Delphi Collected Works of Johan Ludvig Runeberg (Illustrated)

By Johan Ludvig Runeberg

Discover Johan Ludvig Runeberg, the national poet of Finland, who wrote in the Swedish language and forged a national identity with the power of his poetry. Runeberg's masterpiece ‘The Tales of Ensign Stål’ is widely regarded as the greatest Finnish epic poem outside the native Kalevala tradition and contains tales of the Finnish War with Russia.  For the first time in digital publishing, Runeberg’s epic and other works are now available in English translation, with beautiful illustrations and the usual Delphi bonus material. (Version 1)
* Beautifully illustrated with images relating to Runeberg's life and works
* Concise introduction to the epic poem
* THE TALES OF ENSIGN STÅL translated by Clement B. Shaw
* Excellent formatting of the poems
* Special chronological and alphabetical contents tables for the poetry
* Easily locate the poems you want to read
* Includes Runeberg's shorter verse – available in no other collection
* Features a bonus biography - discover Runeberg's literary life
* Scholarly ordering of texts into chronological order and literary genres
Please visit www.delphiclassics.com to browse through our range of exciting titles
CONTENTS:
The Poetry Books
THE TALES OF ENSIGN STÅL
KING FILIAR (Translated by Eiríkr Magnússon)
LYRICAL SONGS, IDYLLS AND EPIGRAMS (Translated by Eiríkr Magnússon)
The Poems
LIST OF POEMS IN CHRONOLOGICAL ORDER
LIST OF POEMS IN ALPHABETICAL ORDER
The Biography
JOHAN LUDVIG RUNEBERG by William Morton Payne
Please visit www.delphiclassics.com to browse through our range of exciting titles

• Language: English
• Publisher: Delphi Classics
• Release date: Oct 19, 2015
• ISBN: 9789634281610

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Johan Ludvig Runeberg

(1804-1877)

Contents

The Poetry Books

THE TALES OF ENSIGN STÅL

KING FILIAR

LYRICAL SONGS, IDYLLS AND EPIGRAMS

The Poems

LIST OF POEMS IN CHRONOLOGICAL ORDER

LIST OF POEMS IN ALPHABETICAL ORDER

The Biography

JOHAN LUDVIG RUNEBERG by William Morton Payne

The Delphi Classics Catalogue

© Delphi Classics 2015

Version 1

John Runeberg

By Delphi Classics, 2015

COPYRIGHT

Johan Ludvig Runeberg - Delphi Poets Series

First published in the United Kingdom in 2015 by Delphi Classics.

© Delphi Classics, 2015.

All rights reserved.  No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, without the prior permission in writing of the publisher, nor be otherwise circulated in any form other than that in which it is published.

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The Poetry Books

Runeberg’s birthplace in Jakobstad, in modern day Sweden

The birthplace in the early twentieth century

Jakobstad today

Runeberg as a young man

THE TALES OF ENSIGN STÅL

Translated by Clement B. Shaw

Composed in Swedish by Johan Ludvig Runeberg, the national poet of Finland, this epic poem concerns the events of the Finnish War (1808–1809) in which Sweden lost its eastern territories, resulting in the country becoming incorporated into the Russian Empire as the Grand Duchy of Finland. The first part of The Tales of Ensign Stål was published in the revolutionary year 1848, while the second part was released in 1860. The poem would go on to help shape Finnish identity and in later years it was given out for free during the Winter War in order to raise patriotic spirits. The first stanza of the poem would also become the national anthem of Finland.

The name of the title character, Stål, is the Swedish word for steel, a typical example of a so-called soldier’s name. The epic poem features several officers that fought in the Finnish War, including marshals Wilhelm Mauritz Klingspor and Johan August Sandels, generals Carl Nathanael af Klercker, Carl Johan Adlercreutz, and Georg Carl von Döbeln and Colonel Otto von Fieandt. Among the most famous characters is the simple, but heroic rotesoldat Sven Dufva. The organisations Lotta Svärd and Lottorna were named after the character in the poem of the same name.

From its publication to the mid-twentieth century, The Tales of Ensign Stål became staple reading in both Finnish and Swedish schools. The poem shaped the later image of the Finnish War and of some of its real-life protagonists. Admiral Carl Olof Cronstedt is mainly remembered today for his treacherous surrender of the fortress of Sveaborg, while the Russian general Yakov Kulnev, on the other hand, is described positively as a chivalrous and brave soldier and ladies’ man.

The frontispiece for an illustrated 1886 edition

Carl-Olof Cronstedt the elder (1756-1820) was a Swedish naval commander responsible for the overwhelming Swedish victory at the Second Battle of Svensksund, one of the largest naval battles in history. He is a central figure of the epic poem.

Yakov Petrovich Kulnev (1763-1812) was, along with Pyotr Bagration and Aleksey Yermolov, one of the most popular Russian military leaders at the time of the Napoleonic Wars. Suvorov’s admirer and participant of 55 battles, he lost his life during Napoleon’s invasion of Russia. Kulnev is one of the epic’s most heroic figures.

CONTENTS

DEDICATION

INTRODUCTORY.

FOREWORD.

EARLIER COLLECTION: 1848

CANTO FIRST. OUR LAND.

I. OUR LAND.

CANTO SECOND. ENSIGN STAL.

II. ENSIGN STAL.

CANTO THIRD. THE CLOUD’S BROTHER.

III. THE CLOUD’S BROTHER.

CANTO FOURTH. THE VETERAN.

IV. THE VETERAN.

CANTO FIFTH. LIEUTENANT ZIDEN.

V. LIEUTENANT ZIDEN.

CANTO SIXTH. THE COTTAGE MAIDEN.

