Vice-Admiral Vice admiral is a senior naval flag officer rank, usually equivalent to lieutenant general and air marshal. A vice admiral is typically senior to a rear admiral and junior to an admiral. Australia In the Royal Australian Navy, the rank of vic ...

Peter Jansen Wessel Tordenskiold (28 October 1690 – 12 November 1720) was a

Royal Dano-Norwegian Navy The history of the Danish navy began with the founding of a joint Denmark-Norway, Dano-Norwegian navy on 10 August 1510, when John, King of Denmark, King John appointed his vassal Henrich Krummedige, Henrik Krummedige to become "chief captain and ...

officer. Born in

Trondheim Trondheim ( , , ; ), historically Kaupangen, Nidaros, and Trondhjem (), is a city and municipality in Trøndelag county, Norway. As of 2022, it had a population of 212,660. Trondheim is the third most populous municipality in Norway, and is ...

, he travelled to

Copenhagen Copenhagen ( ) is the capital and most populous city of Denmark, with a population of 1.4 million in the Urban area of Copenhagen, urban area. The city is situated on the islands of Zealand and Amager, separated from Malmö, Sweden, by the ...

in 1704 and eventually join the Dano-Norwegian navy, rising to the rank of vice-admiral for his actions during the

Great Northern War In the Great Northern War (1700–1721) a coalition led by the Tsardom of Russia successfully contested the supremacy of the Swedish Empire in Northern Europe, Northern, Central Europe, Central and Eastern Europe. The initial leaders of the ant ...

. He won a name for himself through audacity and courage and was

ennobled Nobility is a social class found in many societies that have an aristocracy. It is normally appointed by and ranked immediately below royalty. Nobility has often been an estate of the realm with many exclusive functions and characteristics. Th ...

as ''Peter Tordenskiold'' by

Frederick IV of Denmark Frederick IV (Danish language, Danish: ''Frederik''; 11 October 1671 – 12 October 1730) was List of Danish monarchs, King of Denmark and List of Norwegian monarchs, Norway from 1699 until his death. Frederick was the son of Christian V of Denma ...

in 1716. His greatest exploit came later that year, as he destroyed a supply fleet of the

Swedish Navy The Swedish Navy () is the maritime service branch of the Swedish Armed Forces. It is composed of surface and submarine naval units – the Fleet (), formally sometimes referred to as the Royal Navy () – as well as marine units, the Amph ...

at the

Battle of Dynekilen The naval Battle of Dynekilen () took place on 8 July 1716 during the Great Northern War between a Dano-Norwegian fleet under Peter Tordenskjold and a Swedish fleet under Olof Strömstierna. The battle resulted in a Dano-Norwegian victory. ...

, ensuring the

siege of Fredriksten The siege of Fredriksten () was an attack on the Norwegian fortress of Fredriksten in the city of Fredrikshald (now Halden) by King Charles XII of Sweden. While inspecting his troops' lines, Charles XII was killed by a projectile. The Swedes b ...

would end in failure. In 1720, he was killed in a

duel A duel is an arranged engagement in combat between two people with matched weapons. During the 17th and 18th centuries (and earlier), duels were mostly single combats fought with swords (the rapier and later the small sword), but beginning in ...

. He ranks among the most famous naval captains in Denmark and Norway. He experienced an unusually rapid rise in rank and died when he was only 30 years old.

Name

His birth name was Peter Jansen Wessel. His name occurs with spellings as ''Peder'' and ''Pitter''. Upon his ennoblement in 1716, he received the name meaning 'thunder shield'. This was also the orthographical form which he used. In newer times, the form has become usual.

Biography

Born in

in Norway, he was the tenth child of

alderman An alderman is a member of a Municipal government, municipal assembly or council in many jurisdictions founded upon English law with similar officials existing in the Netherlands (wethouder) and Belgium (schepen). The term may be titular, denotin ...

