Swedish Language and Literature

The two Swedes of widest European reputation in the i8th century were Carl von Linne or Linnaeus, the great botanist, (q.v. ; 1707-78), and the learned and many-sided mystic Emanuel Swedenborg (q.v.; 1688-1772). Linne in his books of travel (Lapplandska resa, Skdrska resa, etc.) pointed the way to a new interpretation of nature, and Swedenborg's mystic communings deeply influenced the imagination of the after-time.

The Gustavian Period.

What is called the Gustavian period commences with the reign of Gustavus III. in 1771 and closes with the abdication of Gustavus IV. in 1809. This period of less than 4o years was particularly rich in literary talent ; journalism began to develop; the drama flourished and literature began to take a characteristically national shape. Gustavus III. (1746-92) was himself a playwright of no mean ability. One of his prose dramas, Siri Brahe och Johan Gyllenstjerna, held the stage for many years. But his best work was his national drama of Gustaf Vasa (1783), written by the king in prose, and afterwards versi fied by Kellgren. In 1773 the king opened the national theatre in Stockholm, and on that occasion an opera of Thetis och Pelee was performed, written by himself. In 1786 Gustavus created the Swedish Academy, on the lines of the French Academy, but with 18 members instead of 4o.

The principal writers are classical and academic. But Carl Mi chael Bellman (q.v.; 1740-95), an improvisatore of the first order, had nothing academical in his composition. His Fredmans epistlar (1790) and Fredmans sdngar (1791), with their riot of bacchanalian humour and fine characterization, are among the greatest of Swedish song books, and unique in the literature of their age. Of the Gustavians in the narrower sense, Johan Gab riel Oxenstjerna (1750-1808) was a graceful idyllist (Skordarne, The HarveSts; Dagens stunder, The Hours of the Day) ; Johan Henrik Kellgren (q.v.; 1751-95), who assisted the king with his dramas, was a poet and critic of high distinction ; while Carl Gustaf of Leopold (1756-1829), another of the king's favourites, carried the Gustavian tradition far into the 19th century. He wrote Erotiska Oder (1785), a satire, Enebomiad (1795), and two classic tragedies, Oden and Virginia (1790,1802). The chief dramatist of the age was, however, Gudmund Goran Adlerbeth (1751-1818) who also made translations of the classics, of Racine and Voltaire and of old Norse poetry. D. G. Bjorn (1757-181o), C. Envallsson (1756-1806) and Olof Kexel supplied the Gustavian theatre with its comedy. Anna Maria Lenngren (1754-1817) was a very popular writer of graceful domestic verse, chiefly between 1795 and 180o, and a forerunner of modern literary developments.

Two writers of the academic period were definite precursors of the Romantic revival. Bengt Lidner (1757-93), a melancholy and elegiac writer of real poetic inspiration, led a disordered, wandering life which began with an adventurous voyage to the Cape, and died in poverty. He wrote two dramas, Erik XIV,

and Medea, but only a narrative poem, Grefvinnan Spastaras clod (The Death of the Countess Spastara, 1783), has retained its popularity. Thomas Thorild (1759-1808) was a much stronger nature, and led the revolt against prevailing taste with far more vigour. His best poem, Passionerna, in hexameters, appeared in 1785, but it is mainly as a prose writer that he is now remem bered. He settled in Germany and died as a professor in Greif s wald. Karl August Ehrensvard (1745-180o) may be mentioned here as a critic whose aims somewhat resembled those of Thorild. Among critics of taste may be mentioned Nils Rosen von Rosen stein (1752-1824), the first secretary of the Swedish Academy, who exercised great influence over Swedish literature and thought. His writings include an eloquent argument against Rousseau's theory of the injurious influence of art and letters.

The Romantic Movement.-The

excellent lyric poet Frans Mikael Franzen (q.v.) (1772-1847), who was deeply influenced by English poetry, and a belated academician Johan David Val erius (1778-1852), fill up the space between the Gustavian period and the domination of Romantic ideas from Germany. It was Lorenzo Hammarskold (1785-1827) who in 1803 introduced the views of Tieck and Schelling and founded the society in Uppsala called "Vitterhetens Vanner." His chief work was Svenska vitter heten (1818, etc.) a history of Swedish literature. Hammar skold's society was succeeded in 1807 by the famous "Aurora forbundet," founded by two youths of genius, Per Daniel Amadeus Atterbom (179o-1855) and Vilhelm Fredrik Palmblad (1788 1852). These young men formulated the Romantic doctrine in their journals, Polyfem and Fosforos (1809-13), the latter giving the name "Fosforistena" ("Phosphorists") to their school. Atter bom is the greatest of the purely Romantic poets of Sweden. His chief work is a poetic drama in two parts, Lycksalighetens 5 (The Isle of Bliss, 1824-27) which, although over-long, contains scenes of striking imaginative beauty. Palmblad is the chief novelist of the group. Other leading Phosphorists were Samuel Hedhorn ; Clas Livijn (1781-1844), author of a remarkable novel, Spader Dame (Queen of Spades, 1824), and, as a drama tist, a pioneer of Shakespearian influence in Sweden; Adolph Torneros and Carl Frederik Dahlgren (1791-1844), the last-mentioned a humorist who owed much to the example of Bellman. Fru Julie Nyberg (1785-1854), "Euphrosyne," a poetess of some distinction, was the muse of the school. On the part of the academy the Phosphorists were vigorously attacked by Per Adam Wailmark (1777-1858), to whom they replied in a satire which was the joint work of several writers, Markalls somnlosa natter (Markall's Sleepless Nights, 1820). The most cultured woman of this Uppsala circle was Malla Montgomery-Silfver stolpe (1782-1861), whose exceedingly interesting Memoarer was only published in 1908-11.