Page:History of the Literature of the Scandinavian North.djvu/417

Rh and Finland the "Surgeon's Stories" are the favorite reading of all classes.

One of the most prominent Swedish writers of modern times is (born 1829), and particularly his novels, "Den siste Atenaren," "Fribytaren på Östersjön," and "Singoalla," have received the highest praise and been widely read. The first of these is a very important work, which gives a graphic and striking picture of those dark and restless times, when paganism and Christianity were still at war with each other. Rydberg is the champion of liberal ideas in every direction, but more especially in the religious field. The author himself calls "The Last Athenian" a polemical book, and this epithet may also be applied to his other æsthetical works, for in all of them he deliberately attacks obscurantism and blind faith in authorities. But the poetic effect of his novels suffers in no way either from this or from the thorough historical study of the times which he describes. A result of his comprehensive historical investigations is the "Romerska Dagar" (Roman Days), a series of splendidly executed pictures from the times of Imperial Rome. This volume, which stands unrivalled in point of style, is based on the artistic monuments preserved from the old Roman days. His poems are not numerous, but their masterly form and wealth of thought give them rank among the best poetry in Swedish literature.

Having thus traced the novel literature of Sweden down to the latest times, it is necessary to go back again a little. We have seen that Tegnér had a number of followers, nearly