Jan Wessel and the brother of later

Rear-Admiral Rear admiral is a flag officer rank used by English-speaking navies. In most European navies, the equivalent rank is called counter admiral. Rear admiral is usually immediately senior to commodore and immediately below vice admiral. It is ...

. Peter Wessel was a wild, unruly lad who gave his pious parents much trouble, eventually stowing away on a ship heading for Copenhagen in 1704. In Copenhagen, he unsuccessfully sought to become a navy

cadet A cadet is a student or trainee within various organisations, primarily in military contexts where individuals undergo training to become commissioned officers. However, several civilian organisations, including civil aviation groups, maritime ...

.Peter Wessel Tordenskiold
at Gyldendals Åbne Encyklopædi. He befriended the king's chaplain, Peder Jespersen, who sent Wessel on a voyage to the

West Indies The West Indies is an island subregion of the Americas, surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean and the Caribbean Sea, which comprises 13 independent island country, island countries and 19 dependent territory, dependencies in thr ...

and finally procured a vacant cadetship for him. After further voyages, this time to the

East Indies The East Indies (or simply the Indies) is a term used in historical narratives of the Age of Discovery. The ''Indies'' broadly referred to various lands in Eastern world, the East or the Eastern Hemisphere, particularly the islands and mainl ...

, Wessel was appointed second lieutenant in the Royal Danish-Norwegian Navy on 7 July 1711 and went on to serve on the

frigate A frigate () is a type of warship. In different eras, the roles and capabilities of ships classified as frigates have varied. The name frigate in the 17th to early 18th centuries was given to any full-rigged ship built for speed and maneuvera ...

''Postillion''. While on ''Postillion'', he befriended Norwegian admiral baron

Waldemar Løvendal Waldemar, Valdemar, Valdimar, or Woldemar is an Old High German given name. It consists of the elements ''wald-'' "power", "brightness" and ''-mar'' "fame". The name is considered the equivalent of the Latvian name Valdemārs, the Estonian name ...

, who was the first to recognize the young man's potential as a naval officer. Løvendal soon made Peter Wessel the captain of the four-gun sloop ''Ormen'' ().

Bricka, Carl Frederik Carl Frederik Bricka (10 July 1845 – 23 August 1903) was a Danish archivist, historian and biographer. Biography Carl Bricka was born in Copenhagen, Denmark. His father, Frederik Vilhelm Theodor Bricka (1809–79), was a medical doctor. He ...

, ''Dansk Biografisk Lexikon'', vol. XVII

vend Tveskjæg – Tøxen Vend may refer to: * Vend (ethnonym), a German and Hungarian term for Slavs * Vend (letter) in Old Norse * Vends, a Balto-Finnic people from Livonia * Vend (software), point-of-sale cloud provider from New Zealand See also

* Vending * Vendor ...

1903
pp. 442–453
C. With, "Tordenskjold, Peder".

Early service

Wessel started his navy service during the Great Northern War against

Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. It borders Norway to the west and north, and Finland to the east. At , Sweden is the largest Nordic count ...

, cruising about the Swedish coast in ''Ormen'' picking up useful information about the enemy. In June 1712, Løvendal promoted him to the 18-gun warship , against the advice of the Danish admiralty, who considered Wessel unreliable. After officially complaining about his dreary commanding officer in Norway, Wessel was transferred to the

Baltic Sea The Baltic Sea is an arm of the Atlantic Ocean that is enclosed by the countries of Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Germany, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Russia, Sweden, and the North European Plain, North and Central European Plain regions. It is the ...

command of

Ulrik Christian Gyldenløve Ulrik is a male name, a Scandinavian form of Ulrich. Ulrik may refer to: * Ulrik Frederik Christian Arneberg (1829–1911), Norwegian politician for the Conservative Party * Albert Ulrik Bååth (1853–1912), Swedish poet * Ulrik Balling (born 197 ...

