Vera Margrethe Henriksen (née Roscher Lund; 22 March 1927 – 23 May 2016) was a Norwegian novelist, playwright, and

non-fiction Nonfiction, or non-fiction, is any document or media content that attempts, in good faith, to provide information (and sometimes opinions) grounded only in facts and real life, rather than in imagination. Nonfiction is often associated with be ...

writer. She was particularly known for her historical novels and plays set in the Middle Ages.

Biography

Vera Margrethe Roscher Lund was born 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 ...

and lived there until 1940, when she moved to

Arendal Arendal () is a List of municipalities of Norway, municipality in Agder counties of Norway, county in southeastern Norway. Arendal belongs to the Districts of Norway, region of Southern Norway, Sørlandet. The administrative centre of the munici ...

. Her father was military officer, later Colonel Ragnvald Alfred Roscher Lund (1899–1975), the first commander of the Norwegian Military Intelligence Service, head of the

Norwegian High Command The Norwegian High Command ( no, Forsvarets Overkommando, FO) was Norway's top military leadership from 1970 to 2003. It was established in Northern Norway in 1940 by General Otto Ruge. It was then re-established by the Norwegian Government-in-exile ...

's office FO II in exile in London during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

. In 1944, she had to flee Norway 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 ...

. She continued her secondary education at the Norwegian gymnasium in

Uppsala, Sweden Uppsala (, or all ending in , ; archaically spelled ''Upsala'') is the county seat of Uppsala County and the List of urban areas in Sweden by population, fourth-largest city in Sweden, after Stockholm, Gothenburg, and Malmö. It had 177,074 inha ...

, and graduated in 1945. The following year she traveled to the United States where her family lived in

New Jersey New Jersey is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern regions of the United States. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York; on the east, southeast, and south by the Atlantic Ocean; on the west by the Delaware ...

. She studied architecture at

Yale University Yale University is a private research university in New Haven, Connecticut. Established in 1701 as the Collegiate School, it is the third-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and among the most prestigious in the wo ...

from 1946 to 1948. From 1948 to 1949, she studied

art history Art history is the study of aesthetic objects and visual expression in historical and stylistic context. Traditionally, the discipline of art history emphasized painting, drawing, sculpture, architecture, ceramics and decorative arts; yet today ...

and journalism at

Columbia University Columbia University (also known as Columbia, and officially as Columbia University in the City of New York) is a private research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Church in Manhatt ...

. She married shipping executive, Olav Gotfred Henriksen in 1948. In total, she lived in the United States from 1946 to 1963. Her first novel, ''Sølvhammeren'' (''The Silver Hammer'') was published in 1961. This novel was followed by ''Jærtegn'' (''Miracle'') in 1962, and ''Helgenkongen'' (''The Saint King'') in 1963. The trilogy is about

Olaf II of Norway Olaf II Haraldsson ( – 29 July 1030), later known as Saint Olaf (and traditionally as St. Olave), was King of Norway from 1015 to 1028. Son of Harald Grenske, a petty king in Vestfold, Norway, he was posthumously given the title ''Rex Perpet ...

and his time. In the 1970s she wrote a novel series from the period after the

Protestant Reformation The Reformation (alternatively named the Protestant Reformation or the European Reformation) was a major movement within Western Christianity in 16th-century Europe that posed a religious and political challenge to the Catholic Church and in ...

, ''Trollsteinen'' from 1970, followed by ''Pilegrimsferd'', ''Blåbreen'', ''Staupet'' and ''Skjærsild'', the last from 1977. Among her historical plays are ''Asbjørn Selsbane'' from 1972, and ''Sverdet'', first staged in 1974. She has also written books for children and young adults. Vera Henriksen has an unusually broad and extensive range of writings behind her. She has written or delivered contributions to nearly fifty books. Central is a series of historical novels, some in several volumes, but she has also written contemporary novels, plays and nonfiction. Inspired by her father she developed an early interest in history, especially

Norse saga is a series of science fantasy role-playing video games by Square Enix. The series originated on the Game Boy in 1989 as the creation of Akitoshi Kawazu at Square. It has since continued across multiple platforms, from the Super NES to the Play ...

literature. Several of her books center on the problematic transition from

Norse mythology Norse, Nordic, or Scandinavian mythology is the body of myths belonging to the North Germanic peoples, stemming from Old Norse religion and continuing after the Christianization of Scandinavia, and into the Nordic folklore of the modern period ...

Christianity Christianity is an Abrahamic monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth. It is the world's largest and most widespread religion with roughly 2.38 billion followers representing one-third of the global pop ...

. In addition to her fiction writing, Henriksen has written several non-fiction books. Among these are two volumes of the history of the

Royal Norwegian Air Force The Royal Norwegian Air Force (RNoAF) ( no, Luftforsvaret, , The Air Defence) is the air force of Norway. It was established as a separate arm of the Norwegian Armed Forces on 10 November 1944. The RNoAF's peacetime establishment is approximatel ...

, covering the period from 1912 until 1945. She was decorated Knight, First Class of the

Royal Norwegian Order of St. Olav Royal may refer to: People * Royal (name), a list of people with either the surname or given name * A member of a royal family Places United States * Royal, Arkansas, an unincorporated community * Royal, Illinois, a village * Royal, Iowa, a cit ...

in 1997. She was awarded the

Norwegian Booksellers' Prize The Norwegian Booksellers' Prize (''Bokhandlerprisen'') is a literature prize awarded annually by the Norwegian Booksellers Association after voting among all who work in Norwegian bookstores. The prize is awarded for one of the year's books in t ...

in 1962, and the

Mads Wiel Nygaard's 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 ...

in 1978.

Awards

* 1962 -

Bokhandlerprisen The Norwegian Booksellers' Prize (''Bokhandlerprisen'') is a literature prize awarded annually by the Norwegian Booksellers Association after voting among all who work in Norwegian bookstores. The prize is awarded for one of the year's books in t ...

* 1973 - Sarpsborgprisen * 1978 -

* 1988 - Riksmålsforbundets barne- og ungdomsbokpris

Bibliography

Novels

*''Sølvhammeren'' 1961 *''Jærtegn'' 1962 *''Helgekongen'' 1963 *''Glassberget'' 1966 *''Trollsteinen'' 1970 *''Pilgrimsferd'' 1971 *''Blåbreen'' 1973 *''Staupet'' 1975 *''Skjærsild'' 1977 *''Dronningsagaen'' 1979 *''Kongespeil'' 1980 *''Bodvars saga. Odins ravner 1983 *''Bodvars saga. Spydet'' 1984 *''Hellig Olav'' 1985 *''Runekorset'' 1986 *''Rekviem for et lite dampskip'' 1988 *''Bodvars saga. Ravn og due'' 1989 *''Silhuetter mot hvitt lys'' 1990 *''Stavkjerringa'' 1997 *''Klangen av en lutt'' 2001 *''Ildens sang'' 2002 *''Jarlefeiden'' 2003

Plays

*''Asbjørn Selsbane'' 1972 (play) *''Sverdet'' 1974 (play) *''Riksseglet'' 1978 (play)

Non-fiction

* * * * * *

References

External links

''Dagbladet'' profile''Aschehoug'' profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Henriksen, Vera 1927 births 2016 deaths XU Norwegian historical novelists Norwegian expatriates in the United States Norwegian dramatists and playwrights Norwegian non-fiction writers Norwegian women non-fiction writers Norwegian women novelists Norwegian women dramatists and playwrights Women historical novelists Writers from Oslo Columbia University alumni Yale University alumni