cert n y less obv ous than amuel ’ Johnson s his corporal frailties; his mental recreations .

o w n —J i He is , in a certain way , his Boswell ess obtrus ve , i o as u . s n however, and , a conseq ence , more concise There subject so insignificant that he thinks it below his dignity to discuss it ; there is none so exalted that he refrains from ex as i lin he pressing his opinion upon it . He tells us w l gly why a m prefers a cat to a dog , and wh t a real shoe aker ought to know as he tells us his opinion on Go d and eternity ; the destination o f m an and the supposed greatness of the popular i r w a is e to heroes of h sto y whom , by the v , he more inclin d consider as the mischief makers o f mankind and the f o f squanderers o its economic wealth . Through the whole this wonderful collection o f essays we breathe what Hamlet o f i i would call the eager and the nipping air or ginal ty, mv igo rating by its draught o f commonsense and moral re 3 1

l sponsibi ity . We easily forgive him that some of his views

o f his are obsolete , for in other respects he is far ahead time , and by his unbiassed attitude leaves even the most advanced i o f spir ts his age behind him . — How splendidly o nly to mention one example- he is able to grasp a character like that o f Cromwell ' At a time when Cromwell was generally considered o n e o f the most abominable personalities in history and a disgrace to his nation ; when Hume and Voltaire vied with each other in misunderstanding him ’ , both being of opinion that Cromwell s character was 1 o f p o broadly that a shrewd and daring hy ocrite , H lberg was no less convinced of the true genius o f the Protector than of s i hi personal good faith and of his patr otic ambition . ' The o f o f greatest gifts nature , he says , every one which would make a man prominent in comparison with

t al r . o hers were , to an equ degree , concentrated in C omwell t He seems to have received some hing from all nations , for him one saw in Italian shrewdness and cunning , French S n swiftness , English courage and panish firm ess . He founded his fabric with cunning ; he puts his machine in action with rapidity ; by his courage he was victorious everywhere . I t may be said that his wonderful deeds and his great name were sufficient to keep his internal and external enemies in

fo r as so subjection , he was hated by all , he was also admired o b y all . Cromwell ranks with th se few men whom nature seems to have exhausted herself in moulding .

1 ir in h is S i écle de Lo u is X 1 V a . 1 1 sa ro m Vo lta e , Ch p ys C ’ ’ ’ v a n ile d an u n e m a in l é é e d a n l a u tre le w ell po rt an t l E g s ; p s , ’ o u v rit d es u alités d u n ran d r i masqu e d e religio n su r le v isage c q g o ’ l s M o u s r u r ateu r . I n his ssa i su r e e r a . t o u s les cri m es d u n u s p E , Ch p V ltaire s ea k o f ro m w ell a s a m an w h o a rv in t a c lxx x i . o p s C p

m a r sa v a leu r se o n dée d e so n o risie . se faire r o i so u s u n a u tre n o p , c hyp c ri r m w l la n d a . IX. 1 754 d es b es o e l a s H u m e in h is H isto r o En , Ch p ( ) c C , y f g s w it reli i t i ran s o rted t o a de ree o f m ad n e o u e s as es, a m a n w h o , t p g s h g s c t o w i t e m i t serv e se retl n ev er fo rgo t th e pu rpo ses h ch h y gh c y

t o his o w n u n limited a u t o rit . pa v in g th e w a y b y a rtifice an d co u rage h y

b o v e is a u o tatio n w as u b lis ed fo r Th e essa fro m w hich th e a q , p h y,