, who appreciated and utilized Wessel's courage. Wessel was already renowned for two things: the audacity with which he attacked any Swedish vessels he came across regardless of the odds and his unique seamanship, which always enabled him to evade capture. The Great Northern War had now entered its later stage when Sweden, beset on every side by foes, employed her fleet principally to transport troops and stores to the distressed

Swedish Pomerania Swedish Pomerania (; ) was a dominions of Sweden, dominion under the Sweden, Swedish Crown from 1630 to 1815 on what is now the Baltic Sea, Baltic coast of Germany and Poland. Following the Polish-Swedish War, Polish War and the Thirty Years' War ...

provinces. The audacity of Wessel impeded her at every point. He was continually snapping up transports, dashing into the fjords where her vessels lay concealed and holding up her detached frigates. He was a part of Gyldenløve's fleet which succeeded in destroying a large number of Swedish transport ships at

Rügen Rügen (; Rani: ''Rȯjana'', ''Rāna''; , ) is Germany's largest island. It is located off the Pomeranian coast in the Baltic Sea and belongs to the state of Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania. The "gateway" to Rügen island is the Hanseatic ci ...

on 29 September 1712, and was promoted from second lieutenant to

captain lieutenant Captain lieutenant or captain-lieutenant is a military rank, used in a number of navies worldwide and formerly in the British Army. Northern Europe Denmark, Norway and Finland The same rank is used in the navies of Denmark (), Norway () and Fin ...

. His successes compelled the Swedes to post a reward for his capture, while his free and easy ways also won him enemies in the Danish navy, who deplored his almost

privateer A privateer is a private person or vessel which engages in commerce raiding under a commission of war. Since robbery under arms was a common aspect of seaborne trade, until the early 19th century all merchant ships carried arms. A sovereign o ...

-like conduct.

Court-martial

In June 1714, Wessel, commanding ''Løvendals Galei'', began cruising off the Norwegian coast in search of a Swedish privateer spotted near

Bergen Bergen (, ) is a city and municipalities of Norway, municipality in Vestland county on the Western Norway, west coast of Norway. Bergen is the list of towns and cities in Norway, second-largest city in Norway after the capital Oslo. By May 20 ...

. Unable to locate the privateer, Wessel sailed southwards to intercept Swedish privateers in the North Sea bound for

Gothenburg Gothenburg ( ; ) is the List of urban areas in Sweden by population, second-largest city in Sweden, after the capital Stockholm, and the fifth-largest in the Nordic countries. Situated by the Kattegat on the west coast of Sweden, it is the gub ...

. On 26 July at 2pm, ''Løvendals Galei'', flying a Dutch ensign, encountered a frigate flying a

British ensign In British maritime law and custom, an ensign is the identifying flag flown to designate a British ship, either military or civilian. Such flags display the United Kingdom Union Flag in the canton (the upper corner next to the staff), with eit ...

off

Lindesnes Lindesnes () is a List of municipalities of Norway, municipality in Agder county, Norway. It is located in the Traditional districts of Norway, traditional district of Sørlandet. The administrative centre of the municipality is the town of Manda ...

. The two ships saluted each other and sailed away before the other ship abruptly turned and fired two shots at ''Løvendals Galei''. Wessel quickly ordered his crew to raise the Dano-Norwegian ensign and fire three shots at the unknown ship, which had raised a Swedish ensign. The unknown ship, which was the 28-gun Swedish privateer ''Olbing Galley'' (purchased in England and captained by Irishman Samuel Blackman) fired a broadside at ''Løvendals Galei'', initiating a full-scale engagement.Hans Christian Bjerg,
På kanoner og pokaler
,

Op-ed An op-ed, short for "opposite the editorial page," is a type of written prose commonly found in newspapers, magazines, and online publications. They usually represent a writer's strong and focused opinion on an issue of relevance to a targeted a ...

