Esaias Tegnér (; – ) was a Swedish writer, professor of the

Greek language Greek ( el, label= Modern Greek, Ελληνικά, Elliniká, ; grc, Ἑλληνική, Hellēnikḗ) is an independent branch of the Indo-European family of languages, native to Greece, Cyprus, southern Italy ( Calabria and Salento), souther ...

, and bishop. He was during the 19th century regarded as the father of modern poetry in Sweden, mainly through the national romantic epic ''

Frithjof's Saga Frithiof's Saga ( is, Friðþjófs saga hins frœkna) is a legendary saga from Iceland which in its present form is from ca. 1300. It is a continuation from ''The Saga of Thorstein Víkingsson'' ('' Þorsteins saga Víkingssonar''). It takes pla ...

''. He has been called Sweden's first modern man. Much is known about him, and he also wrote openly about himself.

Early life

His father was a pastor, and his grandparents on both sides were peasants. His father, whose name had been Esaias Lucasson, took the surname of Tegnérus—altered by his fifth son, the poet, to Tegnér—from the village of Tegnaby in the province of Småland, where he was born. In 1792 Tegnérus died. In 1799 Esaias Tegnér, hitherto educated in the country, entered

Lund University , motto = Ad utrumque , mottoeng = Prepared for both , established = , type = Public research university , budget = SEK 9 billion Bishop of Växjö. He remained in Växjö until his death, twenty-two years later. He was comparatively slow in development. His first great success was a

dithyramb The dithyramb (; grc, διθύραμβος, ''dithyrambos'') was an ancient Greek hymn sung and danced in honor of Dionysus, the god of wine and fertility; the term was also used as an epithet of the god. Plato, in '' The Laws'', while discussing ...

ic war-song for the army of 1808. In 1811 his patriotic poem ''Svea'' won the great prize of the

Swedish Academy The Swedish Academy ( sv, Svenska Akademien), founded in 1786 by King Gustav III, is one of the Royal Academies of Sweden. Its 18 members, who are elected for life, comprise the highest Swedish language authority. Outside Scandinavia, it is bes ...

, and made him famous. In the same year was founded in

Stockholm Stockholm () is the capital and largest city of Sweden as well as the largest urban area in Scandinavia. Approximately 980,000 people live in the municipality, with 1.6 million in the urban area, and 2.4 million in the metropo ...

the Gothic League (''Götiska förbundet''), a sort of club of young and patriotic men of letters, of whom Tegnér quickly became the chief. The club published a magazine, entitled ''Iduna'', in which it printed a great deal of excellent poetry, and ventilated its views, particularly as regards the study of Icelandic literature and old Norse history. Tegnér, Geijer, Afzelius, and

Nicander Nicander of Colophon ( grc-gre, Νίκανδρος ὁ Κολοφώνιος, Níkandros ho Kolophṓnios; fl. 2nd century BC), Greek poet, physician and grammarian, was born at Claros (Ahmetbeyli in modern Turkey), near Colophon, where his fam ...

became the most famous members of the Gothic League.

Lund poems

The majority of the many poems from Tegnér in Lund are short, but some are in lyrics. They are still shown to visitors as the Tegnér museum. His celebrated ''Song to the Sun'' dates from 1817. He completed three poems of a more ambitious character, on which his fame chiefly rests. Of these, the romance of ''Axel'' (1822) and the delicately chiselled idyl of ''Nattvardsbarnen'' (1820), translated by

Longfellow Henry Wadsworth Longfellow (February 27, 1807 – March 24, 1882) was an American poet and educator. His original works include "Paul Revere's Ride", ''The Song of Hiawatha'', and ''Evangeline''. He was the first American to completely transl ...

, take a secondary place in comparison with Tegnér's masterpiece of worldwide fame. In 1819 he also became a member of the distinguished

, on seat 8.

Claim to recognition

In 1820 he published in ''Iduna'' fragments of an epic on which he was working: ''

Frithjof's saga Frithiof's Saga ( is, Friðþjófs saga hins frœkna) is a legendary saga from Iceland which in its present form is from ca. 1300. It is a continuation from ''The Saga of Thorstein Víkingsson'' ('' Þorsteins saga Víkingssonar''). It takes pla ...

''. In 1822 he published five more

canto The canto () is a principal form of division in medieval and modern long poetry. Etymology and equivalent terms The word ''canto'' is derived from the Italian word for "song" or "singing", which comes from the Latin ''cantus'', "song", from the ...

s, and in 1825 the entire poem. Already before its last canto it was famous throughout Europe; the aged

Goethe Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (28 August 1749 – 22 March 1832) was a German poet, playwright, novelist, scientist, statesman, theatre director, and critic. His works include plays, poetry, literature, and aesthetic criticism, as well as tr ...

took up his pen to commend to his countrymen this ''alte, kräftige, gigantischbarbarische Dichtart'' and desired

Amalie von Imhoff Amalie may refer to: People * Amalie (given name), a female given name, derived from Amalia Places * Charlotte Amalie, U.S. Virgin Islands, capital of the territory * Amalie Arena, a hockey stadium in Tampa, Florida Businesses * Amalie Oil Comp ...

to translate it into German. This romantic paraphrase of an ancient saga was composed in twenty-four

s, all differing in verse form, modeled somewhat, on an earlier Danish masterpiece, ''Helge'' of Oehlenschläger. ''Frithjof's saga'' was during the 19th century 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. It is far from satisfying the demands of more recent antiquarian research, but it still is allowed to give the freshest existing impression, in imaginative form, of life in early

Scandinavia Scandinavia; Sámi languages: /. ( ) is a subregion in Northern Europe, with strong historical, cultural, and linguistic ties between its constituent peoples. In English usage, ''Scandinavia'' most commonly refers to Denmark, Norway, and S ...