E n lish H isto rical Review v o l. x xxii . th e first tim e in E n glish in th e g , ,

in tro d u tio n b Mr . R . Laac h e M . A page 4 1 2 4 1 5 w ith a n c y ,

Christian ia . 32

I think you will admit that this is an extraordinary tribute to the memory of the Protector, considering that it was written 1 74 9 o f in by a loyal subject an absolute monarch , who had w to weigh his words carefully hen speaking about a regicide . ’ the Anyhow , Holberg s essay is first scientific rehabilitation m o f Cro well before Carlyle . — r Five years later ene getic and active as ever and , above v all , remarkably recepti e to the new ideas of the time , and eager to subject them to a close examination - Holberg

i

h s t . o n 28th 1 754 quietly breathed las He died January , , 69 n L at the age of , in his city residence at Cope hagen . onely as and he had been in life , his death was barely noticed , a few years later o n e o f his more intelligent contemporaries w remarks ith regret , that he seems to be almost entirely forgotten . Holberg certainly did not expect anything in the way o f public mourning and official obsequies o n the part o f the community in which he felt himself an alien , and upon the mind o f which the greatness o f his lifework had not yet dawned ; but even what may b e called the decorum o f ih o n difference was absent this occasion . h Yet time has brought its revenge . Before t e expiration ’ o f the eighteenth century Holberg s work was in a fair way to ’ being acknowledged . From the thirties o f last century it

- m . b i o f rose rapidly in estee The centenary jubilee his birth , which was celebrated all over Norway and Denmark o n 3rd 1 884 t His December , , gave a las ing impetus to his fame . commanding position in literature was established fo r all

time . In his article o n Holberg in the E ncyclopaedia B ritannica G l . ' Vo . ( Mr Edmund osse justly says Holberg was, w ri ith the exception of Voltaire , the first w ter in Europe in N i . S wi t two generations e ther Pope nor f , who perhaps ex c eeded him o f in particular branches literature , approached o f o r i Ho l him in range genius in encyclopaed c versatility .

D m —Mr G a berg found en ark . osse might have added nd a N orw y without books . He wrote a library for her them) He filled the shelves o f the citizens with work s in their own tongue all written i n a true and 33 manly style and representing the extreme attainment o f

European culture at the moment . w i e . In this appreciation all heart ly agree Therefore , wherever you go in Denmark and Norway Holberg ’s name is a f miliar . Words and sayings o f his live on the lips o f both as nations colloquial terms . He sits in bronze in an arm chair outside the m ain entrance o f the Royal Theatre at C his S openhagen noble sepulchre is at oroe , a dreaming little 'e f his site of learning in eland . He looks down rom pedestal t he o f fishm ark et a his upon busy life the Bergen , le ning upon walking stick as if he was about to make a remark . Over the N T n portico of the ational heatre at Christia ia , facing the ri square , his name is insc bed in golden letters between those o f B r o f Ibsen and jfi nso n . It is the ambition all comic actors in Norway and Denmark to appear in o ne o f the chief char a r o f i c te s his immortal gallery . He is in high favour w th w the public , who applaud him ith mirth and laughter ; he t his is the pride of his ownsmen , who cherish memory in a b Clu special H ol erg b . And in the silent libraries students

' carefully turn over the leaves of his works to find o u t new

f . aspects o his genius and of his personality In fact , the

Holberg literature is increasing year by year .

Yet there is o n e thing wanting. He must be better known

in . o n e abroad , especially this country He must become of

’ the world s classics and find his way to the book -shelves of

British homes . W elhaven o ne More than seventy years ago , of the greatest o Norwegian poets o f the nineteenth century , in a noble p em summed up the position o f Holberg and o u r obligation to him in a verse w hich may be rendered thus in English

l A there ore like a em with recious eam , nd f , g p g hi h and old esteem His n a me shall live in g ,

And N orthern men with tender care shall save ’ n s rave His noble image fro m oblivio g .

l have only a few words to add to these stanzas . Just as w e Norwegians have learnt to look upon Ludvig Holberg o ne i n no other light we wan t you English to see him . He is 34 o f o f S i i a the highest revelations the p r t of the West and , t the in the same time , most precious link the ancient chain o f N sympathy between England and orway .

33 133 133

L E RG L T R R AND L RG S D N HO B I E ATU E HO BE TU E TS .

