History of the Literature of the Scandinavian North/Part 3/Chapter 1
CHAPTER I.
THE MIDDLE AGE. (UNTIL 1520.)
THE literature of Sweden during the middle age is upon the whole as poor as the Danish during the same time, which is naturally accounted for by the fact that the conditions for its development were essentially the same in both countries. The clergy were for a long time in exclusive possession of all intellectual culture, and this could not but give to theology the foremost place in literature. The convents became the centre of this culture, which could not transcend the bounds to which it had been carried by the ecclesiastic students who visited foreign universities. The students could not bring home more than they acquired, and thus from lack of suitable conditions this culture gradually, instead of becoming rooted and established, became impoverished and lost its hold on the people. Nor did there take place any noticeable improvement, when Sweden in 1477 obtained her own university in Upsala, for this institution accomplished but little during the first decades of its existence. There was for a time no progress, since the elements which might have served as the foundation of a national Swedish literature were disregarded, while the foreign elements were neglected and fell into decay. The clergy manifested an increasing distaste for the sciences, the monks grew more and more ignorant, and the study of the ancient classics at length entirely ceased. Legends monopolized everything, and thus the noble Roman tongue degenerated into monkish Latin. Still, the conditions were not as unfavorable in Sweden as in Denmark, for in Sweden the clergy had not isolated themselves so absolutely from the remaining population, and thus the laity was not wholly abandoned to ignorance. The result was that even in this period the Swedish language played a certain part in literature.
The number of historical works dating from the middle age is not large. The oldest is the "Chronica regni Gothorum," by Ericus Olai (died 1486), compiled chiefly from rhymed chronicles. The number of works in other scientific departments is equally small. Worthy of notice, however, is the encyclopædia, written in the Swedish language about the beginning of the sixteenth century by the bishop, Peder Mansson (died 1534), of which there are extant several sections (about medicine, mining, etc.), and which seems to have been compiled from foreign tongues.
The celebrated book, "Um Styrilsi kununga ok Höfdinga," (On the reign of kings and princes), occupies a very prominent place, and is justly regarded as the most valuable literary production from the Swedish middle age, and is a genuine ornament to Swedish literature. The authenticity of this very remarkable document which forms a parallel to the Norwegian "King's Mirror," has long been contested, but it has now been fully established that the oldest extant manuscript is from the fifteenth century, and it may even have been written in the first half of the fourteenth century. It presents a robust, fresh view of life, and is full of sound maxims, expressed in short, pregnant moral and political precepts, and may in this particular without hesitation be compared with Havamal and the proverbs of Solomon. It is, moreover, written in clear, vivid and comparatively pure Swedish. The author was evidently not a clergyman, for he is by no means friendly to the worldly power of the church. The various guesses in regard to the identity of the author are all void of foundation.[1]
The old provincial laws are of invaluable importance to the history of the Swedish language and of social culture. In the form in which we now have them, and in which they were in force when a general law was adopted in Sweden in 1442, they date from the thirteenth and fourteenth century. In reality they are, however, much older, and like the ancient laws of the other northern nations they are founded on rules and legal customs, which were preserved by oral tradition. In addition to these provincial laws there exist several other Swedish codes, as, for instance, "Bjarköretten," the oldest city-law, and Magnus Eriksson's code from the year 1347.[2]
The revelations of St. Birgitta (1304-72), canonized in 1391, are a very singular literary production, which was for the first time put in writing in Swedish after her death by Peter Olai and afterwards translated by him into Latin. We still possess a few fragments of it in the original Swedish form. This woman became famous throughout the North for her ascetic life and for the numerous Birgittine sisterhoods founded all over Europe, but especially in the North. She exercised a great influence on the Church, having already in her early childhood been favored with supposed revelations, in which Jesus, Mary, the saints, and even the devil were wont to appear to her. The more she devoted herself to mystical musings, the more frequent and intense they became. These revelations are the theme of the above-mentioned work, which chiefly presents conversations with Jesus, and with saints who appeared to Birgitta. Here and there are passages of a certain poetic charm, but the bulk of the work is discursive and without connection.[3]
The first attempt at a translation of the Bible, which, however, embraced only the five books of Moses, was made by the canon Mattias (died 1350), and before the Reformation there appeared several similar works. These reproductions were rather paraphrases from the Vulgate than genuine translations, but still they were of a certain importance to the development of the Swedish language, as was also the case with the collection of sermons, books for edification and other similar works, which were partly written in Swedish and partly translated from foreign tongues (as for instance Rimbert's biography of Ansgar). The first Swedish religious hymn was composed by Ericus Olai.
