Literature

Swedish. The oldest remains of Swedish literature are in the form of Runes, indicating that legends and folk tales were common. With the introduction of Christianity the clergy became the important factor and their works follow Latin models. During the period of the Reformation a translation of the Bible was made and mystery plays appeared in Sweden as elsewhere. Messenius attempted to substitute history for legend in these plays, his efforts marking the first development in the drama. The greatest name of the period is that of Sternhjelm, who produced odes, lyrics, and didactic poetry. During the eighteenth century, French taste prevailed and French models were imitated in Sweden as elsewhere in Europe. Gustavus III, as a master of rhetoric; Dalin, who is likened to Addison; Kellgren, the lyric poet; and Leopold, the dramatist, are the most notable names of this period of formalism and slavish imitation. With the second decade of the nineteenth century, a new era dawned. Romanticism represents the reaction from French theories. The phosphorists were a school of writers representing the extreme of romanticism. In opposition to the Romanticists arose the Gothic school aiming at a national literature. To this school belong the most famous poets of Swedish literature--Geijer, Tegner, Runeberg. Fiction now received attention. Frederika Bremer and Cederborg are prominent names in this line. In the later part of the century nearly every department of literature had its able representatives. See Runes; Tegner; Geijer; Runeberg; Hedin; Lagerlof