Full Description
This new addition to Norvik Press's well-established 'Lagerlöf in English' series turns the spotlight on the power of short stories.
Key autobiographical pieces, morality tales both dark and light, legends from several lands and folklore-inspired narratives combine to reveal the breadth and stylistic range of Lagerlöf's storytelling skills.
This is a collection of interest to general readers but also a useful teaching tool for Swedish and comparative literature courses around the world. The book includes a comprehensive and accessible introduction by Lagerlöf specialist Bjarne Thorup Thomsen (University of Edinburgh). The nine stories have been arranged into three thematic sections: Women and Writing; Landscapes, Families and 'Others'; Epochs, Societies and Values.
Contents
'Mamsell Fredrika' / 'Miss Fredrika' - an imaginative and extravagantly expressed tribute to a female trailblazer in Swedish literature, centred, like many of Lagerlöf's stories, around Christmas.
'De fågelfrie' / 'The Outlaws' - a narrative, steeped in nature mysticism and fin-de-siècle-feel, about clashes, but also fluid boundaries, between pagan and Christian mindsets in medieval times, fuelled by the descriptive energy that Lagerlöf attributed to her writing at the time.
'Gudsfreden' / 'God's Peace at Christmas' - an enquiry into a close encounter, with elements of crime, between human and animal, and Lagerlöf's first depiction of the Ingmarssons, the powerful family of peasants that would take centre stage in Jerusalem.
'Spelmannen' / 'The Fiddler' - a story, both playful and uncanny, about a self-assured musician and the shadows of abandoned family, set during a Nordic summer night in a landscape that is both attraction and trap.
'Silvergruvan' / 'The Silver Mine' - a nation-orientated narrative about the homeland's real riches, anticipating some of the major themes in Nils Holgersson.
'Två spådomar' / 'Two Prophecies' - a biographical sketch in six life moments, infused with motifs of deciphering, reading and writing, about Lagerlöf's route to becoming an author, published at a time when her national, and indeed international, fame was growing fast.
'Bortbytingen' / 'The Changeling' - a suspense-filled story about unexpected contact and strange parallels between a human and an 'alien' sphere, featuring an unconventional and resourceful heroine.
'Den heliga bilden i Lucca' / 'The Sacred Image in Lucca' - a miraculous legend and picaresque travel adventure played out in Italy, foregrounding poor but hopeful working-class characters and told in a lucid style and light-hearted tone.
'Dimman' / 'The Mist' - a modern parable with a punishing ending, published in the context of the First World War and critiquing attitudes, including artistic ones, to the reality of global conflict and suffering.
