Svend Poulsen ( – ), also referred to as Svend Poulsen Gønge ( sv, Svend Gjönge Povlsen) was a Danish-Norwegian military commander in the 17th century, serving in the armies of

Christian IV Christian IV (12 April 1577 – 28 February 1648) was King of Denmark and Norway and Duke of Holstein and Schleswig from 1588 until his death in 1648. His reign of 59 years, 330 days is the longest of Danish monarchs and Scandinavian monar ...

, Frederick III, and

Christian V Christian V (15 April 1646 25 August 1699) was king of Denmark and Norway from 1670 until his death in 1699. Well-regarded by the common people, he was the first king anointed at Frederiksborg Castle chapel as absolute monarch since the decree ...

. He fought in the

Torstenson War The Torstenson war, Hannibal controversy or Hannibal War ( no, Hannibalsfeiden) was a short period of conflict between Sweden and Denmark–Norway from 1643 to 1645 towards the end of the Thirty Years' War. The names refer to Swedish general L ...

Second Northern War The Second Northern War (1655–60), (also First or Little Northern War) was fought between Sweden and its adversaries the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth (1655–60), the Tsardom of Russia (Russo-Swedish War (1656–1658), 1656–58), Brande ...

, and the

Scanian War The Scanian War ( da, Skånske Krig, , sv, Skånska kriget, german: Schonischer Krieg) was a part of the Northern Wars involving the union of Denmark–Norway, Brandenburg and Sweden. It was fought from 1675 to 1679 mainly on Scanian soil, ...

, and led the '' snaphane'' militia in

guerilla warfare Guerrilla warfare is a form of irregular warfare in which small groups of combatants, such as paramilitary personnel, armed civilians, or irregulars, use military tactics including ambushes, sabotage, raids, petty warfare, hit-and-run tac ...

against

Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden,The United Nations Group of Experts on Geographical Names states that the country's formal name is the Kingdom of SwedenUNGEGN World Geographical Names, Sweden./ref> is a Nordic country located on ...

in occupied

Zealand Zealand ( da, Sjælland ) at 7,031 km2 is the largest and most populous island in Denmark proper (thus excluding Greenland and Disko Island, which are larger in size). Zealand had a population of 2,319,705 on 1 January 2020. It is the 1 ...

from 1658 to 1659. He was popularized under the name Gøngehøvdingen ( en, the Gønge chieftain) in 1853, when his exploits were fictionalized under that name by Danish author

Carit Etlar Carit Etlar, the better-known pen name of Carl Brosbøll (August 7, 1816 – May 9, 1900), was a Danish author, known mostly for his 1853 book ''Gjøngehøvdingen'' about the eponymous Svend Poulsen Gønge. Biography Born Johan Carl Christian Br ...

. The

historicity Historicity is the historical actuality of persons and events, meaning the quality of being part of history instead of being a historical myth, legend, or fiction. The historicity of a claim about the past is its factual status. Historicity denot ...

of his aliases has since been disputed.

Historical account

Little is known for certain about the youth of Svend Poulsen. He was probably born around 1610 in north-western

Scania Scania, also known by its native name of Skåne (, ), is the southernmost of the historical provinces of Sweden, provinces (''landskap'') of Sweden. Located in the south tip of the geographical region of Götaland, the province is roughly conte ...

or southern

Halland Halland () is one of the traditional provinces of Sweden (''landskap''), on the western coast of Götaland, southern Sweden. It borders Västergötland, Småland, Scania and the sea of Kattegat. Until 1645 and the Second Treaty of Brömsebro ...

.Kim A. Wagner
Fra Svend Poulsen til GØNGEHØVDINGEN
"SIDEN SAXO", vol. 2, 2003, pp.14-21 He was a soldier in the army of

during the 1625-1629 Danish intervention in the Thirty Years' War, and also served in the

Dutch Army The Royal Netherlands Army ( nl, Koninklijke Landmacht) is the land branch of the Netherlands Armed Forces. Though the Royal Netherlands Army was raised on 9 January 1814, its origins date back to 1572, when the was raised – making the Dutc ...

