Lars Lönnroth

Last updated • 3 min readFrom Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia

Lars Lönnroth
Lars Lonnroth.jpg
At Gothenburg Book Fair, 2019
Born (1935-06-04) 4 June 1935 (age 89)
Gothenburg, Sweden
NationalitySwedish
Occupationliterary scientist
Parent Erik Lönnroth
Awards Dobloug Prize

Lars Lönnroth (born 4 June 1935) is a Swedish literary scholar.

Contents

He was born in Gothenburg to Erik Lönnroth and Ebba Lagercrantz.

His academic career includes professorships at the University of California Berkeley, University of Aalborg and the University of Gothenburg. [1]

Career

Lönnroth gained his first degree at Uppsala University in 1961, and his PhD at Stockholm University in 1965. [2] He became associate professor in Scandinavian Studies at University of California, Berkeley in 1965, and professor in literature and text science at Aalborg University in 1974. From 1982 to 2000, he was professor in literary studies at the University of Gothenburg, [3] with a short break when he was Svenska Dagbladet 's cultural director from 1991 to 1993. He was chairman of Statens konstnärsnämnd from 1995 to 2001, and chairman of Sällskapet Gnistan from 1999 to 2013.

Lönnroth's research has to a large extent dealt with the Icelandic medieval fairy tale literature. Together with Sven Delblanc, he was editor of the seven-volume work "Swedish Literature" (1987–90). He has written numerous other books including the 2005 Ljuva karneval! on Sweden's 18th century bard, Carl Michael Bellman. He has published his memoirs and a personal book about his family heritage from the nationalist poet, historian and composer Erik Gustav Geijer onwards, a legacy marked by the "poetry and madness" of the book's subtitle. [4]

Lönnroth was installed in 1993 as an honorary member of the Södermanlands-Nerikes nation in Uppsala. He is an honorary member of the Society of Swedish Literature in Finland, [3] a member of the Royal Norwegian Society of Sciences and Letters, [3] the Royal Gustavus Adolphus Academy, and the Royal Society of Arts and Sciences in Gothenburg. [3]

Reception

Reviewing the Festschrift written in his honour in 2000, [5] Ulf Malm described Lönnroth as "the energetically combative and polemically gifted literature professor from Gothenburg". [6]

Ljuva karneval!

Lonnroth's Ljuva karneval! shows that Carl Michael Bellman was above all an entertainer, playing many roles. Painting of Bellman entertaining King Gustav III, by Albert Edelfelt, 1884 Albert Edelfelt - Bellman Playing the Lute for Gustaf III of Sweden and G.M. Armfelt in Haga Park, sketch.jpg
Lönnroth's Ljuva karneval! shows that Carl Michael Bellman was above all an entertainer, playing many roles. Painting of Bellman entertaining King Gustav III, by Albert Edelfelt, 1884

In Ljuva karneval!, written after some 40 years of research, [8] Lönnroth dispels the dominant 200 year old myth created by Johan Henric Kellgren that Bellman was always speaking for himself in his best-known work, Fredman's Epistles . The book explains that the reverse was the case; Bellman uninterruptedly played carefully-crafted roles, [7] including troubadour, court dramatist, and satirist. [9] The book presents Bellman as a skilful performance artist with an experimental, genre-crossing creativity. [10] Fredman's Epistles necessarily [8] take a central place in the book, but it offers much fresh detail on Bellman's lesser-known works, such as Bacchi Tempel . [8]

Family

Lars is the brother of the politician Johan Lönnroth, the nephew of the author Olof Lagercrantz, [11] and cousin of the actress Marika Lagercrantz and the journalist and author David Lagercrantz.

Works

In English

  • 1965 – European Sources of Icelandic Saga-Writing
  • 1976 – Njáls saga: A Critical Introduction
  • 1977 – The Riddles of the Rök-Stone: A Structural Approach
  • 2011 – The Academy of Odin: Selected Papers on Old Norse Literature

In Swedish

  • 1961 – Litteraturforskningens dilemma
  • 1978 – Den dubbla scenen
  • 1983 – Faust i Göteborg
  • 1996 – Skaldemjödet i berget
  • 2001 – Tegnér och det nordiskt sublima
  • 2005 – Ljuva Karneval! Om Carl Michael Bellmans diktning
  • 2006 – Njals saga (translation, introduction)
  • 2009 – Dörrar till främmande rum. Minnesfragment
  • 2017 – Det germanska spåret. En västerländsk litteraturtradition från Tacitus till Tolkien
  • 2019 – Geijerarvet. En släkthistoria om dikt och galenskap