Jyllands-Posten (; English: ''The Morning Newspaper "The Jutland Post"''), commonly shortened to or ''JP'', is a Danish daily broadsheet newspaper. It is based in Aarhus C, Jutland, and with a weekday circulation of approximately 120,000 copies. At roughly 9:15pm, after over seven hours of combat, ''Olbing Galley'' raised her sails and attempted to flee, with ''Løvendals Galei'' in hot pursuit. By 10:30pm, the skirmish resumed, but ceased at 11:45pm due to nightfall. At 6:00am on 27 July, the two ships met again and another skirmish ensued until 9:30am. By now, both ships were severely damaged and running low on ammunition. Wessel sent an envoy to ''Olbing Galley'', thanking her crew for a good duel and requesting more ammunition to continue the fight. His request was denied and Wessel and Bactmann drank a toast to each other's health before parting. When he heard about the incident, an infuriated

ordered the Admiralty to

court-martial A court-martial (plural ''courts-martial'' or ''courts martial'', as "martial" is a postpositive adjective) is a military court or a trial conducted in such a court. A court-martial is empowered to determine the guilt of members of the arme ...

Wessel. In November 1714, Wessel stood trial, accused of disclosing vital military information (his lack of ammunition) to the enemy, as well as endangering a ship of the Crown by engaging a superior warship. Wessel defended himself vigorously and blamed his comrades, impressing Frederick IV; arguing that a section of the naval code mandated attacking fleeing enemy ships no matter their size, he was acquitted on 15 December. Wessel subsequently requested a promotion from the King and was made

captain Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader or highest rank officer of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police depa ...

on 28 December.

Greatest exploits

Peter Wessel Tordenskiold monument IMG 8658

When, in 1715, the return of King

Charles XII of Sweden Charles XII, sometimes Carl XII () or Carolus Rex (17 June 1682 – 30 November 1718 Old Style and New Style dates, O.S.), was King of Sweden from 1697 to 1718. He belonged to the House of Palatinate-Zweibrücken, a branch line of the House of ...

from

Turkey Turkey, officially the Republic of Türkiye, is a country mainly located in Anatolia in West Asia, with a relatively small part called East Thrace in Southeast Europe. It borders the Black Sea to the north; Georgia (country), Georgia, Armen ...

Stralsund Stralsund (; Swedish language, Swedish: ''Strålsund''), officially the Hanseatic League, Hanseatic City of Stralsund (German language, German: ''Hansestadt Stralsund''), is the fifth-largest city in the northeastern German federal state of Mecklen ...

put new life into the dispirited Swedish forces, Wessel distinguished himself in numerous engagements off the coast of Swedish Pomerania, under the command of Admiral . He did the enemy considerable damage by cutting out their frigates and destroying their transports. During a battle at Kolberg on 24 April 1715, Wessel captured the Swedish

Hans Wachtmeister Hans Wachtmeister af Johannishus, ( – ) was admiral general of the Swedish Navy and advisor to Charles XI, King Charles XI of Sweden and King Charles XII of Sweden. He served in the Scanian War of 1675–1679 and during the following twenty ye ...

, as well as the frigate ''Hvita Örn'' (''White Eagle''), which he was granted as his new flagship under the name ''Hvide Ørn''. He then transferred to the main fleet under the command of Peter Raben. On returning to Denmark at the beginning of 1716, he was

by Frederick IV under the name of ''Tordenskiold''. In 1716, Charles XII invaded Norway and laid siege to the fortress of Fredrikshald. Tordenskiold compelled Charles to raise the siege and retire to Sweden. Tordenskiold did so by pouncing upon the Swedish transport fleet, laden with ammunition and other military stores, which rode at anchor in the narrow and dangerous Dynekil Fjord. With two frigates and five smaller ships, he conquered or destroyed around 30 Swedish ships, with minor damage to himself during the

on 8 July 1716. For this his greatest exploit, he was promoted to the rank of

post-captain Post-captain or post captain is an obsolete alternative form of the rank of captain in the Royal Navy. The term "post-captain" was descriptive only; it was never used as a title in the form "Post-Captain John Smith". The term served to dis ...

