Mikkjel Fønhus (14 March 1894 – 28 October 1973) was a Norwegian journalist,

novel A novel is a relatively long work of narrative fiction, typically written in prose and published as a book. The present English word for a long work of prose fiction derives from the for "new", "news", or "short story of something new", itsel ...

ist and

short story A short story is a piece of prose fiction that typically can be read in one sitting and focuses on a self-contained incident or series of linked incidents, with the intent of evoking a single effect or mood. The short story is one of the oldest ...

writer. Fønhus' stories are often set in the

wilderness Wilderness or wildlands (usually in the plural), are natural environments on Earth that have not been significantly modified by human activity or any nonurbanized land not under extensive agricultural cultivation. The term has traditionally re ...

, featuring animals and animal behaviour.

Personal life

Mikkel Arnesen Fønhus was born on the Nordre Fønhus farm in the Valdres Valley in

Sør-Aurdal Sør-Aurdal is a municipality in Innlandet county, Norway. It is located in the traditional district of Valdres. The administrative centre of the municipality is the village of Bagn. Other villages in the municipality include Begna, Hedalen, an ...

Oppland Oppland is a former county in Norway which existed from 1781 until its dissolution on 1 January 2020. The old Oppland county bordered the counties of Trøndelag, Møre og Romsdal, Sogn og Fjordane, Buskerud, Akershus, Oslo and Hedmark. The co ...

, Norway to the merchant Arne Mikkelsen Fønhus (1860–1896) and Olava Olsdatter Storsveen (1867–1948). After six years of primary school, he attended four years of middle school in Aurdalsbyen and three years of secondary school in

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 ...

. He also started studying law at the

University of Oslo The University of Oslo ( no, Universitetet i Oslo; la, Universitas Osloensis) is a public research university located in Oslo, Norway. It is the highest ranked and oldest university in Norway. It is consistently ranked among the top universit ...

. His marriage to the teacher Helga Karlsgot in 1926 ended in divorce, and he then married Margrethe Frøshaug in 1934.

Career

Fønhus made his literary debut with the novel '' Skoggangsmand'' in 1917, a story about an outlaw. His breakthrough came with the next book, '' Der Vildmarken suser'' (1919), inspired by

Jack London John Griffith Chaney (January 12, 1876 – November 22, 1916), better known as Jack London, was an American novelist, journalist and activist. A pioneer of commercial fiction and American magazines, he was one of the first American authors to ...

's ''

The Call of the Wild ''The Call of the Wild'' is a short adventure novel by Jack London, published in 1903 and set in Yukon, Canada, during the 1890s Klondike Gold Rush, when strong sled dogs were in high demand. The central character of the novel is a dog named Bu ...

''. His next books were '' Det skriker fra Kverrvilljuvet'' (1920) and '' Troll-Elgen'' (1921). These three books were all set in the wilderness, featuring animals and animal behavior. In 1922 he published a novel from

Spitsbergen Spitsbergen (; formerly known as West Spitsbergen; Norwegian: ''Vest Spitsbergen'' or ''Vestspitsbergen'' , also sometimes spelled Spitzbergen) is the largest and the only permanently populated island of the Svalbard archipelago in northern Norw ...

, ''Under polarlyset''. The stories of Fønhus also made frequent references to folk tales. Among his many qualities as a writer was his ability to develop the oral storytelling tradition. An example is the story "Ropet fra Helvetesjuvet" in the collection ''Raudalsdansen'' from 1924. In 1926 he wrote the novel ''Reinsbukken på Jotunfjell'', in 1927 the collection ''Vandringen mot nord'', and in 1929 ''Skogenes eventyrer'', stories about a fox. He wrote stories about animals such as

beaver Beavers are large, semiaquatic rodents in the genus ''Castor'' native to the temperate Northern Hemisphere. There are two extant species: the North American beaver (''Castor canadensis'') and the Eurasian beaver (''C. fiber''). Beavers ar ...

marten A marten is a weasel-like mammal in the genus ''Martes'' within the subfamily Guloninae, in the family Mustelidae. They have bushy tails and large paws with partially retractile claws. The fur varies from yellowish to dark brown, depending on t ...

wolves The wolf (''Canis lupus''; plural, : wolves), also known as the gray wolf or grey wolf, is a large Canis, canine native to Eurasia and North America. More than thirty subspecies of Canis lupus, subspecies of ''Canis lupus'' have been reco ...

and

lynx A lynx is a type of wild cat. Lynx may also refer to: Astronomy * Lynx (constellation) * Lynx (Chinese astronomy) * Lynx X-ray Observatory, a NASA-funded mission concept for a next-generation X-ray space observatory Places Canada * Lynx, Ontar ...

. He wrote about birds such as

goose A goose ( : geese) is a bird of any of several waterfowl species in the family Anatidae. This group comprises the genera ''Anser'' (the grey geese and white geese) and '' Branta'' (the black geese). Some other birds, mostly related to the ...

and

eagle owl The American (North and South America) horned owls and the Old World eagle-owls make up the genus ''Bubo'', at least as traditionally described. The genus name ''Bubo'' is Latin for the Eurasian eagle-owl. This genus contains 19 species that ar ...

. Fønhus concentrated in about writing about life in nature itself. His books sold well and with the growing ecology movement, Mikkjel Fønhus appeared as a pioneer in the fight for preserving nature. He published 43 books on these themes during his life. Another 34 were published after his death. He work has been translated into Swedish, Danish, Finnish, German, French, English, Dutch, Czech and Polish. There is an exhibit of his work at

Bagn Bygdesamling Bagn Bydesamling is a small museum located in the hamlet of Dolven, south of Bagn at Sør-Aurdal in Innlandet county Norway. The museum is situated in the traditional district of Valdres and is run as a subsidiary of Valdres Folkemuseum. History ...

, a small museum located in Sør-Aurdal, Norway.

Awards

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 wi ...

1952 *

Royal Norwegian Order of Merit The Royal Norwegian Order of Merit (Norwegian: ''Den Kongelige Norske Fortjenstorden'' (Bokmål) or ''Den Kongelege Norske Fortenesteordenen'' (Nynorsk)) was instituted by King Olav V in 1985. It is awarded to foreigners, Norwegian citizens livin ...

, 1963 * Kloster-medaljen, 1963 *

Mads Wiel Nygaards Endowment Mads Wiel Nygaard's Endowment is an annually awarded literary prize from the publishing house Aschehoug. The prize is a recognition of superior literary work. The publisher's editorial management makes the award based on their collective judgement ...

, 1965 * Språklig samlings litteraturpris, 1966

References

Other sources

*Brandrud, Rolf ''Drømmejegeren - en biografi om Mikkjel Fønhus'' (Aschehoug forlag, Oslo: 1993) *Stensrud, Gudbjørg Fønhus ''Mikkjel, far min'' (Aschehoug forlag, Oslo: 1985) *Brenne, Tom ''Mikkjel Fønhus: En bibliografi'' (Universitetsbiblioteket. Oslo: 1993) *Børte, Torbjørn ''Mikkjel Fønhus: --fra Nissebakken til Thika River'' (Aschehoug forlag, Oslo: 1972)

External links

Website for Mikkjel Fønhus
{{DEFAULTSORT:Foenhus, Mikkjel 1894 births 1973 deaths People from Sør-Aurdal Norwegian male writers