The Childhood of King Erik Menved: An Historical Romance Read online

  Produced by Charles Bowen, from page scans provided by Google Books

  Transcriber's Note:

  1. Page scan source: https://books.google.com/books?id=A-M8AAAAYAAJ&dq

  2. The diphthong oe is represented by {Oe] and [oe].

  THE LIBRARY

  OF

  FOREIGN ROMANCE,

  And Nobel Newspaper:

  COMPRISING

  STANDARD ENGLISH WORKS OF FICTION,

  AND

  ORIGINAL TRANSLATIONS

  FROM THE MOST CELEBRATED CONTINENTAL AUTHORS.

  * * *

  Vol. VII.

  CONTAINING

  THE CHILDHOOD OF KING ERIK MENVED.

  An Historical Romance.

  TRANSLATED FROM THE DANISH OF B. S. INGEMANN.

  * * * * *

  LONDON: BRUCE AND WYLD, 84, FARRINGDON STREET. 1846.

  THE CHILDHOOD

  OF

  KING ERIK MENVED.

  An Historical Romance.

  BY B. S. INGEMANN.

  TRANSLATED FROM THE DANISH, BY J. KESSON.

  LONDON: BRUCE AND WYLD, 84, FARRINGDON STREET. 1846.

  TRANSLATOR'S PREFACE.

  The author has given no preface to this romance; and the translatorwould be contented to follow his example, had the author alreadyenjoyed an English celebrity, or could the name of his translator ofitself suffice to recommend his work to the English public.

  But the names of Danish writers are comparatively little known inEngland, and the literature and language of Denmark have not herereceived that degree of attention which they so justly merit. While thenames of the poets and novelists of France and Germany are familiar toa numerous section of the reading public, they have yet, in a greatmeasure, to become acquainted with the names of Ingemann, Andersen,Baggesen, Heiberg, Oehlenschlaeger, and many other Danes of recenttimes, whose productions as poets, novel's, and dramatists, would dohonour to the literature of any country. It is only in comparativelyrecent times, however, that Denmark has produced a class of writers ofany considerable note in the higher walks of literature. During thelast century, with the exception of Holberg's "Niels Klim" and "PederPaars," there are scarcely any other works, unless of a scientific andhistorical character, that have acquired anything of a Europeancelebrity. To investigate fully the causes of this dearth of elegantwriters would require more than the limits of a preface. They may besought for partly in the depression of the national spirit, consequentupon the decay of the kingdom of Denmark, which, from the proudposition it occupied during the middle ages, as one of the first powersof Europe, has gradually dwindled to a third-rate monarchy; and,partly, in the undue preference awarded by its own scholars and men ofletters to the productions of French, German, and English writers. But,whatever the causes, within the last thirty years there has been anevident desire on the part of the Danes to possess a literature oftheir own, and to take their stand among the _literati_ of Europe inevery department of the _belles-lettres_. To accomplish this, it wasnecessary to arouse the dormant spirit of the people--to remind them oftheir former greatness--to revive the memories of the ancient heroes ofDenmark--to reproduce their old chronicles, sagas, and ballads--and, bydwelling on the glories of the past, to kindle bright hopes of thefuture.

  None have laboured with more success in this vocation than Ingemann.Already known as a poet and a dramatist, he had still to earn areputation among his countrymen as a novelist. Seizing upon theromantic materials of Denmark's former history, he revived the memoryof the great Waldemars, and the proudest periods of the Danishmonarchy, investing the heroes who still live in ancient ballad andstory with greater charms of interest; and he has succeeded in winninga place in the hearts and estimation of his countrymen as an author anda patriot. He has written wholly for his countrymen, and in the purestspirit of the historical romance. His characters are real characters;his facts are the facts of his country's history, gleaned from herancient chronicles and popular song, and woven together with theslightest texture of fiction, sufficient only to redeem his narrativefrom the character of a dry chronicle.

  In this respect his romances must suffer when compared with those ofSir Walter Scott, where history is made subordinate to fiction, andpoetic licence usurps the place of historical truth; but they possessthis advantage--that they are truer transcripts of the past, andpresent us with the men, manners, and institutions of by-gone times,with a fidelity that enhances our interest in the history, and withfiction enough to make the reading of the history attractive.

  In present romance Ingemann introduces us to an interesting period inthe history of Denmark--the last year of the reign of Erik Glipping,and the commencement of the reign of his son and successor, ErikMenved. He gives us a portraiture of the state of society at thetime--glimpses of old laws and old customs--snatches of ancientfable--and places men before us as they lived and acted towards theclose of the thirteenth century.

  The translator has endeavoured, in the purity of faithfulness, topresent the reader with both the letter and the spirit of his original.In the course of his narrative the author alludes to matters familiarenough, no doubt, to his own countrymen, but with which the Englishreader can scarcely be expected to be acquainted. In many of thesecases the translator has subjoined a note explanatory of a particularpassage, which, in a work of this description, might otherwise beregarded as an editorial impertinence. For the adoption of occasionalScottish words and phrases, in translating the various fragments of oldDanish ballads scattered throughout the narrative, the translator canonly plead the example of Sir Walter Scott, Jamieson, and others, whohave followed this course in rendering several of the Kaempeviser.Indeed, the close similarity of language and phraseology in many of theold Scottish and Danish ballads, furnishes an irresistible temptationto this mode of translation.

  _London_, _November_, 1846.