Steen Steensen Blicher (11 October 1782, Vium – 26 March 1848 in

Spentrup Spentrup is a town in East Jutland, with a population of 2,351 (1 January 2022),author An author is the writer of a book, article, play, mostly written work. A broader definition of the word "author" states: "''An author is "the person who originated or gave existence to anything" and whose authorship determines responsibility f ...

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 ...

born in Vium near Viborg,

Denmark ) , song = ( en, "King Christian stood by the lofty mast") , song_type = National and royal anthem , image_map = EU-Denmark.svg , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Danish Realm, Kingdom of Denmark ...

Biography

Blicher was the son of a literarily inclined

Jutland Jutland ( da, Jylland ; german: Jütland ; ang, Ēota land ), known anciently as the Cimbric or Cimbrian Peninsula ( la, Cimbricus Chersonesus; da, den Kimbriske Halvø, links=no or ; german: Kimbrische Halbinsel, links=no), is a peninsula of ...

ic parson whose family was distantly related to

Martin Luther Martin Luther (; ; 10 November 1483 – 18 February 1546) was a German priest, theologian, author, hymnwriter, and professor, and Order of Saint Augustine, Augustinian friar. He is the seminal figure of the Reformation, Protestant Refo ...

. He grew up in close contact with nature and peasant life in the moor areas of central

. After trying his hand as a teacher and a tenant farmer, he at last became a parson like his father and from 1825-1847 served in the parish of

Spentrup Spentrup is a town in East Jutland, with a population of 2,351 (1 January 2022),Ernestine Juliane Berg, whom he married on 11 June 1810.

Significance as a writer

Prose

Blicher is known as the pioneer of the

novella A novella is a narrative prose fiction whose length is shorter than most novels, but longer than most short stories. The English word ''novella'' derives from the Italian ''novella'' meaning a short story related to true (or apparently so) facts ...

in Danish. From the 1820s until his death he wrote several tales that were published in local periodicals (mostly dealing with his home region), as well as historical and amateur scientific sketches. Much of this work is entertainment but as many as twenty or thirty pieces have been called literary masterpieces. In his prose, Blicher describes human fate in his home region in Jutland. Blicher is often called a tragic and melancholic writer, but he is not without wit and humour. Blicher is one of the first novelists to make significant use of the

unreliable narrator An unreliable narrator is a narrator whose credibility is compromised. They can be found in fiction and film, and range from children to mature characters. The term was coined in 1961 by Wayne C. Booth in ''The Rhetoric of Fiction''. While unrel ...

theme in

literature Literature is any collection of written work, but it is also used more narrowly for writings specifically considered to be an art form, especially prose fiction, drama, and poetry. In recent centuries, the definition has expanded to include ...

. Four notable examples are: *''The Diary of a Parish Clerk'', his break-through story, tells of a poor peasant boy’s troubled life with unhappy love, war and exile. Years after the main

plot Plot or Plotting may refer to: Art, media and entertainment * Plot (narrative), the story of a piece of fiction Music * ''The Plot'' (album), a 1976 album by jazz trumpeter Enrico Rava * The Plot (band), a band formed in 2003 Other * ''Plot' ...

occurred, he discovers that the woman he was in love with for years, ended up as a poor, pathetic

alcoholic Alcoholism is, broadly, any drinking of alcohol that results in significant mental or physical health problems. Because there is disagreement on the definition of the word ''alcoholism'', it is not a recognized diagnostic entity. Predomin ...

. He spent his old age in resignation and distrust. *His sombre story ''The

Hosier Hosiery, also referred to as legwear, describes garments worn directly on the feet and legs. The term originated as the collective term for products of which a maker or seller is termed a hosier; and those products are also known generically as h ...

and his Daughter'' (twice filmed) that describes the mental breakdown of a girl because of unhappy love is a classic prose tragedy. *'' The Parson of Veilbye'', written in the first person, is the first Danish crime novel. The narrator makes fatal wrong conclusions resulting in a wrongful conviction. It too has been filmed. *''Tardy Awakening'', a tragedy of adultery and suicide, is perhaps influenced by the fact, that he in 1828 found out that his wife had a love affair. He had additional talents, too: ''E Bindstouw'' is a mixture of tales and poetry on the model of the

Decameron ''The Decameron'' (; it, label=Italian, Decameron or ''Decamerone'' ), subtitled ''Prince Galehaut'' (Old it, Prencipe Galeotto, links=no ) and sometimes nicknamed ''l'Umana commedia'' ("the Human comedy", as it was Boccaccio that dubbed Dan ...

