The Fisher Maiden
The Fisher Maiden.
by
Björnstjerne Björnson.
Translated from the Norse
by
Rasmus B. Anderson,
Author of “Norse Mythology,” “Viking Tales of the North,”
“America Not Discovered by Columbus,” and other works.
Author’s Edition.
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Boston:
Houghton, Mifflin and Company.
New York: 11 East Seventeenth Street.
The Riverside Press, Cambridge.
1882.
Copyright, 1882,
By Houghton, Mifflin & Co.
All rights reserved.
The Riverside Press, Cambridge:
Stereotyped and Printed by H. O. Houghton & Co.
Publishers' Note.
The present edition of Björnstjerne Björnson’s Works is published by special arrangement with the author. Mr. Björnson has designated Prof. Rasmus B. Anderson as his American translator, coöperates with him, and revises each work before it is translated, thus giving his personal attention to this edition.
Preface.
The Fisher Maiden was written in 1867 and 1868, and was published simultaneously in Norway and Germany. The popularity of the story is sufficiently demonstrated by the fact that it has appeared in four German and in two English translations, the present being the third.
The characters are, perhaps, less ideal than those of his peasant stories, and the style throughout indicates that the author has entered upon a new era in his literary development. His aim here is to show how irresistible is the power of innate vocation and natural talent, and to vindicate the theatre as a place not only of amusement, but also of instruction, against the unjust criticisms of the clergy.
In the weird poem, in the eleventh chapter, on the young viking, Mr. Björnson depicts, in strangely profound sentences, his own career, his early struggles, and the victory he so quickly gained. Indeed, as Björnson said to me in 1872, the Fisher Maiden is Björnson himself, and in the young viking he has given, in a few enigmatic strokes, a picture of both the heroine and the author. Nowhere does Mr. Björnson’s patriotism burst forth in purer and nobler strains than in the short poem that follows soon after that on the young viking. It is all aglow with love and pride and confidence and hope, and is a perfect mirror of the poet’s feelings and aspirations in the midst of his great success.
The poems in this volume are translated by Augusta Plesner and Frederika Richardson, with the exception of the one at the end of chapter iv., beginning, “Ah, sweet is Love’s first meeting!” and the one in chapter ix., beginning “Joy now is kindled,” both of which are by Auber Forestier. Music has been written for “Ah, sweet is Love’s first meeting,” by Halfdan Kjerulf, and for “Joy now is kindled,” by Edward Grieg. The latter may be found in the “Norway Music Album.”
Rasmus B. Anderson.
Asgard, Madison, Wisconsin.
March, 1882.
This work is a translation and has a separate copyright status to the applicable copyright protections of the original content.
| Original: |
This work was published before January 1, 1930, and is in the public domain worldwide because the author died at least 100 years ago.
Public domainPublic domainfalsefalse |
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| Translation: |
This work is in the public domain in the United States because it was published in 1882, before the cutoff of January 1, 1930. The longest-living author of this work died in 1936, so this work is in the public domain in countries and areas where the copyright term is the author's life plus 88 years or less. This work may be in the public domain in countries and areas with longer native copyright terms that apply the rule of the shorter term to foreign works.
Public domainPublic domainfalsefalse |