. A section of the work was later used by Max Bruch as the basis for his 1864 cantata '' Frithjof''.

Later life

The period of the publication of ''Frithjof's saga'' (1825) was the critical epoch of his career. It made him one of the most famous poets in Europe. It transferred him from his study in Lund to the bishop's palace in Växjö; it marked the first breakdown of his health, which had hitherto been excellent; and it witnessed a singular moral crisis in the inner history of the poet, about which much has been written, but of which little is known. Tegnér was at this time passionately in love with a certain beautiful Euphrosyne Palm, the wife of a town councillor in Lund, and this unfortunate passion, while it inspired much of his finest poetry, turned the poet's blood to gall. From this time forward the heartlessness of woman is one of Tegnér's principal themes.

Bishop's seat

It is a remarkable sign of the condition of Sweden at that time that a man without a Christian heritage, and with little interest in formal religious matters, should be offered and should accept a bishop's crosier. He did not hesitate in accepting it: it was a great honour; he was poor; and he was anxious to get away from Lund. No sooner, however, had he began to study for his new duties than he began to regret the step he had taken. It was nevertheless too late to go back, and Tegnér made a respectable bishop as long as his health lasted. In 1835, he was elected a member of the

Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences The Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences ( sv, Kungliga Vetenskapsakademien) is one of the royal academies of Sweden. Founded on 2 June 1739, it is an independent, non-governmental scientific organization that takes special responsibility for prom ...

. But he became moody and melancholy; as early as 1833 he complained of fiery heats in his brain, and in 1840, during a visit to Stockholm, he suddenly became insane.

Mental deterioration

He was sent to an asylum in

Schleswig The Duchy of Schleswig ( da, Hertugdømmet Slesvig; german: Herzogtum Schleswig; nds, Hartogdom Sleswig; frr, Härtochduum Slaswik) was a duchy in Southern Jutland () covering the area between about 60 km (35 miles) north and 70 km ...

, and early in 1841 he was cured, and able to return to Växjö. In later years Tegnér began, but left unfinished, two important epic poems, ''Gerda'' and ''Kronbruden''. It was during his convalescence in

that he composed ''Kronbruden''. He wrote no more of importance; in 1843 he had a stroke of

apoplexy Apoplexy () is rupture of an internal organ and the accompanying symptoms. The term formerly referred to what is now called a stroke. Nowadays, health care professionals do not use the term, but instead specify the anatomic location of the bleedi ...

, and on 2 November 1846 he died in Växjö. Tegnérmuseet, Lund

Tegnérmuseet

Tegnérmuseet is a museum devoted exclusively to the life and work of Esaias Tegnér. The museum is located in the house where Esaias Tegnèr lived with his family from 1813 to 1826 in the city center of Lund. Since 1997, the museum has been part of the foundation

Kulturen Kulturen () is an open air museum in Lund in Lund, Sweden. Occupying two blocks in central Lund, Kulturen is Sweden's and the world's second oldest open-air museum after Skansen in Stockholm. It contains historic buildings, dating from the ...

, which also operates the open-air museum in Lund.

Notes

References

* This work in turn cites: ** C. W. Böttiger, ''Teckning af Tegnérs Lefnad'' (Swedish) **

Georg Brandes Georg Morris Cohen Brandes (4 February 1842 – 19 February 1927) was a Danish critic and scholar who greatly influenced Scandinavian and European literature from the 1870s through the turn of the 20th century. He is seen as the theorist behind ...

, ''Esaias Tegnér'' (1878) **

Johan Henrik Thomander Johan Henrik Thomander (16 June 1798 – 9 July 1865) was a Swedish professor, bishop, translator and author. He received his doctorate in theology in 1836 and was elected to the eighteenth chair of the Swedish Academy in 1856. After his father's ...

, ''Tankar och Löjen'' (Swedish, 1876) * English *''Axel, from the Swedish of Bishop Tegnér,'' adapted by Magnus Bernhard. Buffalo, N.Y., 1915 F.W. Burow's Sons (revised). *Ahlberg, Fred: ''Masterpieces of Swedish Poetry''. Tujunga, CA., 1952, C.L. Anderson. *Bellquist, John Eric. ''Tegnér's First Romantic Poem.'' Scandinavica 31, no. 1 (May 1992). * Boyesen, Hjalmar Hjorth. ''Esaias Tegnér.'' in ''Essays on Scandinavian Literature.'' Reprint. New York 1911, Charles Scribner's Sons. *Gustavsson, Lars: ''Forays into Swedish Poetry''. Austin 1978, Univ. of Texas Press. * Locock, C. D.: ''Fritiof's Saga''. London 1924, G. Allen & Unwin.

Henry Wadsworth Longfellow Henry Wadsworth Longfellow (February 27, 1807 – March 24, 1882) was an American poet and educator. His original works include "Paul Revere's Ride", ''The Song of Hiawatha'', and '' Evangeline''. He was the first American to completely trans ...

. * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Tegner, Esaias 1782 births 1846 deaths People from Säffle Municipality Writers from Värmland Bishops of Växjö Swedish-language writers Swedish poets Swedish male writers Lund University alumni Members of the Swedish Academy Members of the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences Swedish male poets 19th-century Swedish poets 19th-century male writers