, but in national dramas or _folke-stykker_. The earliest of
these was a one-act piece the scene of which is laid in the 12th
century, _Between the Battles_, was written in 1855, but not produced
until 1857. He was especially influenced at this time by the study of
Baggesen and Ochlenschlager, during a visit to Copenhagen 1856-1857.
_Between the Battles_ was followed by _Lame Hulda_ in 1858, and _King
Sverre_ in 1861. All these efforts, however, were far excelled by the
splendid trilogy of _Sigurd the Bastard_, which Bjornson issued in 1862.
This raised him to the front rank among the younger poets of Europe. His
_Sigurd the Crusader_ should be added to the category of these heroic
plays, although it was not printed until 1872.

At the close of 1857 Bjornson had been appointed director of the theatre
at Bergen, a post which he held, with much journalistic work, for two
years, when he returned to the capital. From 1860 to 1863 he travelled
widely throughout Europe. Early in 1865 he undertook the management of
the Christiania theatre, and brought out his popular comedy of _The
Newly Married_ and his romantic tragedy of _Mary Stuart in Scotland_.
Although Bjornson has introduced into his novels and plays songs of
extraordinary beauty, he was never a very copious writer of verse; in
1870 he published his _Poems and Songs_ and the epic cycle called
_Arnljot Gelline_; the latter volume contains the magnificent ode called
"Bergliot," Bjornson's finest contribution to lyrical poetry. Between
1864 and 1874, in the very prime of life, Bjornson displayed a
slackening of the intellectual forces very remarkable in a man of his
energy; he was indeed during these years mainly occupied with politics,
and with his business as a theatrical manager. This was the period of
Bjornson's most fiery propaganda as a radical agitator. In 1871 he began
to supplement his journalistic work in this direction by delivering
lectures over the length and breadth of the northern countries. He
possessed to a surprising degree the arts of the orator, combined with a
magnificent physical prestige. From 1873 to 1876 Bjornson was absent
from Norway, and in the peace of voluntary exile he recovered his
imaginative powers. His new departure as a dramatic author began with _A
Bankruptcy_ and _The Editor_ in 1874, social dramas of an extremely
modern and realistic cast.

The poet now settled on his estate of Aulestad in Gausdal. In 1877 he
published another novel