Translations

  • 1995 – Isländska mytsagor (with commentary)
  • 2014 – Laxdalingarnas saga
  • 2016 – Den poetiska Eddan (with introduction and commentary)

Awards and distinctions

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jean Fredman</span> Swedish watchmaker

Jean Fredman was a famous figure in 18th century Stockholm. He was the son of the watchmaker Andreas Fredman from his first marriage. He later also became a watchmaker, after being his father's apprentice. In the year 1745 he married a wealthy widow named Katarina Lindberg. Between the husband and wife there took place a buzzed-about legal process as Fredman had embezzled his wife's money.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Märk hur vår skugga</span> Song by the 18th century Swedish bard Carl Michael Bellman

Märk hur vår skugga is one of the best-known of the 1790 Fredman's Epistles, where it is No. 81. These were written and performed by Carl Michael Bellman, the dominant figure in the Swedish song tradition. Its subject is the funeral of one of Bellman's female acquaintances, Grälmakar Löfberg's wife.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Gubben Noak</span> Traditional Swedish song

"Gubben Noak" is a traditional Swedish song, a drinking song and bible travesty written in 1766 or earlier by Carl Michael Bellman. The song is possibly the best known of all Bellman's works. The song was initially published anonymously for fear of the church. In 1768 the Lund chapter attempted to have all copies of the song and other biblical travesties destroyed. It was included in the 1936 Songs for the Philologists by J. R. R. Tolkien and E. V. Gordon. Simplified and more innocent versions of the song are widely sung by children around the world. English versions have been recorded by Adam McNaughtan and the Linköping University Male Voice Choir.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Så lunka vi så småningom</span> Song by Swedish poet and songwriter Carl Michael Bellman

Så lunka vi så småningom is a song from the Swedish poet and performer Carl Michael Bellman's 1791 collection, Fredman's Songs, where it is No. 21. The song, written a few months after the death of his son Eli, is addressed to his hosts at a meal. It makes light of death, while presenting it to each person individually, of high or low rank in society. The refrain sings of a pair of gravediggers discussing whether the grave is too deep, taking repeated swigs from a bottle of brandy.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Blåsen nu alla</span> Song by the 18th century Swedish bard Carl Michael Bellman

Blåsen nu alla, "All blow now!", is one of the Swedish poet and performer Carl Michael Bellman's best-known and best-loved songs, from his 1790 collection, Fredman's Epistles, where it is No. 25. It is a pastorale, based on François Boucher's rococo 1740 painting Triumph of Venus.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Glimmande nymf</span> Song by the 18th century Swedish bard Carl Michael Bellman

Glimmande nymf, is a song by the Swedish poet and performer Carl Michael Bellman from his 1790 collection, Fredman's Epistles, where it is No. 72. It is subtitled "Lemnad vid Cajsa Lisas Säng, sent om en afton", and set to a melody by Egidio Duni. A night-piece, it depicts a Rococo muse in the Ulla Winblad mould, asleep in her bed in Stockholm, complete with allusions to both classical and Nordic mythology.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Liksom en Herdinna, högtids klädd</span> Song by the 18th century Swedish bard Carl Michael Bellman

Liksom en Herdinna, högtids klädd, is a song by the Swedish poet and performer Carl Michael Bellman from his 1790 collection, Fredman's Epistles, where it is No. 80. The Epistle is subtitled "Angående Ulla Winblads Lustresa til Första Torpet, utom Kattrumps Tullen". It is a pastorale, starting with a near-paraphrase of Nicolas Boileau-Despréaux's French guide to the construction of pastoral verse. That doesn't prevent the supposed shepherd and shepherdess from falling into bed drunk at the end of the song. It has been described as lovelier in Swedish than in Boileau's original French. The epistle's humorous depiction of the human condition has been praised by critics.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Fjäriln vingad syns på Haga</span> Song by Carl Michael Bellman

Fjäril'n vingad syns på Haga is one of Carl Michael Bellman's collection of songs called Fredmans sånger, published in 1791, where it is No. 64. The song describes Haga Park, the attractive natural setting of King Gustav III's never-completed Haga Palace just north of Stockholm. An earlier version of the song was a verse petition to obtain a job for Bellman's wife. The composition is one of the most popular of Bellman's songs, being known by many Swedes by heart. It has been recorded many times from 1904 onwards, and translated into English verse at least four times.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">I går såg jag ditt barn, min Fröja</span> Song by the 18th century Swedish bard Carl Michael Bellman

