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.[1]
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.[2]
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 reproduc-
- ↑ 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.