, commanding the

Kattegat The Kattegat (; ; ) is a sea area bounded by the peninsula of Jutland in the west, the Danish straits islands of Denmark and the Baltic Sea to the south and the Swedish provinces of Bohuslän, Västergötland, Halland and Scania in Swede ...

squadron – but at the same time incurred the enmity of Christian Carl Gabel, whom he had failed to take into his confidence. Tordenskiold's first important command was the squadron with which he was entrusted at the beginning of 1717 to destroy the Swedish Gothenburg Squadron, which interrupted the communications between Denmark and Norway. Owing to the disloyalty of certain of his officers who resented serving under the young adventurer, Tordenskjold failed to do all that was expected of him. His enemies were not slow to take advantage of his partial failure. The old charge of criminal recklessness was revived against him at a second court-martial before which he was summoned in 1718. Nevertheless, his old patron Ulrik Christian Gyldenløve intervened energetically on his behalf, and the charge was quashed. In December 1718, Tordenskiold brought Frederick IV the welcome news of the death of Charles XII and was, in turn, made Rear-Admiral. Tordenskiold captured the Swedish fortress of

Carlsten Carlsten () is a stone fortress located at Marstrand, on the western coast of Sweden. The fortress was built on the orders of King Charles X of Sweden, Carl X of Sweden following the Treaty of Roskilde, 1658 to protect the newly acquired provinc ...

Marstrand Marstrand () is a seaside locality situated in Kungälv Municipality, Västra Götaland County, Sweden. It had 1,320 inhabitants in 2010. The town got its name from its location on the island of Marstrand. Despite its small population, for histo ...

in 1719. The last feat of arms during the Great Northern War was Tordenskiold's partial destruction and partial capture of the Gothenburg Squadron, which had so long eluded him, on 26 September 1719. He was rewarded with the rank of

vice-admiral Vice admiral is a senior naval flag officer rank, usually equivalent to lieutenant general and air marshal. A vice admiral is typically senior to a rear admiral and junior to an admiral. Australia In the Royal Australian Navy, the rank of vic ...

Death

Tordenskiold did not long survive the termination of the war. On 12 November 1720, at the age of 30, he was killed in a duel by

Livonia Livonia, known in earlier records as Livland, is a historical region on the eastern shores of the Baltic Sea. It is named after the Livonians, who lived on the shores of present-day Latvia. By the end of the 13th century, the name was extende ...

n colonel . During a trip to

Hannover Hanover ( ; ; ) is the capital and largest city of the States of Germany, German state of Lower Saxony. Its population of 535,932 (2021) makes it the List of cities in Germany by population, 13th-largest city in Germany as well as the fourth-l ...

, Tordenskiold got in a fight with von Holstein, who had been in Swedish military service. The confrontation ended in a duel on the Sehlwiese in Gleidingen near

Hildesheim Hildesheim (; or ; ) is a city in Lower Saxony, in north-central Germany with 101,693 inhabitants. It is in the district of Hildesheim (district), Hildesheim, about southeast of Hanover on the banks of the Innerste River, a small tributary of t ...

, in which the sword of von Holstein ran through Tordenskiold. The circumstances around the death of Tordenskiold were set in a conspiratorial light, as summed up in the contemporary three-volume Tordenskiold biography (1747–1750) by C. P. Rothe. The duel was encouraged by a dispute with von Holstein, whom Tordenskiold offended by labeling him as a cheat at gambling. At a dinner party, Tordenskiold told of a friend who had been cheated while gambling with a man who claimed to own a Hydra, to which von Holstein announced he was the owner of the said creature and took offence at being called a cheat. This dispute turned into a fight, in which von Holstein unsuccessfully tried to pull a sword, after which Tordenskiold used the pommel of his own sword to beat him up. von Holstein demanded satisfaction through a duel. The details of the duel – besides its ending with Tordenskiold's death by a single wound by von Holstein's sword – are not well known. Tordenskiold's corpse was brought to Copenhagen to the

