Lagerlöf’s
legacy
Fairy tales
WhenSelmaLagerlöf’s
fatherbecame ill in 1868,
she read thecomplete
Bible– and the richness
of its language stayed
withher. Initiallyher own
workswere seen as fairy
talesbut they arenow
Swedishclassicswith
aperhaps anunlikely
influenceon theSouth
Americanpioneers
of “magic realism”,
includingGabriel García
Márquez,whowas abig
fanof Lagerlöf’swork.
Wild goose chase
Lagerlöf published
nearly30books in
her life, includingher
memoirs, but themost
famous is
TheWonderful
AdventuresofNils
,
about anaughtyboywho
is shrunk, and travels
roundSwedenon the
backof a goose, until
he learns theerror of
hisways. It hasbeen
translated into around
60 languages.
On the big
screen
Manyof SelmaLagerlöf’s
workswereadapted into
popular silent films, in
particular
GöstaBerling’s
Saga
(1924),which stars
a youngGretaGarbo.
Therehavebeenmany
notable versionsof
Jerusalem
, fromVictor
Sjöström’s two-part
adaptation (1919/20) to
a versionbyDaneBille
August in 1996, aswell as
numerousadaptations
of
TheWonderful
AdventuresofNils
.
1
SelmaOttilia Lovisa Lagerlöfwas born
with ahip injury on20November 1858
at the family estate,Mårbacka, inVärmland,
Sweden. Later shewas evenbriefly lame. She
decided tobecome awriter aged sevenwhen
she readher first novel, aWildWest adventure.
2
From 1882-85, Lagerlöfwent to
Stockholm for teacher training; she
graduated in the same year as her father died
andbegan teaching in Landskrona, where she
remained for 10 years. During this time she
developedherwriting and, in 1891, published
her debut novel,
GöstaBerling’sSaga
, after
winning a literary contest.
3
In 1894 Lagerlöfmet another Swedish
writer, SophieElkan; the twodeveloped
adeep relationship, which includedcritiquing
eachother’swork, although itwas disrupted
when Lagerlöfmoved toFalun in 1897 andmet
ValborgOlander, whobecameher assistant.
The relationshipbetween the threewas
dramatised for a TVmovie in2008.
4
From 1895, Lagerlöf supportedherself
entirely bywriting; in 1900 she visited
Jerusalem for abookof the samename
about Swedishemigrés. Hermost popular
book–
TheWonderful AdventuresofNils
–
was commissioned to teachchildren about
geography, andwas published in twoparts in
1906 and ’07 (
see sidebar
).
5
Lagerlöfwas awarded theNobel Prize
in Literature in 1909, “in appreciation
of thenoble idealism, vivid imagination
and spiritual perception that characterise
herwritings,” according to thecitation.
Shecampaigned forwomen’s suffrage and
against anti-Semitism, andwas elected to
the SwedishAcademy in 1914. Shedied at
Mårbackaon 16March 1940 and it is now a
museumdedicated toher.
Mårbacka isonehour’sdrive fromKarlstad;
Norwegianflies toKarlstad fromAlicanteand
GranCanaria.Bookflights,ahotelandarental
caratnorwegian.com
ALAMY; TOPFOTO
Five thingsyou
need toknowabout
Swedishwriter
SelmaLagerlöf
, the
firstwoman towin
theNobelPrize
inLiterature
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