. He was made an officer in the

Danish army The Royal Danish Army ( da, Hæren, fo, Herurin, kl, Sakkutuut) is the land-based branch of the Danish Defence, together with the Danish Home Guard. For the last decade, the Royal Danish Army has undergone a massive transformation of structures ...

in the

from 1643 to 1645.Svend Poulsen Gønge
at Gyldendals Åbne Encyklopædi He was a citizen of

Laholm Laholm () is a town and the seat of Laholm Municipality, Halland County, Sweden, with 6,527 inhabitants in 2015. Laholm is, despite its small population, for historical reasons often still referred to as a ''city''. The town is located at the ...

in Halland, even after it came under

Swedish Swedish or ' may refer to: Anything from or related to Sweden, a country in Northern Europe. Or, specifically: * Swedish language, a North Germanic language spoken primarily in Sweden and Finland ** Swedish alphabet, the official alphabet used by ...

reign in 1645. During the 1657–1658 Dano-Swedish War of the greater

theatre, Poulsen commanded a company of

dragoon Dragoons were originally a class of mounted infantry, who used horses for mobility, but dismounted to fight on foot. From the early 17th century onward, dragoons were increasingly also employed as conventional cavalry and trained for combat w ...

s in April 1657, in the defence of

Ängelholm Ängelholm is a locality and the seat of Ängelholm Municipality in Skåne, Sweden with 39,612 inhabitants in 2010. History The old settlement ''Rynestad'' was mentioned around the year 1600. The city was founded in 1516 as Engelholm by King Chri ...

in Scania against Sweden. He took part in a number of skirmishes, and was promoted

captain Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police department, election precinct, e ...

in December 1657. After the cession of Scania and Halland at the

Treaty of Roskilde The Treaty of Roskilde (concluded on 26 February ( OS), or 8 March 1658) ( NS) during the Second Northern War between Frederick III of Denmark–Norway and Karl X Gustav of Sweden in the Danish city of Roskilde. After a devastating defeat, ...

of 1658, Svend Poulsen and his dragoons moved to

, where they were ordered to disband. Poulsen led his dragoons once more at the outbreak of the 1658–1660 Dano-Swedish War, and integrated his company into the defence of

Copenhagen Copenhagen ( or .; da, København ) is the capital and most populous city of Denmark, with a proper population of around 815.000 in the last quarter of 2022; and some 1.370,000 in the urban area; and the wider Copenhagen metropolitan ar ...

. Poulsen himself was sent into occupied Zealand in order to organize a

resistance. On August 22, 1658, a decree ordered the

peasant A peasant is a pre-industrial agricultural laborer or a farmer with limited land-ownership, especially one living in the Middle Ages under feudalism and paying rent, tax, fees, or services to a landlord. In Europe, three classes of peasants ...

s of Zealand to assist Poulsen in harassing the Swedish occupying forces. He assembled a company of '' snaphane'' militia within the month of August, though he lacked substantial support from the local populace. He led several successful charges against smaller Swedish contingents, but was finally forced to retreat. He returned to Copenhagen, and later rejoined the regular army. He was probably a part of the city defence during the

Assault on Copenhagen The Battle of Copenhagen also known as the Assault on Copenhagen on 11 February 1659 was a major battle during the Second Northern War, taking place during the siege of Copenhagen by the Swedish army. Background During the Northern Wars, th ...

in February 1659. He left the army at the conclusion of the war in 1660, and was given the desolate Lundbygård manor at

Præstø Præstø () is a town with a population of 3,857 (1 January 2022) in Vordingborg Municipality in Region Sjælland on the east coast of the island of Zealand (''Sjælland''). The islands of '' Maderne'', ''Storeholm'', and ''Lilleholm'' are part ...

. The manor caused Poulsen financial hardships, and in 1666 he appealed for Frederick III to help him, and was in turn granted an additional manor. His financial situation did not improve. Poulsen had to abandon Lundbygård due to tax debts in 1673. He was granted a lifelong state pension that year, and settled in a smaller residence. He rejoined the army of

for the

from 1675 to 1679, and first served on Stevns, before he was promoted to the rank of

major Major (commandant in certain jurisdictions) is a military rank of commissioned officer status, with corresponding ranks existing in many military forces throughout the world. When used unhyphenated and in conjunction with no other indicators ...

and commanded a dragoon company in Scania. Some doubt has been cast on his status as major and exact role in the Scanian War. He died around 1680, an old man weakened by illness.

Name

He was born Svend Poulsen around 1610. A 1673 protocol has the earliest reference to him as "Svend Poulsen Gynge", Gynge being the contemporary Danish name for the two Göinge ( da, Gønge) hundreds in Scania. Danish historians in the 19th century, used the Gynge name to establish Svend Poulsen as hailing from Gønge and leading Gønge soldiers, both in Scania in 1657 and on Zealand in 1658. This made him known by the extended name of ''Svend Poulsen Gønge'', Bricka, Carl Frederik, ''Dansk Biografisk Lexikon'', vol. XIII elli - Reravius 1899. "Poulsen, Svend", J. A. Fridericia
pp.258-259
as well as the fictional construction ''Gøngehøvdingen'' ( en, the Gønge chieftain). In 1853, Danish author

published the novel '' Gjøngehøvdingen'', a fictional account of Svend Poulsen's exploits as a ''snaphane'' during the 1658–1660 Dano-Swedish War. The book was hugely popular, and ''Gøngehøvdingen'' stuck as the prevailing alias for Svend Poulsen in Denmark. It has since been argued, that Svend Poulsen wasn't necessarily linked to Gønge at all. In the 109

primary source In the study of history as an academic discipline, a primary source (also called an original source) is an artifact, document, diary, manuscript, autobiography, recording, or any other source of information that was created at the time under ...

