And the undying glory of dreams,"

proved a lasting stimulus to Bjoernson's genius, and, during the early
period of his career, which is now under review, it made its influence
felt alike in his tales, his dramas, and his songs. "To see the
peasant in the light of the sagas and the sagas in the light of the
peasant" he declared to be the fundamental principle of his literary
method.

It has been seen that during the fifteen years which made Bjoernson in
so peculiar a sense the spokesman of his race, he wrote no less than
five saga dramas. The first two of these works, "Between the Battles"
and "Halte-Hulda," are rather slight performances, and the third, "King
Sverre," although a more extended work, is not particularly noteworthy.
The grimness of the Viking life is softened by romantic coloring, and
the poet has not freed himself from the influence of Oehlenschlaeger.
But in "Sigurd Slembe" he found a subject entirely worthy of his
genius, and produced one of the noblest masterpieces of all modern
literature. This largely planned and magnificently executed dramatic
trilogy was written in Munich, and published in 1862. The material is
found in the "Heimskringla," but the author has used the prerogative of
the artist to simplify the historical outline thus offered into a
superb imaginative creation, rich in human interest, and powerful in
dramatic presentation. The story is concerned with the efforts of
Sigurd, nicknamed "Slembe," to obtain the succession to the throne of
Norway during the first half of the twelfth century. He was a son of
King Magnus Barfod, and, although of illegitimate birth, might legally
make this claim. The secret of his birth has been kept from him until
he has come to manhood, and the revelation of this secret by his mother
is made in the first section of the trilogy, which is a single act,
written in blank verse. Recognizing the futility of urging his
birthright at this time, he starts off to win fame as a crusader, the
sort of fame that haloed Sigurd Jorsalfar, then king of Norway. The
remainder of the work is in prose, and was, in fact, written before
this poetical prologue. The second section, in three acts, deals with
an episode in the Orkneys, five years later. Sigurd has not even then
journeyed to the Holy Land, but he has wandered elsewhere afar,
thwarted ambition and the sense of injustice ever gnawing at his heart.
He becomes entangled in a feudal quarrel concerning the rule