Tegner, Esaias

(1782-1846)

   A Swedish poet, Tegner was born into a clerical family of modest means but was raised by a well-to-do foster father after his own father's death. He distinguished himself as a brilliant student at Lund University, where he became a professor of Greek; later he became a bishop in the Swedish Lutheran state church. He was well read not only in classical languages but also in philosophy, and he was influenced by the German romantics. But Tegner was less sanguine in his romanticism than, for example, Per Daniel Amadeus Atterbom. Tegner appreciated classicism's emphasis on the unity of clear thought and balance and moderation of expression. Although he, like other national romantics, found inspiration in the deeds of the ancient men of the north, he was also inspired by the literature and mythology of the classical world, to which he referred liberally in his many poems written for celebrations of various kinds.

   In 1811 Tegner wrote a prize-winning poem, "Svea" (Sweden), the first of a number of individual poems that added to his luster as a poet and all-round cultural personality. Tegner is also well known for his long verse narratives. Nattvardsbarnen (1820; The Child Communicants), a narrative in hexameter, was much admired, for example, by the American poet Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, who translated it into English. Other narrative poems are Kronbruden (1841; The Crown Bride) and Axel (1822), which takes place during the war with Russia under King Karl XII. Tegner is best remembered, however, for Frithiofs saga (1825; tr. 1833), which takes aminor Old Norse saga and spins it into a Swedish national epic consisting of 24 songs. Set in the Viking Age, it is a story about romantic love and its resulting conflict between men, but also about forgiveness and reconciliation.

   The romantics believed that the poetic genius had a unique understanding of transcendental realities, and Tegner shared this view. Some of his lyric poetry spoke of his own troubles, which he was struggling to understand. His mental health failed him in his later years, but he left a strong and lasting impression on the literature and culture of his people.