Page:History of the Literature of the Scandinavian North.djvu/412

394 person who, whenever he feels love for a maiden and desires to make her his bride, discovers that she is a daughter of his father; "Marjam," in which the apostles appear as lunatics, and "Isidor af Tadmor." The best of his tales are "Araminta May," a masterly work in the form of letters; "Skällnora quarn" (The mill at Skällnora), the two before mentioned, which contain exquisite descriptions from popular life, and which may be compared with Björnson's peasant stories; and "Kolumbine," in which is described how a fallen woman purines herself through her love for a man. Among his numerous romances we may name "Amalie Hillner," "Gabriele Mimanso," and "Tre fruar i Småland."

Since the time of Mörk literature had been almost stagnant in Sweden, and the public had been satisfied with translations from French and German. But in the first half of this century there appeared several writers of original novels, of which the following were the most remarkable: Frederik Cederborgh (1784-1835) furnished in the comical novels, "Urso von Trasenberg" and "Ottar Trailing," humorous sketches from every-day life. The burlesque element is too prominent and the stories lack plots, but still they became very popular, and are still widely read. Of far greater importance were the writings of the three renowned Swedish female novelists. (1801-65) published in 1828 her first book, "Teckningar ur hvardagslifvet" (Sketches from every-day life). It was at once favorably received on account of the fine conception of characters and situations, while the warm religious feeling and the light graceful style, rendered still more attractive by a delicate vein of humor, made it very popular, and the author soon found herself surrounded by a large circle of friends and admirers. Her works