Inger Hagerup (née Halsør; 12 April 1905, in

Bergen Bergen (), historically Bjørgvin, is a city and municipality in Vestland county on the west coast of Norway. , its population is roughly 285,900. Bergen is the second-largest city in Norway. The municipality covers and is on the peninsula of ...

– 6 February 1985, in

Fredrikstad Fredrikstad (; previously ''Frederiksstad''; literally "Fredrik's Town") is a city and municipality in Viken county, Norway. The administrative centre of the municipality is the city of Fredrikstad. The city of Fredrikstad was founded in 15 ...

) was a

Norwegian Norwegian, Norwayan, or Norsk may refer to: *Something of, from, or related to Norway, a country in northwestern Europe * Norwegians, both a nation and an ethnic group native to Norway * Demographics of Norway *The Norwegian language, including ...

writer,

playwright A playwright or dramatist is a person who writes plays. Etymology The word "play" is from Middle English pleye, from Old English plæġ, pleġa, plæġa ("play, exercise; sport, game; drama, applause"). The word "wright" is an archaic English ...

and

poet A poet is a person who studies and creates poetry. Poets may describe themselves as such or be described as such by others. A poet may simply be the creator ( thinker, songwriter, writer, or author) who creates (composes) poems (oral or writte ...

. She is considered one of the greatest Norwegian poets of the 20th century.

Life and career

Inger Johanne Halsør was born in

, Norway. Her father died when she was five years old. For several years, her family moved around, until they settled in

Nordfjord Nordfjord ( en, Northern fjord—in contrast to Sunnfjord) is a traditional district of Norway. Geography The region is located in the northern part of Vestland county in Western Norway. It centers on the Nordfjorden and it comprises the muni ...

and later in

Volda Volda is a municipality in Møre og Romsdal county, Norway. It is part of the Sunnmøre region. The administrative centre is the village of Volda. Other villages in the municipality include Dravlaus, Fyrde, Straumshamn, Leira, Bjørke, and ...

. In 1931, she married Anders Askevold Hagerup (1904–1979), who was a teacher, translator and children's book author. They settled at Haugerud, Oslo, and became the parents of two distinguished Norwegian authors,

Klaus Hagerup Klaus Hagerup (5 March 1946 – 20 December 2018) was a Norwegian author, translator, screenwriter, actor and director. He was also known for his role of Tom in the film '' The Chieftain'' (1984). Career The youngest of two brothers, he debuted w ...

and

Helge Hagerup Helge Hagerup (21 April 1933 – 12 August 2008) was a Norwegian playwright, poet and novelist. He was born in Trondheim, a son of Inger Hagerup, and brother of Klaus Hagerup. He made his literary debut in 1949 with the short story collection ...

. Her son, Klaus Hagerup wrote extensively about his mother in ''Alt er så nær meg: Om Inger Hagerup''. Inger Hagerup is mostly known for her

lyric poetry Modern lyric poetry is a formal type of poetry which expresses personal emotions or feelings, typically spoken in the first person. It is not equivalent to song lyrics, though song lyrics are often in the lyric mode, and it is also ''not'' equi ...

, but has also been recognized for writing many important

theatrical Theatre or theater is a collaborative form of performing art that uses live performers, usually actor, actors or actresses, to present the experience of a real or imagined event before a live audience in a specific place, often a stage. The p ...

pieces. Hagerup published her first poetry collection, ''Jeg gikk meg vill i skogene'', in 1939. While studying in Trondheim she was also a member of the Communist organisation ''

Mot Dag Mot Dag (, 'Towards Day') was a Norwegian political group. The group was active from the 1920s to the early 1930s and was first affiliated with the Labour Party. After World War II, many of its former members were leaders in Norwegian politics and ...