Holmen Church The Holmen Church () is a Parish church in central Copenhagen in Denmark, on the street called Holmens Kanal. First built as an anchor forge in 1563, it was converted into a naval church by Christian IV. It is famous for having hosted the wedd ...

without much ceremony, as duelling was not allowed according to Danish law. In 1819, he was buried in a

sarcophagus A sarcophagus (: sarcophagi or sarcophaguses) is a coffin, most commonly carved in stone, and usually displayed above ground, though it may also be buried. The word ''sarcophagus'' comes from the Greek language, Greek wikt:σάρξ, σάρξ ...

Legacy

Although – Dynekilen excepted – Tordenskiold's individual victories were of less importance than Christen Thomesen Sehested's at the Siege of Stralsund and Ulrich Christian Gyldenløve's at Rügen, he is seen as the most heroic figure of the Great Northern War, after Charles XII. He is mentioned by name both in the Danish national anthem "''

Kong Christian stod ved højen mast "Kong Christian stod ved højen mast" (; ), or simply "Kong Christian", is the unofficial royal anthem of Denmark that officially has equal status of national anthem together with "Der er et yndigt land". However, it is almost exclusively used ...

''" from 1778 and the Norwegian national anthem "''

Ja, vi elsker dette landet "" (; ) is the national anthem of Norway. Originally a patriotic song, it became commonly regarded as the ''de facto'' national anthem of Norway in the early 20th century after being used alongside "" since the 1860s. It was officially adopted in ...

''" from 1864. Statues of him have been erected in Copenhagen (1876), Trondheim,

Stavern Stavern is a town in Larvik Municipality in Vestfold county, Norway. The town is located at the mouth of the Larviksfjorden along the Skagerrak coast, about south of the town of Larvik. Historically, Stavern was a self-governing municipality ...

Oslo Oslo ( or ; ) 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 1,064,235 in 2022 ...

and

Haakonsvern Haakonsvern is the main base of the Royal Norwegian Navy and the largest naval base in the Nordic area. The base is located at Mathopen within Bergen municipality, about 15 km south-west of the city centre. Around 5,400 people work at the base as ...

. In the United States, Tordenskjold Township in the state of Minnesota was settled in 1871 by Danish brothers who named it after him. The coat of arms of Holmestrand included his ship until the municipal merger in 2020, after which a new coat of arms was introduced. The

Royal Danish Navy The Royal Danish Navy (, ) is the Naval warfare, sea-based branch of the Danish Armed Forces force. The RDN is mainly responsible for maritime defence and maintaining the sovereignty of Denmark, Danish territorial waters (incl. Faroe Islands and ...

has named several ships after him, including an early 20th century

coastal defence ship Coastal defence ships (sometimes called coastal battleships or coast defence ships) were warships built for the purpose of coastal defence, mostly during the period from 1860 to 1920. They were small, often cruiser-sized warships that sacrifi ...

. The Niels Juel class corvette , served from around 1980 to August 2009. The

Royal Norwegian Navy The Royal Norwegian Navy () is the branch of the Norwegian Armed Forces responsible for navy, naval operations of Norway, including those of the Norwegian Coast Guard. , the Royal Norwegian Navy consists of approximately 3,700 personnel (9,450 i ...

has also named ships after him, such as the coastal defence ship ''Tordenskjold'', and the Royal Norwegian Naval Training Establishment in

is named KNM Tordenskjold. The Danish city of

Frederikshavn Frederikshavn () is a Danish town in Frederikshavn municipality, Region Nordjylland, on the northeast coast on the North Jutlandic Island in northern Denmark. Its name translates to "Frederik's harbor". It was originally named Fladstrand. The ...