I går såg jag ditt barn, min Fröja, is a ballad from the Swedish poet and performer Carl Michael Bellman's 1790 collection, Fredman's Epistles, where it is No. 28. The epistle is subtitled "Om et anstäldt försåt emot Ulla Winblad.". It describes an attempt to arrest the "nymph" Ulla Winblad, based on a real event. The lyrics create a rococo picture of life, blending classical allusion and pastoral description with harsh reality.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ge rum i Bröllopsgåln din hund!</span> Song by the 18th century Swedish bard Carl Michael Bellman

Ge rum i Bröllopsgåln din hund! is Epistle No. 40 in the Swedish poet and performer Carl Michael Bellman's 1790 song collection, Fredman's Epistles. One of his best-known works, it describes an utterly chaotic wedding at a venue where soldiers mixed up with musicians and the wedding-party; the chimney catches fire, and even the priest robs the collection. The verse-pattern and elaborate rhyming scheme combine to assist the feeling of chaos.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Stolta Stad!</span> Song and speech by the 18th century Swedish bard Carl Michael Bellman

Stolta stad! is Epistle No. 33 in the Swedish poet and performer Carl Michael Bellman's 1790 song collection, Fredman's Epistles. One of his best-known works, it combines both spoken and sung sections. In the spoken sections, Bellman, as composer and as performer, imitates a whole crowd of people of many descriptions. It has been described as Swedish literature's most congenial portrait of the country's capital city, Stockholm.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Movitz blåste en konsert</span> Song by the 18th century Swedish bard Carl Michael Bellman

Movitz blåste en konsert is epistle No. 51 in the Swedish poet and performer Carl Michael Bellman's 1790 song collection, Fredman's Epistles. The epistle is subtitled "Angående konserten på Tre Byttor", naming a restaurant in Stockholm's Djurgården park. It was written after Bellman had become a court musician to the new King Gustav III in 1773. The melody was borrowed from George Frideric Handel's 1718 opera, Acis and Galatea.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Opp Amaryllis!</span> Swedish song

Opp Amaryllis! is one of the Swedish poet and performer Carl Michael Bellman's songs from his 1791 collection, Fredman's Songs, where it is No. 31. The song is a graceful pastorale in rococo style, involving a sleeping nymph who is invited to come fishing upon the sea's stormy wave. In reality, the nymph is a Swedish woman, Wilhelmina Norman, the stormy wave is a Swedish waterway, and the progression from shore to fishing-boat can equally well be read as a seduction. It is one of Bellman's best-known and best-loved songs, and has been recorded by musicians including Folke Andersson and Edvard Andreasson.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mats Malm</span>

Mats Ulrik Malm is a Swedish literary writer and translator. On 18 October 2018, Malm was elected a member of the Swedish Academy, on 26 April 2019 he was elected the new Permanent Secretary and Speaker of the Swedish Academy.

<i>Bacchi Tempel</i> Book-length poem in alexandrines by Carl Michael Bellman

Bacchi tempel öppnat vid en hjältes död, commonly known as Bacchi Tempel is a song play, a long poem in two thousand alexandrines, written by Carl Michael Bellman and published by Sweden's royal printing press in 1783. The illustrator was Elias Martin. The work had been preceded by a version from 1779 titled "Bacchi Temple opened at the death of Corporal and Order Oboist Father Movitz", but had been reworked and expanded several times.

<i>Ljuva karneval!</i> 2005 book about Carl Michael Bellman by Lars Lönnroth

Ljuva karneval! is a 2005 book about the work of Sweden's national bard, the 18th century poet and performer Carl Michael Bellman, by the Swedish literary scholar Lars Lönnroth. Bellman is the central figure in Swedish song, known in particular for his 1790 collection, Fredman's Epistles. Lönnroth, who has studied Bellman since the 1960s, aims to give an overview of Bellman's work, describing the essence of Bellman's art: giving a frolicking one-man performance, religious or profane, through adapted tunes, imitated crowd sounds and speech in different languages, and songs in varied genres. He distinguishes carefully between the art and the person of Bellman, who in his view was by no means as drunken and debauched as the cast of his Epistles.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Par Bricole</span> Swedish Bacchanalian society

Par Bricole is a Swedish Bacchanalian order society for men only, founded in Stockholm on 15 May 1779 in Källaren Kejsarkronan at Drottninggatan 6. The main sources of inspiration were the Freemasons and Carl Michael Bellman's sayings about Bacchus.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Fram med basfiolen, knäpp och skruva</span> Song by the 18th century Swedish bard Carl Michael Bellman

