Olav Duun (21 November 1876 – 13 September 1939) was a noteworthy author of

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 ...

fiction. He is generally recognized to be one of the more outstanding writers in Norwegian literature. He once lacked only one vote to receive the

Nobel Prize in Literature ) , image = Nobel Prize.png , caption = , awarded_for = Outstanding contributions in literature , presenter = Swedish Academy , holder = Annie Ernaux (2022) , location = Stockholm, Sweden , year = 1901 , ...

, and was nominated twenty-four times, in fourteen years.

Early life

Duun was born in the traditional district Ytre Namdal, on

Jøa Jøa is an island in the municipality of Namsos in Trøndelag county, Norway. The island lies on the south side of the Foldafjord, between the mainland and the islands of Otterøya and Elvalandet. The island is partially forested, with the ...

an island in the Namsen Fjord in

Fosnes Fosnes is a former municipality in Trøndelag county, Norway. The municipality existed from 1838 until its dissolution in 2020 when it was merged into Namsos Municipality. It was part of the Namdalen region. The administrative centre of the mun ...

municipality,

Nord-Trøndelag Nord-Trøndelag (; "North Trøndelag") was a county constituting the northern part of the present-day Trøndelag county in Norway. The county was established in 1804 when the old Trondhjems amt was divided into two: Nordre Trondhjems amt and S ...

county, Norway. His parents were Johannes Antonius Duun and Ellen (Fossum) Duun. Olav Duun was born Ole Johannesen Raaby. Duun was the oldest in a family of eight siblings. During his years as a boy his family lived at several farms on the island, the last one being Duun. He adopted the last name Duun when he left the island to start his training as a teacher. He attended the state school at

Trøndelag Trøndelag (; sma, Trööndelage) is a county in the central part of Norway. It was created in 1687, then named Trondhjem County ( no, Trondhjems Amt); in 1804 the county was split into Nord-Trøndelag and Sør-Trøndelag by the King of Denma ...

. In 1901, Duun took a position as a school teacher at

Levanger Levanger is a municipality in Trøndelag county, Norway. It is part of the district of Innherred. The administrative centre of the municipality is the town of Levanger. Some of the notable villages in the municipality include Alstadhaug, E ...

in Nord-Trøndelag county, Norway.

After accepting a post as a teacher

He completed the graduate teacher examination in 1904. In 1908, he was hired by the Ramberg school at Botne in

Vestfold Vestfold is a traditional region, a former county and a current electoral district in Eastern Norway. In 2020 the county became part of the much larger county of Vestfold og Telemark. Located on the western shore of the Oslofjord, it bordered ...

, where he combined teaching profession with writing poetry. He worked as a teacher in

Holmestrand is a town and municipality in Vestfold in Vestfold og Telemark county, Norway. The administrative centre of the municipality is the town of Holmestrand. The town was established as a municipality on 1 January 1838 (see formannskapsdistrikt). T ...

until 1927. At the age of fifty, he retired in order to devote his time to writing.

Writing career

Duun was known as one of the outstanding writers of 20th-century Norwegian fiction. He stands as a remarkable synthesis of the Norwegian folk spirit and the European cultural form. Duun wrote in

Landsmål Nynorsk () () is one of the two written standards of the Norwegian language, the other being Bokmål. From 12 May 1885, it became the state-sanctioned version of Ivar Aasen's standard Norwegian language ( no, Landsmål) parallel to the Dano-Nor ...

, an amalgam of peasant dialects that developed into

Nynorsk Nynorsk () () is one of the two written standards of the Norwegian language, the other being Bokmål. From 12 May 1885, it became the state-sanctioned version of Ivar Aasen's standard Norwegian language ( no, Landsmål) parallel to the Dano-No ...

, one of the official languages of Norway. In the period 1907-38 he published 25 novels, four short story collections ("sagas" was his own genre term) and two children's books. Many of his books incorporate the dialects of his subjects: peasants, fishermen and farmers. His novels analyze the psychological and spiritual characteristics of rural, peasant life. Contact with family traditions is a strength for the heroes in his historical novels, and awareness of those who have lived before, and the strength of their actions can help modern people through crises. The most notable works are his six volume, ''

The People of Juvik ''The People of Juvik'' is a series of six historical novels by Norwegian author Olav Duun. The books chronicle the lives of the Juvikings, an old Norwegian landowning peasant family living on Islands off the coast of Namdalen, Trøndelag. Th ...

'', which deals with four generations of a family of peasant landowners. This work was translated into English and published as: ''The Trough of the Waves'' (1930), ''The Blind Man'' (1931), ''The Big Wedding'' (1932), ''Odin in Fairyland'' (1932), ''Odin Grows Up'' (1934) and ''Storm'' (1935).

Legacy

Former residence, now a library related to his works

Olav and Emma Duun's House (''Olav og Emma Duuns Hus'') is the former residence of Olav Duun and his wife Emma, at Ramberg in

. There is a library containing manuscripts, letters, and other things related to the writing career of Olav Duun. The first floor is at the disposal of recipients of the Duun Scholarship. In the garden, a memorial park has been constructed containing commemorative rocks with lyrical quotes from Olav Duun’s poems.''House of Olav And Emma Duun''
/ref> The address is 20 Olav Duun Street.

Bibliography

*1907: ''Oddballs and Other People'' (''Løglege skruvar og anna folk'') *1908: ''Marjane'' *1909: ''Crosswise'' (''På tvert'') *1910: ''The Slope by Nøkk Lake'' (''Nøkksjøliga'') *1911: ''Old Soil'' (''Gamal jord'') *1912: ''Hilder Island'' (''Hilderøya''), ''Storbåten'' *1913: ''Sigyn, Sommareventyr'' *1914: ''Three Friends'' (''Tre venner'') *1915: ''Harald'' *1916: ''Good Conscience'' (''Det gode samvite'') *1917: ''At Heather Island'' (''På Lyngsøya'') *1918-23: ''

'' (''Juvikfolket'') **1918: ''The Trough of the Waves'' (''Juvikingar'') **1919: ''The Blind Man'' (''I Blinda'') **1920: ''The Big Wedding'' (''Storbybryllope'') **1921: ''Odin in Fairyland'' (''I eventyret'') **1922: ''Odin Grows Up'' (''I ungdommen'') **1923: ''The Storm'' (''I stormen'') *1924: ''Blind-Anders'' *1925: ''Straumen og evja'' *1927: ''Olsøygutane'' *1928: ''Carolus Magnus'' *1929: ''Fellow Man'' (''Medmenneske'') *1930: ''On the Road and Getting Lost'' (''Vegar og villstig'') *1931: ''Ragnhild'' *1932: ''A Reputation Left Behind'' (''Ettermæle'') *1933: ''The Final Year of Life'' (''Siste leveåre'') *1935: ''God Smiles'' (''Gud smiler'') *1936: ''The Present Age'' (''Samtid'') *1938: ''Floodtide of Fate'' (''Menneske og maktene'')

Awards

* 1934 -

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 ...

(initial award of this prize) * 1935 - Henrik Steffens Prize (initial award of this prize)

References

External links

''Dagbladet'' - Profile of Olav Duun
{{DEFAULTSORT:Duun, Olav 1876 births 1939 deaths People from Fosnes Nynorsk-language writers 20th-century Norwegian novelists People from Vestfold People from Namsos