, written in the

Jutlandic Jutlandic, or Jutish (Danish: ''jysk''; ), is the western variety of Danish, spoken on the peninsula of Jutland in Denmark. Generally, Jutlandic can be divided into two different dialects: general or Northern Jutlandic ( ; further divided into ...

dialect. Here he turns loose his humorous side. Earlier reviews noted that Blicher’s literary skill lies in his descriptions of scenery, especially the Jutlandic moor landscape and its inhabitants: the long-suffering peasantry and “free” moor

gypsies The Romani (also spelled Romany or Rromani , ), colloquially known as the Roma, are an Indo-Aryan ethnic group, traditionally nomadic itinerants. They live in Europe and Anatolia, and have diaspora populations located worldwide, with sign ...

. Later some biographies pointed out his skills in describing

tragedy Tragedy (from the grc-gre, τραγῳδία, ''tragōidia'', ''tragōidia'') is a genre of drama based on human suffering and, mainly, the terrible or sorrowful events that befall a main character. Traditionally, the intention of tragedy ...

and

psychology Psychology is the scientific study of mind and behavior. Psychology includes the study of conscious and unconscious phenomena, including feelings and thoughts. It is an academic discipline of immense scope, crossing the boundaries betwe ...

. Stylistically, Blicher alternates between his own detailed intellectual narrative style and the colloquial speech of peasants, squires and robbers.

Poetry

Blicher wrote poetry from the years of the

Napoleonic Wars The Napoleonic Wars (1803–1815) were a series of major global conflicts pitting the French Empire and its allies, led by Napoleon I, against a fluctuating array of European states formed into various coalitions. It produced a period of Fren ...

until his death. Among his most important poems are the melancholic ''Til Glæden'' (“To Joy”) from 1814, his interesting local patriotic song ''"Kærest du Fødeland"'' (Dearest You Birthland) that shows his love for his home region, and his impressive winter poem ''"Det er hvidt herude"'' (It is white out here), published in his notable poetry collection ''"Trækfuglene"'' (Birds of Passage) in 1838. The whole collection ''"Trækfuglene"'' was inspired by a serious extended illness. In this uncharacteristic poetry work, he let a range of symbolic birds express his own personal situation. The bluff and cheerful dialect poem ''Jyden han æ stærk å sej'' ("The Jutlander he is strong and tough") is from 1841. Many of Blichers poems have been accompanied by melodies later on. Notable examples includes ''"Det er hvidt herude"'' often sung to a melody composed by

Thomas Laub Thomas Linnemann Laub (5 December 1852 – 4 February 1927) was a Danish organist and composer. Notable works *1888 ''80 rytmiske Koraler'', en enstemmig samling *1889–1891 ''Kirkemelodier'', tre hæfter med firstemmige udsættelser *1890 ...

in 1914 and ''"Sig nærmer tiden, da jeg må væk"'' (The time approaches when I must go) sung to a melody composed by

Oluf Ring Oluf Ring (24 December 1884 – 26 April 1946) was a Danish composer. See also *List of Danish composers A list of notable Danish composers: __NOTOC__ A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z A *Thorva ...

in 1922, both from ''"Trækfuglene"''.

Political and social themes

Blicher was a man of far-ranging interests. Beginning as a conservative he developed into an eager critic of society, uniting the role of the enlightened citizen of the 18th century with modern

liberalism Liberalism is a political and moral philosophy based on the rights of the individual, liberty, consent of the governed, political equality and equality before the law."political rationalism, hostility to autocracy, cultural distaste for c ...

