Olaf Bull
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Olaf Jacob Martin Luther Breda Bull (10 November 1883 – 29 June 1933) was a Norwegian poet. He was nominated for the Nobel Prize in Literature six times.


Biography

Olaf Bull was born in
Kristiania 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 ...
(now
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 ...
), Norway. His parents were author Jacob Breda Bull (1853–1930) and his second wife Maria Augusta Berglöf (1854–1922). Bull grew up and was mostly raised in Kristiania. At the age of 13, he lived for some time in
Hurum Hurum was a municipality in Buskerud county, Norway. As of 1 January 2020 Hurum has merged with the municipalities of Røyken and Asker to form the new Asker Municipality located in the newly formed Viken county. The administrative centre of the ...
in
Buskerud Buskerud () is a former county and a current electoral district in Norway, bordering Akershus, Oslo, Oppland, Sogn og Fjordane, Hordaland, Telemark and Vestfold. The region extends from the Oslofjord and Drammensfjorden in the southeast to Ha ...
, where his father worked as a journalist and editor. In 1899, he started gymnasium at Aars og Voss' skole. He attended Kristiania Cathedral School prior to his graduation from private school in 1902. After his graduation he lived with his family in
Rome , established_title = Founded , established_date = 753 BC , founder = King Romulus (legendary) , image_map = Map of comune of Rome (metropolitan city of Capital Rome, region Lazio, Italy).svg , map_caption ...
before returning to Kristiania in 1903 to begin his studies at the university. Olaf Bull could be considered a
polymath A polymath ( el, πολυμαθής, , "having learned much"; la, homo universalis, "universal human") is an individual whose knowledge spans a substantial number of subjects, known to draw on complex bodies of knowledge to solve specific pro ...
because in addition to both modern and classical literature, he mastered philosophy, history, politics, art and science. He spent several years as a journalist for '' Posten'' and ''
Dagbladet ''Dagbladet'' (lit.: ''The Daily Magazine'') is one of Norway's largest newspapers and is published in the tabloid format. It has 1,400,000 daily readers on mobile, web and paper. Traditionally ''Dagbladet'' is considered the main liberal newspa ...
''. He was known as the “Oslo-poet,” but he lived for extended periods in both Italy and in France where his son, poet Jan Bull (1927–1985) was born. Olaf Bull was married three times and divorced twice. Economic issues coupled with abuse of alcohol had a strong impact on his life. He had a nervous disposition and developed signs of depression. His last year was characterized by illness and alcoholism. He had physical ailments, including partial paralysis and liver damage. Olaf Bull died at age 49 at
Ullevål Hospital Ullevaal Stadion () is an all-seater football stadium located in Oslo, Norway. It is the home ground of the Norway national football team, and the site of the Norwegian Cup Final. From its opening in 1926 to 2009 it was the home ground of FK ...
in Oslo. His urn was placed at
Vår Frelsers gravlund The Cemetery of Our Saviour ( no, Vår Frelsers gravlund) is a cemetery in Oslo, Norway, located north of Hammersborg in Gamle Aker district. It is located adjacent to the older Old Aker Cemetery and was created in 1808 as a result of the great ...
.


His poetry

Bull's poetry collection ''Digte'' (Poems) (1909) formed the foundation upon which he came to be recognized as Norway's foremost poet. Olaf Bull composed his poetry using what is called in
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 ...
''sentrallyrikk'' — poems about “central themes” such as love, sorrow and death. He used fixed stanza patterns and was known for his strong and emotional depictions. His poetry and work conveys a melancholy sense that all is transitory. In spite of this disconsolate tone, his recurring and powerful use of mood, faultless form and expressive voice communicate his belief that, although evanescent, art and beauty are important. Giovanni Bach described his work in this way: :"His poems reveal a masculine power and a forceful affirmation of his own individuality, notwithstanding the extreme pessimism that often envelopes them in a voluminous thick black veil. His poetry is deeply felt, rich in imaginative and intellectual quality." Bull utilized his extensive knowledge and artistic strength, but showed an underlying fear and depression. Olaf Bull was known to be anti-authority and was regarded an “outsider” in society, but his poetry demonstrated that he never totally broke with traditional form and structure. Much of his poetry showed a powerful longing for the eternal and persistent. This longing was most apparent when he wrote about classical motifs.


