In his delineation of the Norwegian peasant character, Bjornson
was greatly aided by the study of the sagas, which he had read
with enthusiasm from his earliest boyhood. Upon them his style
was largely formed, and their vivid dramatic representation
of the life of the early Norsemen impressed him profoundly,
shaping both his ideals and the form of their expression. The
modern Scandinavian may well be envied for his literary
inheritance from the heroic past. No other European has
anything to compare with it for clean-cut vigor and wealth of
romantic material. The literature which blossomed in Iceland
and flourished for two or three centuries wherever Norsemen
made homes for themselves offers a unique intellectual phenomenon,
for nothing like their record remains to us from any other
primitive people. This
"Tale of the Northland of old
And the undying glory of dreams,"
proved a lasting stimulus to Bjornson's genius, and, during the
early period of his career, which is now under review, it made
its influence felt alike in his tales, his dramas, and his
songs. "To see the peasant in the light of the sagas and the
sagas in the light of the peasant" he declared to be the
fundamental principle of his literary method.
Pages:
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
26
27
28
29