''Giants in the Earth'' (Norwegian: ''I de dage'') is a novel by

Norwegian-American Norwegian Americans () are Americans with ancestral roots in Norway. Norwegian immigrants went to the United States primarily in the latter half of the 19th century and the first few decades of the 20th century. There are more than 4.5 milli ...

author Ole Edvart Rølvaag. First published in Norwegian in two volumes in 1924 and 1925, it was published in English in 1927, translated by Rølvaag and author Lincoln Colcord (1883–1947).

Overview

The novel follows a pioneer Norwegian immigrant family's struggles with the land and the elements of the

Dakota Territory The Territory of Dakota was an organized incorporated territory of the United States that existed from March 2, 1861, until November 2, 1889, when the final extent of the reduced territory was split and admitted to the Union as the states of ...

as they try to make a new life in America. In 1873, Per Hansa, his wife Beret, their children settle in the Dakota Territory. They are joined by three other Norwegian immigrant families—Tonseten and his wife Kjersti, Hans Olsa and his wife Sorine, and the Solum brothers. Part of a trilogy, it had two sequels: ''Peder Victorious'' (''Peder Seier'') in 1928 and ''Their Fathers' God'' (''Den signede dag'') in 1931. The books were based partly on Rølvaag's personal experiences as a settler as well as the experiences of his wife’s family who had been immigrant homesteaders in

South Dakota South Dakota (; Sioux language, Sioux: , ) is a U.S. state, state in the West North Central states, North Central region of the United States. It is also part of the Great Plains. South Dakota is named after the Dakota people, Dakota Sioux ...

. The novels depict snow storms,

locust Locusts (derived from the Latin ''locusta'', locust or lobster) are various species of short-horned grasshoppers in the family Acrididae that have a swarming phase. These insects are usually solitary, but under certain circumstances they b ...

s, poverty, hunger, loneliness, homesickness, the difficulty of fitting into a new culture, and the estrangement of immigrant children who grow up in a new land. ''Giants in the Earth'' was turned into an opera of the same name by

Douglas Moore Douglas Stuart Moore (August 10, 1893 – July 25, 1969) was an American composer, songwriter, organist, pianist, Conducting, conductor, educator, actor, and author. A composer who mainly wrote works with an American subject, his music is genera ...

and Arnold Sundgaard; it won the

Pulitzer Prize for Music The Pulitzer Prize for Music is one of seven Pulitzer Prizes awarded annually in Letters, Drama, and Music. It was first given in 1943. Joseph Pulitzer arranged for a music scholarship to be awarded each year, and this was eventually converted i ...

in 1951. The novel has been known and appreciated internationally.

Nuruddin Farah Nuruddin Farah (, ) (born 24 November 1945) is a Somali novelist. His first novel, '' From a Crooked Rib'', was published in 1970 and has been described as "one of the cornerstones of modern East African literature today". Farah has also written ...

, a Somali novelist, has written a novel about Somali refugees living in Norway, where the husband is translating ''Giants in the Earth'' into Somali. Rolvaag's work has also been the topic of an article by a Romanian scholar, as well as part of her doctoral dissertation.Mureşan, Ioana Andreea. ''The Quest for Identity in Norwegian-American Immigrant Narratives: Correspondences with the Romanian Immigrant Experience in America.'' PhD diss., 2021. UNIVERSITATEA BABEȘ-BOLYAI DIN CLUJ-NAPOCA.

References

External links

Introduction to the text edition of Rolvaag's Giants in the Earth
(Copyright 1929 by Harper and Brothers)

(Dorothy Burton Skardal. The Norwegian-American Historical Association. Volume 21: Page 14) * Norwegian-language novels Novels set in Dakota Territory Works about Norwegian-American culture Novels about immigration to the United States American novels adapted into operas {{1920s-hist-novel-stub

Overview

References

Further reading

External links