Johannes Heggland (29 June 1919 – 24 January 2008) was a Norwegian

novelist A novelist is an author or writer of novels, though often novelists also write in other genres of both fiction and non-fiction. Some novelists are professional novelists, thus make a living wage, living writing novels and other fiction, while other ...

, short story and

children's literature Children's literature or juvenile literature includes stories, books, magazines, and poems that are created for children. In addition to conventional literary genres, modern children's literature is classified by the intended age of the reade ...

writer, playwright, and elected official with the Centre Party. He is most commonly associated with two of his historic plays ''Mostraspelet'' and ''Håkonarspelet – Kongen med gullhjelmen''.

Biography

Johannes Andreas Martin Heggland was born at Tysnes in

Hordaland Hordaland () was a county in Norway, bordering Sogn og Fjordane, Buskerud, Telemark, and Rogaland counties. Hordaland was the third largest county, after Akershus and Oslo, by population. The county government was the Hordaland County Munici ...

, Norway. His parents, Vermund Heggland (1872–1945) and Elisabeth Marie Magdalene Nerhus (1877–1956), were farmers. He grew up as the youngest of 11 children in a family with a vivid oral tradition. He participated in local politics for nearly 30 years. Heggland was mayor in Tysnes from 1956 to 1959 and 1968 to 1971, and served as a deputy representative to the

Parliament of Norway The Storting ( ; ) is the supreme legislature of Norway, established in 1814 by the Constitution of Norway. It is located in Oslo. The unicameral parliament has 169 members and is elected every four years based on party-list proportional represe ...

during the term 1958–1961. He was chairman of Norwegian Authors' Union from 1982 to 1985 and member of the

Nordic Council The Nordic Council is the official body for formal inter-parliamentary Nordic cooperation among the Nordic countries. Formed in 1952, it has 87 representatives from Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway, and Sweden as well as from the autonomo ...

's literary prize committee from 1983 to 1986. He was also a member of the

Norwegian Language Council The Language Council of Norway (, ) is the administrative body of the Norwegian state on language issues. It regulates the two written forms of the Norwegian language: Bokmål and Nynorsk. It was established in 2005 and replaced the Norwegian Lan ...

and board member for

Riksteatret Riksteatret (English: National Traveling Theater) is a Norwegian touring theatre. It was established by law in 1948. Its first performance was in Kirkenes in 1949, with Sigurd Christiansen's play ''En reise i natten''. The theatre plays on about ...

. Heggland made his literary debut in 1941 with ''Folk under fjell'', and later wrote more than sixty books. Nearly half of his books are based on extensive historical studies, from the

Bronze Age The Bronze Age () was a historical period characterised principally by the use of bronze tools and the development of complex urban societies, as well as the adoption of writing in some areas. The Bronze Age is the middle principal period of ...

to the present time, with emphasis on the time around the

Black Death The Black Death was a bubonic plague pandemic that occurred in Europe from 1346 to 1353. It was one of the list of epidemics, most fatal pandemics in human history; as many as people perished, perhaps 50% of Europe's 14th century population. ...

. His prose is in the broad epic tradition with a Sunnhordland dialect and great insight into Norwegian rural society. Heggland stood outside modernism, social realism and metaphysical literature. He insisted all along on epic realism and traditionalism. ''Mostraspelet'' is a play in three acts with music by Kjell Habbestad. It had its world premiere in 1984. Set on the island of Moster in Sunnhordland during the years 995, 997 and 1024, the play deals with the introduction of Christianity in Norway by King

Olaf Tryggvason Olaf Tryggvason (960s – 9 September 1000) was King of Norway from 995 to 1000. He was the son of Tryggvi Olafsson, king of Viken ( Vingulmark, and Rånrike), and, according to later sagas, the great-grandson of Harald Fairhair, first King ...

. ''Mostraspelet'' is performed annually at the open-air theatre in

Bømlo Bømlo () is a list of municipalities of Norway, municipality in the southwestern part of Vestland county, Norway. It is located in the Traditional districts of Norway, traditional district of Sunnhordland. The administrative centre of the muni ...

. ''Håkonarspelet – Kongen med gullhjelmen'' is a series of historic plays he wrote based upon the reign of King Haakon I of Norway. The plays are performed annual as part of the ''Håkonarspelet'' summer festival. They have been performed since 1997 at the

Royal Norwegian Navy The Royal Norwegian Navy () is the branch of the Norwegian Armed Forces responsible for navy, naval operations of Norway, including those of the Norwegian Coast Guard. , the Royal Norwegian Navy consists of approximately 3,700 personnel (9,450 i ...

base at Haakonsvern and at Fitjar, Seim and Eivindvik. Johannes Heggland received a number of literary awards for during his career, including the Nynorsk Literature Prize in 1988,

Dobloug Prize The Dobloug Prize (, ) is a literature prize awarded for Swedish and Norwegian fiction. The prize is named after Norwegian businessman and philanthropist Birger Dobloug (1881–1944) pursuant to his bequest. The prize sum is 4 * 150,000 Swedish crow ...

in 1990 and Emmausprisen in 2001. He was proclaimed a Knight, First Class of the Order of St. Olav for his cultural work.''Johannes Heggland, Biografi''
(Johannes Heggland på nettet)

Awards

*Emmaus Award (2001) * Doblougprisen Prize for Literature (1990) * Melsom Prize (1972) *Alfred Andersson-Rysst Fund (1965) *

Gyldendal's Endowment The Gyldendal Prize, formerly Gyldendal's Endowment, is a Norwegian literary prize awarded by the Norway, Norwegian publisher Gyldendal Norsk Forlag. Gyldendal's Endowment was awarded from 1934 to 1995. It was superseded by the Gyldendal Prize in ...

(1961) *Ministry of Culture's award of children's literature (1962, 1963, 1964, 1970, 1972)

Selected works

Novels

*''Folk under fjell'' (1941) *'' Guds åkerland'' (1943 *'' Menneskebrunnen'' (1949) *'' Gard'' (1951) *''Kvinnfolkgarden'' (1955) *''Dagen før domedag'' (1961) *''Gabriel'' (1969) *'' Rusdøler'' (1971) *''Brødet frå havet'', four volumes (1981–84) *''Seglet og vinden'', three volumes (1985–87) *''Det saltlause saltet'' (1999)

Plays

*''Kongen med gullhjelmen'' (1996) *''Håkon Adelsteinsfostre'' (1996) *''Håkon Adelsteinfostre i Gula'' (1996) *''Håkonarvarde'' (1995)

References

External links

''Håkonarspelet'' website''Mostraspelet'' website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Heggland, Johannes 1919 births 2008 deaths People from Tysnes Norwegian children's writers Mayors of places in Hordaland Centre Party (Norway) politicians Deputy members of the Storting 20th-century Norwegian novelists 20th-century Norwegian dramatists and playwrights Recipients of the St. Olav's Medal Dobloug Prize winners Norwegian male dramatists and playwrights Norwegian male novelists