''. Both Inger Hagerup and her husband Anders participated in resistance activities during the

occupation of Norway by Nazi Germany The occupation of Norway by Nazi Germany during the Second World War began on 9 April 1940 after Operation Weserübung. Conventional armed resistance to the German invasion ended on 10 June 1940, and Nazi Germany controlled Norway until the ...

and in 1943 they fled to Sweden. She was known for opposing the German occupation, writing many lyrics against what she saw as a brutal and careless enemy, such as in ''"Aust Vågøy"''. The latter was inspired by an incident that occurred in the Second World War. The Nazis retaliated against locals after a successful British raid-attack in March 1941 in the Lofoten Islands. Many Norwegians can recite from memory the first lines, ''De brente våre gårder. De drepte våre menn. La våre hjerter hamre det om og om igjen.'' ("They burned our houses. They killed our men. Let our hearts pound it, over and over again). In 1944 she was awarded the

Gyldendal's Endowment Gyldendal's Endowment was a literature prize which was awarded in the period 1934–1995 by the Norwegian publisher Gyldendal Norsk Forlag. The prize was awarded to significant authors, regardless of which publisher the author was associated w ...

, the Sarpsborg Prize in 1955 and in 1962 Inger Hagerup was recognized with the

Dobloug Prize The Dobloug Prize ( sv, Doblougska priset, no, Doblougprisen) is a literature prize awarded for Swedish and Norwegian fiction. The prize is named after Norwegian businessman and philanthropist Birger Dobloug (1881–1944) pursuant to his bequest. T ...

. She died in Fredrikstad, Østfold on 6 February 1985. Her poem "Två tungor" (Two tongues) has been sung by

Fred Åkerström Fred Åkerström (27 January 1937 – 9 August 1985) was a Swedish folk guitarist and singer particularly noted for his interpretations of Carl Michael Bellman's music, and his own work of the typically Swedish song segment named ''visa''. The ...

on his 1972 album of that name, and by Sofia Karlsson on her 2007 album ''

Visor från vinden ''Visor från vinden'' (Songs from the loft) is the Swedish singer Sofia Karlsson's third studio album as a solo artist. The album was released on 11 April 2007 by Bonnier Amigo Music Group. The album is a collection of songs written by poets ...

''.

Selected works

* ''Jeg gikk meg vill i skogene'', 1939 * ''Flukten til Amerika'', 1942 * ''Videre'',

Stockholm Stockholm () is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in Sweden by population, largest city of Sweden as well as the List of urban areas in the Nordic countries, largest urban area in Scandinavia. Approximately 980,000 people liv ...

1944,

Oslo Oslo ( , , or ; sma, Oslove) is the capital and most populous city of Norway. It constitutes both a county and a municipality. The municipality of Oslo had a population of in 2022, while the city's greater urban area had a population of ...

1945 * ''Lykke '', 1945 * ''Den syvende natt'', 1947 * ''Sånn vil du ha meg. 30 utvalgte dikt om kjærlighet'', 1949 * ''Så rart'' (children's poetry), 1950 * ''Mitt skip seiler'', 1951 * ''Hilsen fra Katarina'', 1953 * ''Drømmeboken'', 1955 * ''Den tredje utvei'' (drama), 1956 * ''Strofe med vinden'', 1958 * ''Lille Persille'' (children's poetry), 1961 * ''Fra hjertets krater'', 1964 * ''Dikt i utvalg'', 1965 * ''Det kommer en pike gående'', 1965 * ''Hva skal du her nede?'', 1966 * ''Trekkfuglene og skjæra'', 1967 * ''Ut og søke tjeneste'', 1968 * ''Østenfor kjærlighet, vestenfor drøm'' (short stories), edited by Karin Beate Vold, 1977 * ''Samlede dikt'', 1985

References

Other sources

*Hagerup, Klaus (1988) ''Alt er sa nær meg: Om Inger Hagerup'' (Oslo: Aschehoug) *Hagerup, Inger: Karin Beate Vold, and Jan Erik Vold (1990) ''Samlede Dikt'' (Oslo: Aschehoug)

External links

Daria.no: Inger Hagerup

Hagerup at the National LibraryAschehoug agency: Inger Hagerup
{{DEFAULTSORT:Hagerup, Inger 1905 births 1985 deaths 20th-century Norwegian poets Norwegian women poets Mot Dag Dobloug Prize winners 20th-century Norwegian dramatists and playwrights 20th-century Norwegian women writers Norwegian women dramatists and playwrights People from Volda