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xviii
INTRODUCTION
anthrope and a misogynist,—wholly different from the
Frithiof who resolves to win his beloved, in spite of her
brother’s opposition, by courage and self-reliance. In the
early pages the hero never doubts of his future
happiness.
Frithiof is not a character to be analyzed like Faust or
Hamlet. Tegner does not seem to have fashioned his poem,
except perhaps in " Frithiof s Return," to mean more than
meets the ear. Its greatness lies in its intense emotion, its
vividness of imagination, and its artistic beauty, rather than
in the profundity of its thoughts.
The other two poems of Tegner that are generally
grouped with Frithiof s Saga are Axel and Nattvardsbarnen.
Axel, an excellent piece,though somewhat fantastic in plot,
reveals, like Svea, Tegner’s patriotic side. The
Nattvardsbarnen shows the sincerity and depth of his appreciation
of Swedish peasant life. The characteristics of both works
are essentially those of Frithiof. As an example of Tegner’s
later style may be mentioned his Mjeltsjukan (Ode to
Melancholy)," one of the most despairing poems," says Brandes,
"of all literature."
Tegner’s writings have the individual note that we
expect in a man of power. His short pieces have
unquestionably "the lyric cry," his narratives are full of action, his
war-songs beat with patriotism, and the love scenes in his
longer poems, despite the sentimentality of the age and
country in which they were written, still make a strong
appeal. Whether or not critics agree with him in valuing
imagery above thought in poetry, they can but acknowledge
that in revealing sensuous beauty in verses of great melody
Tegner shows nothing less than genius.
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