im into the classical languages. He also taught himself
English by reading McPherson's "Ossian," which kept ringing in his
memory for many years to come. It was during his first enthusiasm for
"Ossian" that, in order to rid himself of the line "the spear of Connell
is keen," he cut it into his chamber-door, where probably it is yet to
be seen. At the end of fifteen months the elder brother accepted a more
profitable position as tutor in the family of the great
iron-manufacturer Myhrman, at Raemen, and stipulated that Esaias should
be permitted to accompany him.

Very charming is the description of this hospitable, patriarchal
household, in Boettiger's biography; and doubly interesting it becomes
when we recognize on every page scenes and incidents which were later
woven into "Frithjof's Saga." There was a large library on the estate,
consisting of French, Latin, and Greek classics. With great zest Esaias
attacked this storehouse of delight; and scarcely would he grant himself
the needed sleep, because every hour seemed to him lost which had been
robbed from his beloved authors. The instruction in Latin and Greek
which his brother imparted to the young Myhrmans was to him far too
slow. In his eagerness to plunge into Homer's enchanted world, he
rapidly finished his grammar, and began to read ahead, book after book,
so as to get the connection, even though understanding but half the
words. Without knowing it, he had adopted a modern and really most
excellent method of acquiring the language. For Homer became literature
to him instead of a mere text for excruciating grammatical gymnastics.

It was Tegner's good fortune that his playfellows, the seven young
Myhrmans, were not so fond of Greek as he was. Often, when he was
revelling in a glorious Homeric passage, these lusty barbarians would
come storming into his room and carry him off bodily, compelling him to
share in their sports; for Esaias was a capital hand at inventing new
games, and they willingly accepted his leadership and acted upon his
suggestions. Particularly his Homeric games were greatly enjoyed. They
divided their troop into Greeks and Trojans and captured Troy. Esaias
was always Hector, and the other boys became the raging Ajax, the
swift-footed Achilles, the wily Ulysses, etc. The youngest daughter of
the house, Anna Myhrman, must, I should fancy, have played somewhat more
of a part in Tegner's boyhood than his biographer allows, for the
descriptions of