shall descend.[d]

CHAPTER V

NORWEGIAN LITERATURE

The people who emigrated from Norway and settled in Iceland, after
Harald the Fairhaired had subdued the many independent chiefs and
established the monarchy (872), for the most part belonged to the
flower of the nation, and Iceland naturally became the home of the old
Norse literature. Among the oldest poetical works of this literature
is the so-called "Elder Edda," also called "Saemund's Edda," because
for a long time it was believed to be the work of the Icelander
Saemund. "The Younger Edda," also called "Snorre's Edda," because it
is supposed to have been written by Snorre Sturlason (born 1178, died
1241), contains a synopsis of the old Norse religion and a treatise on
the art of poetry. Fully as important as the numerous poetical works
of that period was the old Norse Saga-literature (the word saga means
a historical tale). The most prominent work in this field is Snorre
Sturlason's _Heimskringla_, which gives the sagas of the kings
of Norway from the beginning down to 1777. A continuation of the
_Heimskringla_, to which several authors have contributed, among them
Snorre Sturlason's relative, Sturla Thordson, contains the history of
the later kings down to Magnus Law-Mender.

The literary development above referred to ceased almost entirely
toward the end of the fourteenth century, and later, during the union
with Denmark, the Danish language gradually took the place of the
old Norse as a book-language, and the literature became essentially
Danish. Copenhagen, with its court and university, was the literary
and educational center, where the young men of Norway went to study,
and authors born in Norway became to all intents and purposes, Danish
writers. But Norway furnished some valuable contributors to this
common literature. One of the very first names on the records of the
Danish literature, Peder Claussoen (1545-1614), is that of a Norwegian,
and the list further includes such illustrious names as Holberg,
Tullin, Wessel, Steffens, etc.

One of the most original writers whom Norway produced and kept at home
during the period of the union with Denmark was the preacher and poet,
Peder Dass (1647-1708). The best known among his secular songs is
_Nordlands Trompet_, a beautiful and patriotic description of the
northern part of Norway.

Ludvig Holberg was born in Bergen, Norway, Dec. 3, 1684. His father,
Colonel Holberg, had risen from the ranks and