. He tried to arrange national feasts in Jutland and proposed numerous laws and reforms, but he was never really accepted by the established liberal politicians. Also something of an

Anglophile An Anglophile is a person who admires or loves England, its people, its culture, its language, and/or its various accents. Etymology The word is derived from the Latin word ''Anglii'' and Ancient Greek word φίλος ''philos'', meaning "frien ...

, he translated British poetry, including Macpherson’s

Ossian Ossian (; Irish Gaelic/Scottish Gaelic: ''Oisean'') is the narrator and purported author of a cycle of epic poems published by the Scottish poet James Macpherson, originally as ''Fingal'' (1761) and ''Temora'' (1763), and later combined under t ...

and novels such as

Goldsmith A goldsmith is a Metalworking, metalworker who specializes in working with gold and other precious metals. Nowadays they mainly specialize in jewelry-making but historically, goldsmiths have also made cutlery, silverware, platter (dishware), pl ...

’s ''

The Vicar of Wakefield ''The Vicar of Wakefield'', subtitled ''A Tale, Supposed to be written by Himself'', is a novel by Anglo-Irish writer Oliver Goldsmith (1728–1774). It was written from 1761 to 1762 and published in 1766. It was one of the most popular and wid ...

'' – once he even tried to write poetry in English. Though being a member of the first

Romanticist Romanticism (also known as the Romantic movement or Romantic era) was an artistic, literary, musical, and intellectual movement that originated in Europe towards the end of the 18th century, and in most areas was at its peak in the approximate ...

generation of Danish writers, Blicher is in many ways unique. He is more of a realist, dealing with broken dreams and with Time as man’s superior opponent.Baggesen (1965) His religion is the old rationalist one. He is a belated Danish pupil of the 18th century English

epistolary Epistolary means "in the form of a letter or letters", and may refer to: * Epistolary ( la, epistolarium), a Christian liturgical book containing set readings for church services from the New Testament Epistles * Epistolary novel * Epistolary poem ...

style while, in his interest for dialect and peasants, he anticipates the regional writers who emerged around 1900, such as

Johannes Vilhelm Jensen Johannes Vilhelm Jensen (20 January 1873 – 25 November 1950) was a Danish author, known as one of the great Danish writers of the first half of 20th century. He was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1944 "for the rare strength and fert ...

Present-day appreciation

Today Blicher is regarded as the pioneer of the Danish short story and regional writing. Many of his verses have been set to music and his best novels have been reprinted many times. Steen Steensen Blicher never enjoyed international interest on the scale of

Hans Christian Andersen Hans Christian Andersen ( , ; 2 April 1805 – 4 August 1875) was a Danish author. Although a prolific writer of plays, travelogues, novels, and poems, he is best remembered for his literary fairy tales. Andersen's fairy tales, consisti ...

Karen Blixen Baroness Karen Christenze von Blixen-Finecke (born Dinesen; 17 April 1885 – 7 September 1962) was a Danish author who wrote works in Danish and English. She is also known under her pen names Isak Dinesen, used in English-speaking countrie ...

, but in Denmark he is almost as well-known. In 2006, his novel ''Præsten i Vejlbye'' was adopted in the

Danish Culture Canon The Danish Culture Canon ( da, Kulturkanonen) consists of 108 works of cultural excellence in eight categories: architecture, visual arts, design and crafts, film, literature, music, performing arts, and children's culture. An initiative of Brian ...

, which means, officially one of the 10

Order of Merit The Order of Merit (french: link=no, Ordre du Mérite) is an order of merit for the Commonwealth realms, recognising distinguished service in the armed forces, science, art, literature, or for the promotion of culture. Established in 1902 by K ...

novels in Danish literature of all time. In Denmark, Blicher enjoyed fame and recognition in his own lifetime, and has been praised for his contributions to Danish culture ever since. In 1951, literary scholars initiated the Danish Blicher Society to "further and deepen the interest for Blichers life and writings", through various activities. They have awarded Blicherprisen (The Blicher Prize) annually since 1955 and the society is still active as of 2018.

