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I have since read every other book of his that I could lay hands on: 'Sinnove Solbakken, and 'Magnhild, and 'Captain Manzanca, and 'Dust, and 'In God's Ways, and 'Sigurd, and plays like "The Glove" and "The Bankrupt." He has never, as some authors have, dwindled in my sense; when I open his page, there I find him as large, and free, and bold as ever.
It was in 1857 that Björnson had put forth 'Synnöve Solbakken, a mere novelet, it is true, but still the firstling of a native Norwegian literature, reproducing the very accent of the soil; and here we have once more an example of the way in which the novel is now continually affecting the development of the drama, as the play has in the past influenced the evolution of prose-fiction.
Few productions of modern literature have proved as epoch-making as the modest little volume called "Synnoeve Solbakken," which appeared in the book shops of Christiania and Copenhagen in 1857. It was a simple tale of peasant life, an idyl of the love of a boy and a girl, but it was absolutely new in its style, and in its intimate revelation of the Norwegian character.
I have since read every other book of his that I could lay hands on: 'Sinnove Solbakken, and 'Magnhild, and 'Captain Manzanca, and 'Dust, and 'In God's Ways, and 'Sigurd, and plays like "The Glove" and "The Bankrupt." He has never, as some authors have, dwindled in my sense; when I open his page, there I find him as large, and free, and bold as ever.
It has been said that to mention his name is to raise the Norwegian flag. His first successes were made in the field of the novel, and the first two, Synnöve Solbakken, 1857, and Arne, 1858, made his name famous. These, and his other peasant stories, will always retain their popularity. He soon, however, entered the dramatic field, and has since published a great number of dramas and novels.
I packed up, went home, thought it all over, wrote and rewrote `Between the Battles' in a fortnight, and travelled to Copenhagen with the completed piece in my trunk; I would be a poet." He then set to writing "Synnoeve Solbakken," published it in part as a newspaper serial, and then in book form, in the autumn of 1857. He had "commenced author" in good earnest.
Then imagine the issue between them to be drawn not only in the field of letters, but also in the pulpit, the theatre, and the political arena, and some slight notion may be obtained of the condition of affairs which preceded the advent of Bjoernson and the true birth of Norwegian literature with "Synnoeve Solbakken."
It is by these tales of peasant life that Bjoernson is best known outside of his own country; one may almost say that it is by them alone that he is really familiar to English readers. A free translation of "Synnoeve Solbakken" was made as early as 1858, by Mary Howitt, and published under the title of "Trust and Trial."
"Björnsoniana," Dial, January 16, 1903, pp. 37-38. "Prophet-Poet of Norway," Cosmopolitan, April, 1903, pp. 621-631. "Three Score and Ten," Dial, December, 1902, pp. 383-385. Myths of Northern Lands. Guerber. Synnove Solbakken, Björnson. A Happy Boy, Björnson. The Fisher Maiden, Björnson. The Bridal March, Björnson. Magnhild, Björnson. A Dangerous Wooing, Björnson. The Eagle's Nest, Björnson.
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