s pertaining to Svend Poulsen, only three mention the Gynge/Göinge name; none of these three are written by Svend Poulsen himself. Likewise, the men in his 1657 dragoon company were from Halland and not Gønge. The 1658 ''snaphane'' company on Zealand were made up of locals and did not contain any Gønge people, who served the army elsewhere. The authors of the 19th century historical accounts of Svend Poulsen were also unclear on the historicity of their claims, rehashing each other's myths and fictions, while transforming Svend Poulsen into a Gønge leader. His only documented link to Gønge prior to 1673, seems to be fighting in Scania during the 1657–1658 Dano-Swedish War, in close proximity to Gønge.

In fiction

Carit Etlar's novels ''Gjøngehøvdingen'' and ''Dronningens Vagtmester'' (''The Queen's Guard'') popularized Svend Poulsen as a righteous and brave leader figure, and these novels have since been adapted into film, television, audio books, etc Film adaptations of the Carit Etlar's novels: *'' Gøngehøvdingen'', 1909 film, directed by

Carl Alstrup Carl Alstrup (11 April 1877 – 2 October 1942) was a Danish actor and film director. He appeared in 22 films between 1908 and 1942. He also directed four films between 1909 and 1910. He was born in Sundbyvester, Tårnby, Denmark and died ...

*'' Göingehövdingen'', 1953 film, played by

Edvin Adolphson Gustav Edvin Adolphson (25 February 1893 – 31 October 1979) was a Swedish film actor and director who appeared in over 500 roles. He made his debut in 1912. He appeared with Ingrid Bergman in ''Only One Night'' (1939), and is noted for his ...

*'' Gøngehøvdingen'', 1961 film, played by

Jens Østerholm Jens Østerholm (25 April 1928 – 13 November 2006) was a Danish film actor. He appeared in 27 films between 1959 and 1994. He was born in Denmark ) , song = ( en, "King Christian stood by the lofty mast") , song_type = National a ...

*''

Dronningens vagtmester ''Dronningens vagtmester'' is a 1963 Danish drama film based on the novel of the same name by Carit Etlar. It was directed by Johan Jacobsen and starring Poul Reichhardt. It followed the 1961 film '' Gøngehøvdingen''. Cast *Poul Reichhardt a ...

'', 1963 film, played by Jens Østerholm *''Gøngehøvdingen'', 1990

musical Musical is the adjective of music. Musical may also refer to: * Musical theatre, a performance art that combines songs, spoken dialogue, acting and dance * Musical film and television, a genre of film and television that incorporates into the narr ...

, played by

Kim Harris Kim Harris (born 24 January 1952) is an Australian cricketer. He played in eleven first-class matches for South Australia between 1981 and 1984. See also * List of South Australian representative cricketers This is a list of cricketers who ...

*'' Gøngehøvdingen'', 1992

TV series A television show – or simply TV show – is any content produced for viewing on a television set which can be broadcast via over-the-air, satellite, or cable, excluding breaking news, advertisements, or trailers that are typically placed betw ...

, played by

Søren Pilmark Søren Louis Pilmark (born 16 October 1955) is a Danish actor. Pilmark has worked as a film and theatrical actor, a director, and as an author. Career Theater Pilmark graduated from the School of Acting at Aarhus Theater in 1977, where he ...

Additional Orla Klausen produced the

graphic novel A graphic novel is a long-form, fictional work of sequential art. The term ''graphic novel'' is often applied broadly, including fiction, non-fiction, and anthologized work, though this practice is highly contested by comic scholars and industry ...

series ''Gøngehøvdingen'' of five albums from 1989 to 1993, published by Interpresse. In 1998, Nils Hartmann published the

children's book Children's literature or juvenile literature includes stories, books, magazines, and poems that are created for children. Modern children's literature is classified in two different ways: genre or the intended age of the reader. Children's ...

''Gøngehøvdingen''.NILS HARTMANN
at Bibliografi.dk Under the brand name EUROPA the novels were adapted into children's audio plays starring famous danish actors such as Poul Reichhard, who also played the leads best friend in the motion picture ''Dronningens Vagtmester'' from 1963. In 2006 Sweden's national television SVT and Filmlance produced a mini-series entitled ''Snapphanar'' which takes place in the same period, location and utilizing the same themes, but not featuring Svend Poulsen og any of the characters from the danish novels by Carit Etlar.

Historical account

Name

In fiction

References

Further reading