Ole Peter Arnulf Øverland (27 April 1889 – 25 March 1968) was a

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 ...

poet and artist. He is principally known for his poetry which served to inspire the

Norwegian resistance movement The Norwegian resistance (Norwegian: ''Motstandsbevegelsen'') to the occupation of Norway by Nazi Germany began after Operation Weserübung in 1940 and ended in 1945. It took several forms: *Asserting the legitimacy of the exiled governmen ...

during the

German occupation of Norway 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 th ...

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 opposing ...

Biography

Øverland was born in

Kristiansund Kristiansund (, ; historically spelled Christianssund and earlier named Fosna) is a municipality on the western coast of Norway in the Nordmøre district of Møre og Romsdal county. The administrative center of the municipality is the town of ...

and raised in

Bergen Bergen (), historically Bjørgvin, is a city and municipality in Vestland county on the west coast of Norway. , its population is roughly 285,900. Bergen is the second-largest city in Norway. The municipality covers and is on the peninsula o ...

. His parents were Peter Anton Øverland (1852–1906) and Hanna Hage (1854–1939). The early death of his father, left the family economically stressed. He was able to attend Bergen Cathedral School and in 1904 Kristiania Cathedral School. He graduated in 1907 and for a time studied philology at University of Kristiania. Øverland published his first collection of poems (1911). Øverland became a communist sympathizer from the early 1920s and became a member of

Mot Dag Mot Dag (, 'Towards Day') was a Norwegian political group. The group was active from the 1920s to the early 1930s and was first affiliated with the Labour Party. After World War II, many of its former members were leaders in Norwegian politics and ...

. He also served as chairman of the Norwegian Students' Society 1923–28. He changed his stand in 1937, partly as an expression of dissent against the ongoing Moscow Trials. He was an avid opponent of

Nazism Nazism ( ; german: Nazismus), the common name in English for National Socialism (german: Nationalsozialismus, ), is the far-right totalitarian political ideology and practices associated with Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party (NSDAP) i ...

and in 1936 he wrote the

poem Poetry (derived from the Greek ''poiesis'', "making"), also called verse, is a form of literature that uses aesthetic and often rhythmic qualities of language − such as phonaesthetics, sound symbolism, and metre − to evoke meanings in ...

" Du må ikke sove" which was printed in the journal '' Samtiden''. It ends with . ("I thought:: Something is imminent . Our era is over – Europe’s on fire!"). Probably the most famous line of the poem is ("You mustn't endure so sincerely well the injustice that doesn't affect yourself!"). During the

from 1940 in

, he wrote to inspire the

. He wrote a series of poems which were clandestinely distributed, leading to the arrest of both him and his future wife

Margrete Aamot Øverland Margrete Aamot Øverland (11 February 1913 - 20 November 1978) was a Norwegian resistance member during the Second World War, and later editor of the Riksmål newspaper Frisprog. Biography A journalist in the social democrat newspaper '' Den 1ste ...

in 1941. Arnulf Øverland was held first in the prison camp of Grini before being transferred to

Sachsenhausen concentration camp Sachsenhausen () or Sachsenhausen-Oranienburg was a German Nazi concentration camp in Oranienburg, Germany, used from 1936 until April 1945, shortly before the defeat of Nazi Germany in May later that year. It mainly held political prisoner ...

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

. He spent a four-year imprisonment until the liberation of Norway in 1945. His poems were later collected in ''Vi overlever alt'' and published in 1945. Øverland played an important role in the

Norwegian language struggle The Norwegian language conflict ( no, målstriden, da, sprogstriden) is an ongoing controversy in Norwegian culture and politics related to the written versions of Norwegian. From 1536/1537 until 1814, Danish was the standard written language o ...

in the post-war era. He became a noted supporter for the conservative written form of Norwegian called ''

Riksmål (, also , ) is a written Norwegian language form or spelling standard, meaning the ''National Language'', closely related and now almost identical to the dominant form of Bokmål, known as . Both Bokmål and Riksmål evolved from the Danish wri ...

'', he was president of '' Riksmålsforbundet'' (an organization in support of Riksmål) from 1947 to 1956. In addition, Øverland adhered to the traditionalist style of writing, criticising

modernist poetry Modernist poetry refers to poetry written between 1890 and 1950 in the tradition of modernist literature, but the dates of the term depend upon a number of factors, including the nation of origin, the particular school in question, and the biases ...

on several occasions. His speech ''Tungetale fra parnasset'', published in ''

Arbeiderbladet ''Dagsavisen'' is a daily newspaper published in Oslo, Norway. The former party organ of the Norwegian Labour Party, the ties loosened over time from 1975 to 1999. It has borne several names, and was called ''Arbeiderbladet'' from 1923 to 1997. ...

'' in 1954, initiated the so-called '' Glossolalia debate''.

Personal life

In 1918, he married the singer Hildur Arntzen (1888–1957). Their marriage was dissolved in 1939. In 1940, he married Bartholine Eufemia Leganger (1903–1995). They separated shortly after, and were officially divorced in 1945. Øverland was married to journalist

(1913–1978) during June 1945. In 1946, the Norwegian Parliament arranged for Arnulf and Margrete Aamot Øverland to reside at the

Grotten Grotten ( Norwegian: ''Grotto'') is a nineteenth-century building (1823) located on the premises of the Royal Palace in the city centre of Oslo, Norway. Grotten is an honorary residence owned by the Norwegian state. History The house is situ ...

. He lived there until his death in 1968 and she lived there for another ten years until her death in 1978. Arnulf Øverland was buried 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 ...

in Oslo. Joseph Grimeland designed the bust of Arnulf Øverland (bronze, 1970) at his grave site.

Famous quotes

* “For a “monotheistic” religion it should be sufficient with three gods.” * “What is there to be said about a Church which certainly promises its believers eternal salvation, but at the same time condemns the non-believers, all those who think differently, to an eternal torment in hell? – If that Church absolutely must talk about love, then it should do so very quietly.”

Selected works

* ''Den ensomme fest'' (1911) * ''Berget det blå'' (1927) * ''En Hustavle'' (1929) * ''Den røde front'' (1937) * ''Vi overlever alt'' (1945) * ''Sverdet bak døren'' (1956) * ''Livets minutter'' (1965)

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 w ...

(1935) *

Dobloug Prize The Dobloug Prize ( sv, Doblougska priset, no, Doblougprisen) is a literature prize awarded for Swedish and Norwegian fiction. The prize is named after Norwegian businessman and philanthropist Birger Dobloug (1881–1944) pursuant to his bequest. T ...

(1951) * Mads Wiel Nygaards legat (1961)

References

Other sources

* * Hambro, Carl (1984
''Arnulf Øverland : det brennende hjerte''
(Oslo: Aschehoug)

External links

by Lars-Toralf Storstrand
Kristendommen, den tiende landeplage

{{DEFAULTSORT:Overland, Arnulf 1889 births 1968 deaths People from Kristiansund Atheism activists Grini concentration camp survivors Members of the Norwegian Academy People educated at the Bergen Cathedral School Mot Dag 20th-century Norwegian poets Norwegian male poets Norwegian essayists Norwegian resistance members People prosecuted for blasphemy Riksmål-language writers Sachsenhausen concentration camp survivors Dobloug Prize winners Norwegian communists Male essayists 20th-century essayists 20th-century atheists Burials at the Cemetery of Our Saviour