Fram med basfiolen, knäpp och skruva is Epistle No. 7 in the Swedish poet and performer Carl Michael Bellman's 1790 song collection, Fredman's Epistles. The epistle is subtitled "Som synes vara en elegi, skriven vid Ulla Winblads sang, sent om en afton". It describes an attempt by Jean Fredman to make love to Ulla Winblad, set to a tune from a French operetta, narrated with a combination of biblical allusion and suggestive metaphor. The mention of elegy implies that the song is about death, but the subtext is of the "little death" or female orgasm. Scholars have remarked the epistle's ambiguity, enabling it to work both on a high mythological level and a low worldly level. Similarly, the musician's cello serves both as a musical instrument and as a symbol for Ulla Winblad's body, allowing the singer to mime plucking strings and feeling a woman's body.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kära syster</span> Song by the 18th century Swedish bard Carl Michael Bellman

Kära Syster is No. 24 in the Swedish poet and performer Carl Michael Bellman's 1790 song collection, Fredman's Epistles. The epistle is subtitled "Till kära mor på Bruna Dörren" ; its themes are drinking and death. One of his best-known works, it is set to a tune extensively modified from one by Egidio Duni for Louis Anseaume's 1766 song-play La Clochette. Bellman's biographer, Carina Burman, calls it a central epistle.

References

  1. Lena Jönsson, ed. (1993). "Lönnroth, Lars". Vem är det. Svensk biografisk handbok (in Swedish). Stockholm: Norstedt. Retrieved 4 August 2017.
  2. Lönnroth, Lars (1965). European sources of Icelandic saga-writing. Stockholm.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 "Curriculum Vitae: Lars Lönnroth". University of Gothenburg. Retrieved 11 January 2021.
  4. "En släkthistoria som rymmer både framgång och tragedier" [A family history with both progress and tragedy] (in Swedish). University of Gothenburg. 23 September 2019. Retrieved 15 January 2021.
  5. Hansson, Stina; Malm, Mats (2000). Gudar på jorden: festskrift till Lars Lönnroth [Gods on Earth: festschrift for Lars Lönnroth] (in Swedish). Brutus Östlings Bokförlag Symposion. ISBN   978-91-7139-489-7.
  6. Malm, Ulf. "Övriga recensioner" (PDF). Tidskrift för svensk litteraturvetenskaplig forskning. No. 12 February 2001. Svensk Litteratursällskapet. pp. 190–195. Retrieved 11 January 2021.
  7. 1 2 Dahlman, Inger (15 April 2005). "Gamla myter avlivas". Gotlands Allehanda (in Swedish). Archived from the original on 23 October 2020. Retrieved 12 January 2021.
  8. 1 2 3 Stålmarck, Torkel (12 June 2005). "Lars Lönnroth, Ljuva karneval! Om Carl Michael Bellmans diktning. Albert Bonniers Förlag. Stockholm 2005" (PDF). Samlaren. Svenska Litteratursällskapet: 441–443.
  9. Stenström, Johan (22 March 2005). "Recension@ Ljuva karneval! Om Carl Michael Bellmans diktning: Bellman bakom maskerna". Svenska Dagbladet . Retrieved 21 December 2021.
  10. Cullhed, Anders (2 March 2005). "Karnevalisk cross-over". Dagens Nyheter (in Swedish). Archived from the original on 23 October 2020. Retrieved 12 January 2021.
  11. Lindqvist, Inga-Lina (4 October 2019). "En underbar bok att befinna sig i" [A wonderful book to find oneself in]. Aftonbladet (in Swedish). Retrieved 11 January 2021.
  12. "Pristagare". Tegnérsamfundet. Retrieved 12 January 2021.
  13. Bolstad, Erik (ed.). "Doblougprisen". Store norske leksikon (in Norwegian). Oslo: Norsk nettleksikon. Retrieved 4 August 2017.
  14. "Extra Pris" (in Swedish). The Swedish Academy. 23 November 2016. Svenska Akademien har beslutat tilldela Lars Lönnroth ett extra pris på 100 000 kronor ur Akademiens egna medel.
  15. "Heiðursdoktorsathöfn Lars Lönnroth" [Honorary Doctorate for Lars Lönnroth] (in Icelandic). Háskóli Íslands. 23 September 2021. Retrieved 24 September 2021.