Bull and Joyce

While
James Joyce James Augustine Aloysius Joyce (2 February 1882 – 13 January 1941) was an Irish novelist, poet, and literary critic. He contributed to the modernist avant-garde movement and is regarded as one of the most influential and important writers of ...
was working on ''
Finnegans Wake ''Finnegans Wake'' is a novel by Irish writer James Joyce. It is well known for its experimental style and reputation as one of the most difficult works of fiction in the Western canon. It has been called "a work of fiction which combines a bod ...
'', he wanted to insert references to
Scandinavia Scandinavia; Sámi languages: /. ( ) is a subregion in Northern Europe, with strong historical, cultural, and linguistic ties between its constituent peoples. In English usage, ''Scandinavia'' most commonly refers to Denmark, Norway, and Swe ...
n languages and literature, hiring five teachers of Norwegian. Bull was the first one. Joyce wanted to read Norwegian works in the original language, including
Peter Andreas Munch Peter Andreas Munch (15 December 1810 – 25 May 1863), usually known as P. A. Munch, was a Norwegian historian, known for his work on the medieval history of Norway. Munch's scholarship included Norwegian archaeology, geography, ethnography, ...
's ''Norrøne Gude- og Heltesagn'' ( Norse Tales of Gods and Heroes). He was looking for puns and weird associations across the barriers of language, which was something Bull well understood. Lines from Bull's poems echo through "this spider's web of words", as Joyce himself called ''Finnegans Wake'', and Bull himself materializes under the name "Olaph the Oxman", a pun on his surname. In his letters home, Bull mentioned nothing about Joyce, most likely because he often asked his family for money, which would sound unconvincing with him at the same time being a teacher for a world-famous author. It is not known how Joyce got in contact with Bull, but both frequented the bookstore Shakespeare and Company in
Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), ma ...
which was run by Sylvia Beach, who may have brought them in contact with each other. In 1926 '' Ulysses'' was issued as an unlicensed copy in the United States, meaning that Joyce would receive no money for it. Together with Beach he wrote a protest letter, intending it to be signed by well-known writers from the whole of
Europe Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a subcontinent of Eurasia and it is located entirel ...
. Beach mentions in her memoirs that Joyce was particularly eager to have Bull sign it. Beach tracked Bull, who had left Paris to live in the French countryside. On behalf of Joyce she sent a man there to have the protest signed. Bull's wife Suzanne provided him with a copy of Bull's signature.Fredrik Wandrup: "Norsklærer Bull", ''Dagbladet'', June 22, 2004


Bibliography


Works published during his lifetime

* ''Digte'' (Poems),
Gyldendal Gyldendalske Boghandel, Nordisk Forlag A/S, usually referred to simply as Gyldendal () is a Danish publishing house. Founded in 1770 by Søren Gyldendal, it is the oldest and largest publishing house in Denmark, offering a wide selection of ...
, 1909 * ''Nye Digte'' (New Poems), Gyldendal, 1913 * ''Mitt navn er Knoph'' (My Name is Knoph), Narveson, 1914 * ''Digte og noveller'' (Poems and Short Stories), Gyldendal, 1916 * ''Samlede digte 1909–1919'' (Collected Poems), Gyldendal, 1919 * ''Stjernerne'' (Stars), Gyldendal, 1924 * ''Metope'', Gyldendal, 1927 * ''De hundrede aar'' (The Hundred Years), Gyldendal, 1928 * ''Kjærlighet'' (Love), Gyldendal, 1929 * ''Oinos og Eros'', Gyldendal, 1930 * ''Ignis ardens'', Gyldendal, 1932


Play

* ''Kjærlighetens farse:tre akter'' (Love's Farce: Three Acts), Aschehoug, 1919, published 1948. Written together with Helge Krog.


Posthumously published works

* ''Ekko og regnbue: notater fra en dikters verksted'' (Echo and Rainbow: Notes From a Poet's Workplace), Gyldendal, 1987. Edited by Frans Lasson. * ''Olaf Bull: brev fra en dikters liv'' (Olaf Bull: Letters from a Poets Life), 2 vols., Gyldendal, 1989. Edited by Frans Lasson * ''Ild og skygger: spredte notater fra et dikterliv'' (Fire and Shadows: Scattered Notes from a Poet's Life), Nørhaven, Viborg, 1991. Edited by Frans Lasson


References


Other sources

* Suzanne Bull (1974) ''Ni år: mitt liv med Olaf Bull'' (Oslo: Aschehoug) * Nete Smith, ed. (2004) ''Twentieth Century Norwegian Writers'' (Gale Dictionary of Literary Biography, vol. 297) * Fredrik Wandrup (1995) '' Olaf Bull og hans samtid. En uro som aldri dør.'' (Oslo: Gyldendal)


External links


''Olaf Bull, a wretched giant of Scandinavian literature''
(
Petter Næss Petter Næss (born 14 March 1960 in Oslo, Norway) is a Norwegian actor and film director. His first film as a director was the comedy '' Absolutt blåmandag'' in 1999. Næss is best known for his work directing two of the three films about Ingv ...
, 1990) {{DEFAULTSORT:Bull, Olaf 1883 births 1933 deaths Writers from Oslo People educated at Oslo Cathedral School Norwegian male poets 19th-century Norwegian poets 20th-century Norwegian poets 19th-century Norwegian male writers 20th-century Norwegian male writers Burials at the Cemetery of Our Saviour 20th-century Norwegian journalists