Thorkild Strange Bjørnvig (; 2 February 1918,

Aarhus Aarhus (, , ; officially spelled Århus from 1948 until 1 January 2011) is the second-largest city in Denmark and the seat of Aarhus municipality, Aarhus Municipality. It is located on the eastern shore of Jutland in the Kattegat sea and app ...

, Denmark – 5 March 2004,

Samsø Samsø (Anglicized: "Samso" or "Samsoe") is a Denmark, Danish island in the Kattegat off the Jutland Peninsula. Samsø is located in Samsø municipality. The community has 3,724 inhabitants (2017) (January 2010:4,010) called ''Samsings'' and is ...

) was a Danish author and poet.Thorkild Bjørnvig - Den Store Danske Encyklopædi
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Overview

Bjørnvig studied

literature Literature is any collection of Writing, written work, but it is also used more narrowly for writings specifically considered to be an art form, especially novels, Play (theatre), plays, and poetry, poems. It includes both print and Electroni ...

at the University of Aarhus and his prize winning MA thesis (1947) was about

Rainer Maria Rilke René Karl Wilhelm Johann Josef Maria Rilke (4 December 1875 – 29 December 1926), known as Rainer Maria Rilke, was an Austrian poet and novelist. Acclaimed as an Idiosyncrasy, idiosyncratic and expressive poet, he is widely recognized as ...

, whose works he later translated into Danish. With Bjørn Poulsen he founded the literary journal '' Heretica'', as a reaction against the

modernist Modernism was an early 20th-century movement in literature, visual arts, and music that emphasized experimentation, abstraction, and Subjectivity and objectivity (philosophy), subjective experience. Philosophy, politics, architecture, and soc ...

and realist wave in Danish literature, that had prevailed in the years before the Second World War. Bjørnvig also edited the first two volumes of the magazine. ''Heretica'' was largely inspired by the British periodical '' The Criterion'' by T. S. Eliot and was published from 1948–1953, promoting writers such as Frank Jæger, Jørgen Gustava Brandt, Benny Andersen and Per Højholt. Among his poetry collections are ''Stjærnen bag Gavlen'' (1947), ''Anubis'' (1955), ''Figur og Ild'' (1959), ''Ravnen'' (1968) ''Morgenmørke'' (1977), ''Gennem regnbuen'' (1987) og ''Siv, vand og måne'' (1993). He also published essays about Danish and international authors such as Frank Jæger, Sophus Claussen, Rilke and

Edgar Allan Poe Edgar Allan Poe (; January 19, 1809 – October 7, 1849) was an American writer, poet, editor, and literary critic who is best known for his poetry and short stories, particularly his tales involving mystery and the macabre. He is widely re ...

. In a series of autobiographical books, he described his complicated friendship with

Karen Blixen Baroness Karen Christentze von Blixen-Finecke (born Dinesen; 17 April 1885 – 7 September 1962) was a Danish author who wrote in Danish and English. She is also known under her pen names Isak Dinesen, used in English-speaking countries; Ta ...

from 1948 to 1955 (''Pagten'', 1974), his childhood (''Solens have og skolegården'', 1983; ''Hjørnestuen og månehavet'', 1984) and his time as a student during and after

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

(''Jordens hjerte'', 1986; ''Ønsket'', 1987). In 2006, the title poem from Bjørnvig's 1955 collection of poems ''Anubis'' became part of the

Danish Culture Canon The Danish Culture Canon () consists of 108 works of cultural excellence in eight categories: architecture, visual arts, design, design and crafts, film, literature, music, performing arts, and children's culture. An initiative of Brian Mikkelsen i ...

of literature.

Biography

Thorkild Strange Bjørnvig grew up in Mejlgade in Aarhus as the son of factory inspector Theodor Frese Pedersen Bjørnvig and his wife Adda Thomine Hammel Jensen. He graduated from Aarhus Katedralskole in 1938, after which he became a student of literary science at

Aarhus University Aarhus University (, abbreviated AU) is a public research university. Its main campus is located in Aarhus, Denmark. It is the second largest and second oldest university in Denmark. The university is part of the Coimbra Group, the Guild, and Ut ...

. In 1964 he attained a

doctorate A doctorate (from Latin ''doctor'', meaning "teacher") or doctoral degree is a postgraduate academic degree awarded by universities and some other educational institutions, derived from the ancient formalism '' licentia docendi'' ("licence to teach ...

s degree at the same university.Thorkild Bjørnvig
Litteratursiden.dk From 1973 onwards, Thorkild Bjørnvig lived on the island of

Bibliography

* ''Stjærnen bag gavlen''. Gyldendal 1947. * ''Martin A. Hansens digtning''. 1949. * ''Anubis''. Poems. Gyldendal 1955. * ''Figur og ild''. Poems. Gyldendal 1959. * ''Begyndelsen''. Essays. 1960. * ''Vibrationer''. Gyldendal 1966. * ''Ravnen''. Gyldendal 1968. * ''Pagten. Mit venskab med Karen Blixen''. 1974. * ''Delfinen''. Miljødigte 1970-75. Gyldendal 1975. * ''Stoffets krystalhav''. 1975. * ''Morgenmørke''. Digte. 1977. * ''Også for naturens skyld''. Ecological essays. 1978. * ''Gennem regnbuen''. 1987. * ''Den følende planet''. Seven essays 1959-86. 1988.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bjornvig, Thorkild Danish male novelists Writers from Aarhus 1918 births 2004 deaths 20th-century Danish novelists 20th-century Danish male writers Danish magazine founders