RIEF S UMMAR (B Y . )

Notwithstanding the many highly interesting works both in Norwegian and Danish bearing upon the importance and

o sitio n ' o f Li e o H olber the p Holberg , no complete f f g has as yet been written in either language . We are entitled to ask the question Will there ever be an adequate o n e

t e As far as Norway is concerned , h most important Holberg students of the nin eteenth century are Olaf Skavlan (1 838 1 891 L D 1 8 4 S 1 8 5 3 . 3 ) udvig aae ( and J . E ars ( all o f whom were professors in the Un iversity of Chris iania t . In the same connection may be mentioned Henrik Jae g er (1 854 the author of the well - known I lln streret N orsk Literatn rhistoric the t , in first volume of which here is a ’ a valuable outline o f Holberg s life and works along w ith a short reference to the Holberg literature (down to n o t N D S d only in the orwegian , anish and we ish languages , but G also in erman .

- to . Among the Norwegian Holberg students of day , Mr l Vi am Olsv i . . j g, M A , holds the most conspicuous place . In a number o f works published within the last twenty o dd t t years , largely bearing upon the connec ion be ween Holberg and England , he may fairly be said to have given a new

o f . impetus , and even a new turn , to the study Holberg F H P . S iis . . . D t h . Messrs rancis Bull , , and igurd , M A , have , t o n wi hin the last few years , thrown new light Holberg as an R L S has ev . historian ; at the same time , the udvig elmer ’ subjected Holberg s moral and religious conception o f life to a close and interesting examination . Messrs . Just Bing , P D h . i and Nordahl Olsen , a Bergen ed tor , have added valu able information to o u r form er knowledge o f Holberg in i connection with h s native town . 35

The contributions o f Denmark to the Holberg literature to o n are entitled a fair acknowledgment the part of Norway , and we certainly are greatly indebted bot h to the Danish o f o f Holberg students the middle last century (above all , 1 781—1 871 f . . W erlau ff o E C , ) and the Holberg students to-day (includin g Professor Georg Brandes an d Professor Vilhelrn Andersen) fo r the excellent way in which they have D o f i explained Holberg to us from a anish point v ew .

’ A c omplete list o f Holberg s works (original and tran sla ’ tions) is contained in the British Museum s C atalogu e of

r . 1 8 P in ted B ooks (Vo l 8 9 .

‘ H O LYW E LL PRE SS

TH E S H ELDONIAN S ERIES o f REPRI an d RENDERINGS o f M A S TERPIEC E S i LA NGUAGES

I . o ut o f rin . ., II ., III ., IV P t FE ’ EN E V. LONG LLOW S R D RING o f the C OPLA MANRIQ UE J Span ish an d En glish o n facin g page N O W RE A D Y. M F B t VI . THE P OE S O O STFELDER a S elec te ' ran lated fr m th n T s o e Norw egia b y P . SELVER (No r

an d En glish o n facin g p ages) . I N PRE PA R A TI N RE D Y O . A S H TL OR Y. E t T E O M F . H O . C a VII . P S J P JA OBSEN S n ran lated fr m h D b E a d T s o t e an ish y P . S LVER (Dan i En li h o n fa n a e g s ci g p g s) . ' l he s eries is lim ited 1n each case to an edition o f 50 0 c

in o l a a r prin ted tw co ou rs o n h n d m ade pape , and

Iished at 58 . N et . D OXFOR POETRY. 19 19 .

EDITED BY s. s. UNIFORM W ITH THE s1x PRECEDING v o w N 3 . ED ROXBURGH PARC HMENT , 5 et. SEW , ls. 6 ‘ ’ at There a re iew els here w hich m u st n o t b e b u ried ’ ’ The Morn in Po st attractiv e. g . PH ILIP M A S S INGER U C K M A Gre By A . H CR I K SHAN , . ., Professor o f ek

t D r 5 . N U n iv ersi y o f u ham . 1 5 et. f k a A C ritica l Stu dy. The aim o this b o o is to rriv e at a r m estim ate o f an Eliz ab eth n D a atist, w hose w ork the stage lon ger than an y o f his con tem poraries

Shakespeare . LO NDO N ‘ S O NNETS

2 6d. N et. W O . 5 By HUM BERT LFE . ‘ ’ o f the D E U E Bein g No . XX VII . A V NT R RS ALL ‘ N A EW POET . t r en all a u M r. W olfe rs em pe am t y poet w itho t ‘‘ ' these pieces hav e q u ality