478 



SWEDEN AND NORWAY. 



prose a flexibility and brilliancy ill suited to the 

 northern idioms. This style, borrowed from the 

 French, maintained its place for some time, but 

 could not be of long duration. Gustavus III. 

 though the pupil of Dalin, and expressing himself 

 in French with greater ease than in Swedish, strove 

 to restore the dignity of the Swedish idiom, by the 

 foundation of the Swedish academy in 1786; but the 

 forms which he prescribed to this society, his own 

 example, and the favour bestowed on foreign cus- 

 toms and modes of thinking, made the labours of 

 the society of little avail. The language had cer- 

 tainly gained, during this period, in extent and 

 polish ; but it had been also burdened with so much 

 foreign matter, that a very thorough renovation was 

 required. The first steps were taken by a society 

 of young men at Upsal, in 1803. A thorough 

 study of classical literature and reflection on the 

 labours of foreign nations, particularly Germans, in 

 the department of criticism, led them to a close in- 

 vestigation of the state of literature in their coun- 

 try, and to a deep disrelish for the existing French 

 taste. A patriotic feeling was awakened; the old 

 historical sources and the first monuments of the 

 Swedish language were now studied, and the more 

 recent works on the Swedish language, e. g. Sil- 

 verstolpe's (died 1816.) Attempts at a general 

 Grammar (Stockholm, 1814), Broocmann's Larobok 

 (Stockholm, 1813), and especially Collner's ForsSk 

 i' Svenska Sproklaran (Stockholm, 1812), and La- 

 robok i Sv. Sp., by the same author, depart con- 

 siderably from the standard of the Swedish acade- 

 my. The study of Icelandic, which gains daily in 

 interest ; Winter's De Origine et ant. Linguce Suec. 

 Monum. (Stockh., 1802, 4to.), and Linfor's In- 

 troduction to Icelandic Literature and its History 

 in the Middle Ages (1804), mostly from Danish 

 sources; Litjegren's Nordiska Fornald Hjelt Sagar 

 (Stockholm, 1817), and Nordiska Fornlemningar 

 (Stockh., 1819 22), must have an important in- 

 fluence upon the developement of the language, 

 particularly at a period in which so much attention 

 is paid to the monuments of the ancient history of 

 the country. Yet there are many vestiges of the 

 French influence in the Swedish literature. It is 

 much to be regretted that modern Swedish poets 

 have paid so little attention to the old national 

 songs, the remains of which are now zealously sought 

 for; e. g. Ismal's Marriage, an ancient Faroe song, 

 recast by Gumaelius in the tenth number of Iduna; 

 also the Svenska Folkvisor (Swedish Popular Me- 

 lodies), edited by Geijer and Afzelius (Stockh., 

 181416, 3 vols.), and the Swedish Popular Harp, 

 with an appendix containing Songs and Melodies, 

 by Studach (Stockh., 1826). If poets of talent 

 had employed themselves in the composition of 

 sacred hymns after the reformation, perhaps poetry 

 would have risen above a learned school-exercise, 

 or an entertainment of Swedish scholars, and gained 

 a hold on the hearts of the people. For informa- 

 tion respecting that early period of poetical activi- 

 ty, we refer to C. Carleson's FSrsok til su Skalde 

 Konstens vphjelpande Hock (Stockh., 1737, 2 vols., 

 4to.). Olof Dalin, who was born in 1708, at Vin- 

 berga, in Holland, gave an impulse to Swedish 

 literature hy his periodical, called Argus (1733 

 34), which appeared when the country was much 

 distracted by the factions of the nobility. At this 

 period of degeneracy and humiliation, particularly 

 of the higher classes, a zeal for science prevailed in 

 Sweden, hardly equalled at any subsequent period. 

 We need only mention Linnaeus (1707 1778), Ihre 



and Lairorbring. At this time, Daliu attracted the 

 attention of th<> Swedish public by his wit, polish 

 of language, and accommodation to the French 

 taste, which he did much to fix in the literature. 

 His poems (best edition, 1782, 2 vols.), served to 

 entertain the court ladies of Louisa. His prose 

 works e. g. his History of the Realm (Stockh., 

 1747, 3 vols., 4to.) are more to be commended 

 for their style than for their critical research. 

 Dalin died in 1763. He hud made poetry a kind 

 of court entertainment, cultivated by circles of 

 beaux esprits (vittre), but having little of an ele- 

 vated character. Under such circumstances, ma- 

 dame H. C. Nordenflycht (died 1763) received the 

 name of the Swedish Sappho Utvalda arbeten, 

 (Stockh., 1778). But count de Creutz (q. v.) and 

 his friend Gyllenborg deserve to be distinguished. 

 The historical epic of the latter (he died in 1808) 

 Taget ofver Bait (Stockh., 1800) as well as his 

 didactic poem Forsok om Skaldeconsten (Stockh., 

 1798) will preserve his name in the history of 

 Swedish literature (Skrifter, Stockh., 1795, seq.). 

 The contemporaries of Gustavus III., who were 

 also his literary confidants Kellgren (died 1795), 

 Oxenstierna, the translator of Milton (died 1818), 

 and Leopold (secretary of state), followed the im- 

 pulse given by Dalin. Gustavus himself took part 

 in the endeavours of Swedish authors; but the 

 narrowness of his views, and his disposition for 

 show in language, tended rather to check than assist 

 the development of talents. Kellgren, however, 

 did most to prepare the public for the change which 

 was beginning, by deriding the mania for foreign 

 literature, in his periodical, the Stockholm Post 

 (1778, seq.). Still more independent, in his 

 poems, was Bened. Lidner (died 1793), whose 

 poems, full of feeling and elevated thought, were 

 strongly contrasted with the passions which put an 

 end to his life. Thorild also (17591808) assisted 

 in giving a favourable direction to poetry (Saml. 

 Skr., Upsal, 1819, 2 vols.). But Charles Mich. 

 Bellmann (born 1741, died 1795) is the first lyric 

 poet of Sweden. His pictures of Swedish life are 

 so true; their colours so fresh; they exhibit such 

 fulness of imagination and- purity of feeling, that 

 to him, before all others of his time and nation, is 

 due the fame of an original and national bard 

 (Sacchi Tempel, 1783); Sions Hoytid (1787); 

 Fredman Epistlar och Sanger (1791); Fr. Hand- 

 skrifter (Upsal, 1813); Skaldestyhken (Stockb., 

 1814, 2 vols.). Compared with his productions, 

 Adlerbeth's works are intellectual, but cold (Poc- 

 tiska Arbeten, Stockh., 1802), and Shenhammar's 

 verses mere studies. The change in Swedish 

 belles-lettres, after these preparatory attempts 

 against the literary despotism of the Swedish aca- 

 demy, was first brought about by that association 

 of young literati, in 1803, at Upsal, who formed 

 the Vitterhetens Fanner (Friends of Science). The 

 study of the German works of A. W. and F. Schle- 

 gel first excited the zeal for a thorough criticism ; 

 and Askelof "s Polnfem gave the signal for the storm 

 which broke out against the obsolete prejudices of 

 the Swedish academy. Atterbom (q. v.) laboured 

 with particular success, for instance, in his P/ios- 

 pkoros (18101813). Hammarskold* embraced 

 the views of Atterbom, in his Lyceum, a periodi- 

 cal; and the Gothic Union, above mentioned, con- 

 tributed to the furtherance of their views. Swed- 

 ish poetry, since these efforts, is more vigorous 



Hnmmarskffld lias been much used in this article. 