Works

* ''Brudstykker af en Landsbydegns Dagbog'' (1824, novella, "Diary of a Parish Clerk") *''Sneklokken'' (1825, poetry, "The Snow Bell") *''Røverstuen'' (1827, novella, "The Robber’s Den") *''Ak! hvor forandret'' (1828, novella, "Alas how changed") *''Sildig Opvaagnen'' (1828, novella, "Tardy Awakening") *''

Præsten i Vejlby ''The Rector of Veilbye'' ( da, Præsten i Vejlbye), is a crime mystery written in 1829 by the Danish author Steen Steensen Blicher. The novella is based upon a true murder case from 1626 in the village of Vejlby near Grenå, Denmark, which Bli ...

'' (1829, novella, ''

The Rector of Veilbye ''The Rector of Veilbye'' ( da, Præsten i Vejlbye), is a crime mystery written in 1829 by the Danish author Steen Steensen Blicher. The novella is based upon a true murder case from 1626 in the village of Vejlby near Grenå, Denmark, which Bli ...

'') *''Kjeltringliv'' (1829, novella, "Gypsy Life") *''Telse'' (1829, novella) *''Hosekræmmeren'' (1829, novella, "The Hosier and his Daughter") *''Trækfuglene'' (1838, poetry, "Birds of Passage") *''De tre Helligaftener'' (1841 and 1846, novella, "Three Holliday Eves") *''E Bindstouw, Fortællinger og Digte i jydske Mundarter'' (1842, novella-poetry, dialect)

Blicher's works in English

* ''The Diary of a Parish Clerk and Other Stories''. Pref. by Erik Harbo, introd. by

Margaret Drabble Dame Margaret Drabble, Lady Holroyd, (born 5 June 1939) is an English biographer, novelist and short story writer. Drabble's books include '' The Millstone'' (1965), which won the following year's John Llewellyn Rhys Memorial Prize, and ''Jer ...

, transl. by Paula Hostrup-Jessen.

Athlone Press Continuum International Publishing Group was an academic publisher of books with editorial offices in London and New York City. It was purchased by Nova Capital Management in 2005. In July 2011, it was taken over by Bloomsbury Publishing. , al ...

(1996) * ''Tardy Awakening and Other Stories'', ed. with afterword and comment. by

Niels Ingwersen Niels Ingwersen (May 18, 1935 - November 14, 2009) was a Danish scholar in Scandinavian Studies and a professor at the University of Wisconsin–Madison.

, transl. by Paula Brugge & Faith Ingwersen. University of Wisconsin (WITS II vol.#7, 1996).

References

Sources

* Brix, Hans: ''Steen Steensen Blicher'' (in: The American Scandinavian Review Vol. 15. 1928, Number 10 October) * Baggesen, Søren: Den blicherske novelle, Odense Universitetsforlag 1965 * Sørensen, Knud: ''Steen Steensen Blicher. Digter og samfundsborger. En illustreret biografi.'' Cph. 1984. * Aakjær, Jeppe: Steen Steensen Blichers Livs-Tragedie i Breve og Aktstykker, bind 1–2 (Nordisk Forlag 1904)

External links

The Danish Blicher Society
The societys official homepage. English available.
Steen Steensen Blicher
at Kalliope
Steen Steensen Blicher
at Danish

Wikisource Wikisource is an online digital library of free-content textual sources on a wiki, operated by the Wikimedia Foundation. Wikisource is the name of the project as a whole and the name for each instance of that project (each instance usually rep ...

Steen Steensen Blicher
at the Lied and Art Song Archive * * *
''Twelve Stories''
introd. by

Sigrid Undset Sigrid Undset () (20 May 1882 – 10 June 1949) was a Norwegian-Danish novelist who was awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1928. Undset was born in Kalundborg, Denmark, but her family moved to Norway when she was two years old. In 1924, ...

, transl. by Hanna Astrup Larsen
Biography by Baggesen at The Archive of Danish Literature (Online in Danish)

S.S. Blicher's Autobiography at The Archive of Danish Literature (Online in Danish)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Blicher, Steen Steensen Danish male poets 1782 births 1848 deaths Danish clergy 19th-century Danish poets 19th-century male writers 19th-century Danish clergy