436 
THE AMERICAN-SCAN DIN AVIAN REVIEW 
Northern Lights 
Scandinavian Study 
Eleven years ago the Society for the Ad¬ 
vancement of Scandinavian Study was formed 
in Chicago by a small number of persons, 
chiefly men in university faculties, who were 
pioneers in the movement to promote interest 
in Northern literature and scholarship. Since 
then the organization has grown quietly by 
accretion, chiefly through the agency of its 
magazine, Scandinavian Studies and Notes. 
In no sense a rival of the Review, this peri¬ 
odical affords a means of publishing the re¬ 
sults of research that might otherwise remain 
unknown outside of a very limited academic 
circle. It is supported by the dues of mem¬ 
bers and by a small annual subsidy from the 
American-Scandinavian Foundation. When 
the Society held its twelfth annual meeting 
in the quarters of the Swedish Club in Chi¬ 
cago, May 5 and 6, it was reported that the 
membership had grown to 935. 
A number of papers were read at the first 
session of the meeting. Professor Laurence 
Marcellus Larson opened with a discussion of 
the reputed visit of the Norwegian John 
Scolvus to Labrador and New Foundland in 
1476 of which he wrote brief!y some months 
ago in the Review. The etymology of Ham¬ 
let’s name was treated by Kemp Malone, 
former scholar of the American-Scandinavian 
Foundation to Iceland. “Edic Notes” was 
the subject of a paper by Dr. Lee M. Hol¬ 
lander. Tegner was discussed by Professor 
A. M. Sturtevant, and more briefly at the 
banquet the following evening by Professor 
Chester N. Gould, who drew comparisons be¬ 
tween Frithjof’s Saga and oriental sources. 
Strindberg’s historical dramas were treated 
bv Professor Harrv E. V. Palmblad. Of 
practical import was Professor Julius E. Ol¬ 
son’s discussion of how to teach Scandinavian 
literature to non-Scandinavians, a timely topic 
on which Professor Olson speaks with ex¬ 
perience. 
It w r ill be seen from this list that a large 
part of the limited time at the disposal of the 
Society was devoted to modern literature. In 
addition to the more formal papers already 
mentioned, brief speeches were made at the 
banquet on Erik Axel Karlfeldt by Profes¬ 
sor Jules Mauritzen; on “Dramatic Theorv 
in the North from Holberg to Heiberg” by 
Professor George T. Flom, and on “Word 
Study in Strindberg” by Professor Joseph 
Alexis. At this banquet, which is the great 
social event of the meeting, a number of Chi¬ 
cago Scandinavians were present. Mr. 
Charles S. Peterson took occasion to remind 
the company of the cause for which he has 
himself done so much, that of Swedisli- 
American art. 
At the business session of the conference 
the following officers were reelected: Hen¬ 
ning Larsen, president; Martin B. Ruud, 
vice-president; Joseph Alexis, secretary- 
treasurer; Maren Michelet, educational secre¬ 
tary. Dr. Larsen and Dr. Ruud, members of 
the faculties of Iowa and Minnesota univer¬ 
sities respectively, were both among the 
scholars of the American-Scandinavian Foun¬ 
dation in the first year of its history. 
Strindberg in Greenwich Village 
Strindberg’s Creditors had its initial per¬ 
formance on the New York stage at the 
Greenwich Village Theatre the first week in 
May. It was presented by Ellen van Volken- 
burg*and Maurice Browne who acted the roles 
of Thecla and Adolph, while that of Gustav 
fell to Reginald Pole, in the absence of Ma- 
roni Olsen, originally cast for this part. 
The play, although much too unpleasant 
to appeal to the average American taste, is 
a masterpiece of unity in construction, dra¬ 
matic tension, and psychological analysis, and 
was played with artistic intelligence, much 
restraint, sincerity, and fidelity to the spirit 
of Strindberg. It is difficult to comment on 
the acting of any one of the players, so evenly 
matched were they, but Mr. Brown as Adolph 
does call for a special word of praise for the 
power of his acting. 
Scandinavian Books Listed at Harvard 
With aid from the Foundation, Harvard 
College Library is compiling a union cat¬ 
alogue of Scandinavian books in American li¬ 
braries. A special endowment for this list 
has been given by Dr. Henry Goddard Leach, 
former Secretary of the Foundation and for 
several years Curator of Scandinavian His¬ 
tory and Literature in the Harvard Library. 
Workers in the field of Scandinavian litera- 
ture mav secure from the assistant librarian 
at Harvard, Mr. T. Franklin Currier, ac¬ 
curate information on the location of Scandi¬ 
navian periodicals and books available in this 
country. The section of the list devoted to 
periodicals has been prepared by Miss Anna 
Monrad. head cataloguer of the Yale Uni¬ 
versity Library. 
