Heidenstam, Verner von

(1859-1940)

   A Swedish poet and novelist, Heidenstam was one of the most important figures in the literary life of his country during the fin-de-siecle and a leader in the neoromantic reaction against the aesthetics of naturalism.An aristocrat by birth, Heidenstam traveled widely during his youth and visited most of the countries of the eastern Mediterranean. After pursuing art in Rome he went to Paris, where he became acquainted with the beginnings of the decadent movement. His first collection of poetry, Vallfart och vandringsar (1888; Pilgrimage and Years of Wandering), is characterized by a focus on the individual, aestheticism, a love of the exotic, and Heidenstam's admiration for the cultures of the classical past. His next volume of poetry, Dikter (1895; Poems), contains poems in a similar vein.

   Heidenstam laid out his literary program in the essay Renassans (1889; Renaissance), in which he argued that the scientific worldview of the naturalists was outdated, and he added a strong current of nationalism. The novel Endymion (1889) pits Western barbarism, a stand-in for naturalism, against Eastern culture and beauty, which may be read as signifying the new kind of writing that Heidenstam had in mind.

   In both poetry and prose, the novel Hans Alienus (1892) tells about a young Swede who revels in the life and culture of the Catholic Church, visits the past through a sojourn in Hades, and finally returns to Sweden. Heidenstam's next novel marks a nationalistic turn in his oeuvre. The novel Karolinerna (1897-1898; tr. The Charles Men, 1920) is the story of the ill-fated attempt of King Karl XII to bring the Baltics back under Swedish rule. The king is cast as a classical hero, with the Russians playing the role of the barbarians. Heliga Birgittas pilgrimsfard (1901; St. Birgitta's Pilgrimage) unites Heidenstam's nationalism with his aesthetic admiration of Catholicism. Folkungatradet (1905-1907; tr. The Tree of the Folkungs, 1925) gives an idealized account of the rise of Sweden.

   Heidenstam's nationalism gradually turned to conservatism, as demonstrated by two volumes of poetry, Ett folk (1902; One People) and Nya dikter (1915; New Poems). He received the Nobel Prize in 1916.