Heinesen, William

(1900-1991)

   A Faroese and Danish novelist, short story writer, and poet who wrote in Danish, Heinesen is known mostly for his novels. Educated in Copenhagen, Heinesen started out writing novels that emphasized groups of people rather than single individuals and were thus similar to the Danish collective novel at the time. Heinesen's examples of the genre are Blæsende Gry (1934; Windswept Dawn) and Noatun (1938; tr. Niels Peter, 1939), which offer a humorous and satirical treatment of popular religious movements and other changes in Faroese society, thereby transcending the common social realism of the period. The action in Den sorte Gryde (1949; tr. The Black Cauldron, 1992) takes place during the British occupation of the Faroes in World War II and takes war profiteering as its theme. De fortabte spillemænd (1950; tr. The Lost Musicians, 1972) deals with the move to abolish the use of alcoholic beverages in the Faroes, but Heinesen's main purpose is to offer an almost mythical representation of the conflict between good and evil, death and life.

   In Moder Syvstjerne (1952; tr. The Kingdom of the Earth, 1973) Heinesen presents a paean to womanhood, which he identifies with the forces of life. Myth-making is similarly present in Tårnet ved verdens ende (1976; tr. The Tower at the Edge of the World, 1981). The conflict between life and death is also found in the epistolary novel Det gode Hab (1964; The Good Hope), which is a fictionalization of the life of a Danish minister who worked in the Faroe Islands during the 1600s. This novel won him the Nordic Literary Prize in 1965.

   Heinesen has also written several collections of short stories with themes similar to those of his novels, starting with Det fortryllede lys (1957; Enchanted Light). The title story in Don Juan fra Tranhuset (1970; Don Juan from the Whale Oil Factory) is set in Torshavn, the capital of the Faroes, in the 1890s and tells about the arrival of a Maltese man who arouses much interest among the locals. Myth-making is central to Laterna Magica (1985; tr. 1987). The title of Her skal danses (1980; The Dance Shall Go On) alludes to the Faroese ring dance, a central form of cultural expression. Other short story collections are Gamaliels besættelse (1960; Gamaliel's Possession), Kur mod onde aånder (1967; A Cure for Evil Spirits), Fortællinger fra Thorshavn (1973; Stories from Torshavn), and Grylen og andre noveller (1975; Grylen and Other Stories).

   As a poet Heinesen was at first derivative of the style of the Danish poetry of the 1890s, as exemplified by the poems in Arktiske Elegier (1921; Arctic Elegies). Høbjergning ved Havet (1924; Hay-Cutting by the Sea) emphasizes the cycle of life and the place of human life in the natural world. Other volumes of poetry are Sange mod Vaardybet (1927; Songs toward the Depth of Spring), Stjernerne vaagner (1930; The Stars Awaken), Den dunkle Sol (1936; The Dark Sun), Panorama med regnbue (1972; Panorama with Rainbow), and Digte (1990; Poems).