has hosted an annual summer festival in his memory since 1998. Tordenskiold was stationed there and wrote 67 letters from there between 1717 and 1719. In 2008, the Festival attracted more than 30,000 visitors. In 2009, the Days of Tordenskiold were celebrated on 26, 27, and 28 June. Several Danish and Norwegian cities have streets named Tordenskjoldsgade (Tordenskjold Street) after him. The most popular brand of

match A match is a tool for starting a fire. Typically, matches are made of small wooden sticks or stiff paper. One end is coated with a material that can be ignited by friction generated by striking the match against a suitable surface. Wooden matc ...

es in Denmark is called Tordenskjold. In the late 1800s, Sweden had a large export production of matches, so a Danish manufacturer put Tordenskiold's portrait on his matchbox in 1882, in the hope he could once more strike at the Swedish (). The Tordenskjold brand was bought by a Swedish company in 1972.

In fiction

Though his victories were not decisive during the war, he eventually attained mythic status as one of the most successful Dano-Norwegian military commanders. As the Danish-Norwegian Union ended in 1814 with the

Treaty of Kiel The Treaty of Kiel () or Peace of Kiel ( Swedish and or ') was concluded between the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland and the Kingdom of Sweden on one side and the Kingdoms of Denmark and Norway on the other side on 14 January 1814 ...

and Denmark consigned itself to the status of a minor power following the

Napoleonic Wars {{Infobox military conflict , conflict = Napoleonic Wars , partof = the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars , image = Napoleonic Wars (revision).jpg , caption = Left to right, top to bottom:Battl ...

, Tordenskiold was revived as both a Danish and Norwegian national symbol. He was portrayed as the little guy outsmarting his far more powerful adversaries, and his exploits were enhanced by mixing in myths and fiction.''Gads Historie Leksikon'', Gads Forlag, 2006, , pp. 657–658, Nils Arne Sørensen & Paul Ulff-Møller, "Tordenskjold, Peder". A comprehensive fictionalized account was collected in the 1858 popular song "''Jeg vil sjunge om en Helt''", and a great number of fictional plays and novels were subsequently published. These accounts served as background for the 1910 Danish film "''Peter Tordenskjold''", based on a

Carit Etlar Carit Etlar, the better-known pen name of Carl Brosbøll (August 7, 1816 – May 9, 1900), was a Denmark, Danish author, known mostly for his 1853 book ''Gjøngehøvdingen'' about the eponymous Svend Poulsen Gønge. Biography Born Johan Carl Chr ...

play, and the 1942 film "'' Tordenskjold går i land''". In 1993, the two-act musical ''Tordenskjold'' opened, a mix of fact and fiction, with

Øystein Wiik Øystein Wiik (born 7 July 1956) is a Norwegian actor, singer, songwriter and novelist. He was born in Oslo. He has worked for Den Nationale Scene, Oslo Nye Teater and Det Norske Teatret, and played leading roles in several musicals. Among his alb ...

as Peter Wessel. The musical was performed in

Gladsaxe Gladsaxe Municipality () is a municipality (Danish, '' kommune'') near Copenhagen in Region Hovedstaden on the island of Zealand (''Sjælland'') in eastern Denmark. The municipality covers an area of , and has a total population of 70,958 (2025). ...

and

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 ...

. The 2016 film "Satisfaction 1720" is another mix of fact, fiction, and speculation about Tordenskjold after the Great Northern War and the duel that ended his life.Variety, Film Review: "Satisfaction 1720"
7 July 2016. One of the myths about Tordenskjold has entered the Danish and Norwegian languages. During the negotiations for Marstrand's surrender in 1719, it is told that Tordenskjold's men moved from block to block as he walked the Marstrand commander through his positions, thus convincing the commander that his strength was much greater than it was. This gave birth to the

idiom An idiom is a phrase or expression that largely or exclusively carries a Literal and figurative language, figurative or non-literal meaning (linguistic), meaning, rather than making any literal sense. Categorized as formulaic speech, formulaic ...

"Tordenskjold's soldiers" (), denoting the same group of people (feeling compelled to) repeatedly taking charge and fill multiple roles.