Jóhann Sigurjónsson (June 19, 1880 – August 31, 1919) was an

Iceland Iceland ( is, Ísland; ) is a Nordic island country in the North Atlantic Ocean and in the Arctic Ocean. Iceland is the most sparsely populated country in Europe. Iceland's capital and largest city is Reykjavík, which (along with its ...

ic playwright and poet. Atypically, Jóhann wrote plays and poetry in both his native Icelandic and in Danish.

Biography

Jóhann was the son of an Icelandic farmer and was born in Laxamýri, Iceland. In 1899 he emigrated to Denmark to study at The Royal Danish Veterinary and Agricultural University, but abandoned his studies in 1902 to devote himself to literature. During this period, he came under the influence of the Danish writer Georg Brandes and the philosophy of

Friedrich Nietzsche Friedrich Wilhelm Nietzsche (; or ; 15 October 1844 – 25 August 1900) was a German philosopher, prose poet, cultural critic, philologist, and composer whose work has exerted a profound influence on contemporary philosophy. He began his c ...

. He is probably best known for his play '' Fjalla-Eyvindur'' (Danish: ''Bjærg-Ejvind og hans hustru'', English: ''Eyvindur of the Mountains''), which was first published in 1911. The play was a success in

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG),, is a country in Central Europe. It is the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany lies between the Baltic and North Sea to the north and the Alps to the sou ...

and

Scandinavia Scandinavia; Sámi languages: /. ( ) is a subregion in Northern Europe, with strong historical, cultural, and linguistic ties between its constituent peoples. In English usage, ''Scandinavia'' most commonly refers to Denmark, Norway, and Swe ...

and was also produced in the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 U.S. state, states, a Washington, D.C., federal district, five ma ...

. It was cinematised by

Victor Sjöström Victor David Sjöström (; 20 September 1879 – 3 January 1960), also known in the United States as Victor Seastrom, was a pioneering Swedish film director, screenwriter, and actor. He began his career in Sweden, before moving to Hollywood in ...

in 1918 as ''

The Outlaw and His Wife ''The Outlaw and His Wife'' ( sv, Berg-Ejvind och hans hustru) is a 1918 Swedish silent film directed by Victor Sjöström, based on a play from 1911 by Jóhann Sigurjónsson. It tells the story of Eyvind of the Hills, an 18th-century Icelandi ...

''. The play is based on an Icelandic folk tale about a notorious outlaw. He also wrote a Nietzchean-

Faust Faust is the protagonist of a classic German folklore, German legend based on the historical Johann Georg Faust ( 1480–1540). The wiktionary:erudite, erudite Faust is highly successful yet dissatisfied with his life, which leads him to make a ...

ian tragedy called '' Galdra-Loftur'' (Danish: ''Ønsket'', English: ''The Wish'' or ''Loftur the Sorcerer''). It tells the story of an ambitious young scholar who dabbles in sorcery to acquire knowledge and power. Jóhann died of

tuberculosis Tuberculosis (TB) is an infectious disease usually caused by ''Mycobacterium tuberculosis'' (MTB) bacteria. Tuberculosis generally affects the lungs, but it can also affect other parts of the body. Most infections show no symptoms, in w ...

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 ...

at the age of 39.

References

External links

* *
''The Wish'' or ''Galdra-Loftur'', by Jóhann Sigurjónsson
English translation from Danish and Icelandic by

Einar Haugen Einar Ingvald Haugen (; April 19, 1906 – June 20, 1994) was an American linguist, writer, and professor at University of Wisconsin–Madison and Harvard University. Biography Haugen was born in Sioux City, Iowa, to Norwegian immigrants from t ...

1880 births 1919 deaths Johann Sigurjonsson Johann Sigurjonsson 20th-century dramatists and playwrights Burials at Vestre Cemetery, Copenhagen {{Iceland-writer-stub, Johann Sigurjonsson