The popular ballads are one of the most important branches of the Swedish poetical literature of the middle age. As in Denmark and Norway these ballads have their origin in the ancient poetry common to the entire North, and to it they are intimately related, both in form and contents. This subject was discussed in connection with the ballad literature of Denmark and Norway, and we may therefore now dismiss the matter by referring the reader to what we there said.[4]
Already in the fourteenth century the learned began to imitate the style of the popular ballad, and until far into the seventeenth century this form was frequently employed in historical composition. The bishop of Linköping, Nikolaus Hermanni (died 1391), the first one who became known as a poet of this kind, composed a song in honor of the nun Elisif, and the bishop of Strengnäs, Tomas (died 1443), from whose pen we have the beautiful poems on freedom and on faithfulness, wrote the celebrated poem in honor of the national hero, Engelbrekt.
Upon the whole there is but little poetry of interest from this period. Among the many rhymed chronicles, composed in the ordinary style of the time, and as a rule of but little poetic value, the oldest one, the so-called "Erikskrönike" is worthy of attention for its excellent Swedish and charming style. It is generally supposed to have been written or at least finished about the year 1320, and its main contents relate to the son of the Swedish king Duke Erik. The style of the chronicle seems to suggest that the author was an eyewitness to the events described, and this gives it some historical value. This also applies to the majority of the other poetical productions of the same kind, particularly to the "Karlskrönike" and to the "Sturekrönike," which treat of the history of Sweden during the reigns of Karl Knutsson and Sture. We might also mention a few bishop-chronicles written in verse, and a number of didactic poems and legends, which do not, however, contain any matter of interest. In addition to the above mentioned Eufemia songs, there are also several other romances of chivalry composed in verse, such as the "Konung Alexander," thought to have been translated from Latin prose about the close of the fourteenth century. The first poem in dramatic form, which Sweden can boast, is a translation from the Latin, entitled "De uno peccatore, qui promeruit gratiam.[5]
- ↑ Um Styrilsi Kununga ok Höfdinga, edited by R. Geete, Stockholm, 1878.
- ↑ H. S. Collin and J. C Schlyter: Corpus juris Sueo-Gotorum antiqui, Samling af Sweriges Gamle Lagar, I-XIII, 1827-77. K. Maurer: Udsigt over de nordgermaniske Retskilders Historie, Kristiania, 1878.
- ↑ Heliga Birgittas Uppenbarelser, edited by G. E. Klemming, I-IV, Stockholm, 1857-62. Fr. Hammerich: Den hellige Birgitta og Kirken i Norden, Copenhagen, 1863.
- ↑ Svenska Medeltidens Bibel-arbeten, edited by G. E. Klemming, I-II, Stockholm. 1848-1853. Svenska Folkvisor, samlede och utgifne af E. G. Geijer och A. A. Afzelius, I-III, Stockholm, 1879. Svenska Fornsånger, utgifne af A. J. Arwidsson, I-III, Stockholm, 1834-42. Sveriges historiska och politiska visor, utgifne af G. O. Hylten-Cavallius och G. Stephens, 1853.
- ↑ Svenska Medeltidens Rim-Kröniker, edited by G. E. Klemming, I-III, Stockholm, 1865-67. Flores og Blantzeflor, edited by G. E. Klemming, Stockholm, 1844. Herr Iwan Lejon-Riddaren, edited by Liffman and Stephens, Stockholm, 1849. Hertig Fredrik af Normandie, edited by J. A. Ahlstrand, Stockholm, 1853. Konung Alexander, edited by G. E. Klemming, Stockholm, 1862.