VI. THE COTTAGE MAIDEN.

CANTO SEVENTH. SVEN DUFVA.

VII. SVEN DUFVA.

CANTO EIGHTH. VON KONOW AND HIS CORPORAL.

VIII. VON KONOW AND HIS CORPORAL.

CANTO NINTH. THE DYING WARRIOR.

IX. THE DYING WARRIOR.

CANTO TENTH. OTTO VON FIEANDT.

X. OTTO VON FIEANDT.

CANTO ELEVENTH. SANDELS.

XI. SANDELS.

CANTO TWELFTH. THE TWO DRAGOONS.

XII. THE TWO DRAGOONS.

CANTO THIRTEENTH. OLD MAN HURTIG.

XIII. OLD MAN HURTIG.

CANTO FOURTEENTH. KULNEFF.

XIV. KULNEFF.

CANTO FIFTEENTH. THE KING.

XV. THE KING.

CANTO SIXTEENTH. THE FIELD MARSHAL.

XVI. THE FIELD MARSHAL.

CANTO SEVENTEENTH. SVEABORG.

XVII. SVEABORG.

CANTO EIGHTEENTH. DOBELN AT JUUTAS.

XVIII. DOBELN AT JUUTAS.

LATER COLLECTION: 1860

CANTO NINETEENTH. THE SOLDIER BOY.

XIX. THE SOLDIER BOY.

CANTO TWENTIETH. THE MARCH OF THE MEN OF BJORNEBORG.

XX. THE MARCH OF THE MEN OF BJORNEBORG.

CANTO TWENTY FIRST. THE ENSIGN AT THE FAIR.

XXI. THE ENSIGN AT THE FAIR.

CANTO TWENTY SECOND. LOTTA SVARD.

XXII. LOTTA SVARD.

CANTO TWENTY THIRD. THE AGED LODE.

XXIII. THE AGED LODE.

CANTO TWENTY FOURTH. THE STRANGER’S VISION.

XXIV. THE STRANGERS VISION.

CANTO TWENTY FIFTH. THE ENSIGN’S GREETING.

XXV. THE ENSIGN’S GREETING

CANTO TWENTY SIXTH. VON TORNE.

XXVI. VON TORNE.

CANTO TWENTY SEVENTH. THE FIFTH OF JULY.

XXVII. THE FIFTH OF JULY.

CANTO TWENTY EIGHTH. MUNTER.

XXVIII. MUNTER.

CANTO TWENTY NINTH. VON ESSEN.

XXIX. VON ESSEN.

CANTO THIRTIETH. THE BAGGAGE DRIVER.

XXX. THE BAGGAGE DRIVER.

CANTO THIRTY-FIRST. WILHELM VON SCHWERIN.

XXXI. WILHELM VON SCHWERIN.

CANTO THIRTY SECOND. NUMBER FIFTEEN STOLT.

XXXII. NUMBER FIFTEEN STOLT.

CANTO THIRTY THIRD. THE BROTHERS.

XXXIII. THE BROTHERS.

CANTO THIRTY FOURTH. THE GOVERNOR.

XXXIV. THE GOVERNOR.

CANTO THIRTY FIFTH. ADLERCREUTZ.

XXXV. ADLERCREUTZ.

Robert Wilhelm Ekman’s painting of ‘Ensign Stool and the student’ based on events narrated in the epic poem

An illustration for the poem: Sven Dufva

THE SONGS OF

ENSIGN STAL

(FANRIK STALS SAGNER)

NATIONAL MILITARY SONG-CYCLE OF FINLAND, FROM THE SWEDISH OF JOHAN LUDVIG RUNEBERG IN THE ORIGINAL METERS

FIRST COMPLETE ENGLISH TRANSLATION BY

CLEMENT BURBANK SHAW, A. M., LITT. D., MUS. D.

WITH INTRODUCTION AND CANTO SYNOPSES

ILLUSTRATIONS BY MALMSTROM AND EDELFELT

FOREWORD ON

THE WAR IN FINLAND, 1808-1809 BY LAWRENCE F. NORDSTROM, B. D.

DEDICATION

(A DOUBLE ACROSTIC)

TO MY FRIEND, WILLIAM WADE HINSHAW.

Who were more attuned to strains heroic, Higher schooled than thou in measures noble, Holding loftie place among our masters, Skilled in art of Song, in acting famous. And since other years our life-paths blended, Since a treasured past our hopes concentered, When in mutual strains we oft united, While at well-spread Kalophonian banquets, Of those days I cannot grow unmindful, And to this day thou their link art standing. Hence to thee would I inscribe this cycle Of the Finnish skald — songs famed so widely, Loved so truly in the North dominion, But in this land not yet known or chanted.

May the Northern songs I now indite thee Strike within thy heart a major triad Lending unto martial lays a luster Lucent as thy glow in Wotan or Amfortas.

New York, January 1925.

INTRODUCTORY.

The kindly reception by the Swedish literati of the writer’s English translation of Tegner’s Frithiof’s Saga (1910), followed by many requests that he turn his efforts to another equally renowned Northern work, has at length induced him to make the attempt, — the outcome being the first complete English translation of Runeberg’s Fanrik Stals Sagner.

As there exists practically no literature in our language pertaining either to the Finnish war of 1808-9 or to this great Swedish-Finnish work setting forth its battles, its episodes and its characters in song, this skaldic cycle is unknown and unread here except by Finns and Scandinavians.

Of Frithiof’s Saga there have been fourteen English and American interpreters; of Fanrik Stals Sagner, none. A few detached cantos only have been reproduced; and Isabel Donner has produced A Selection from the Series of Poems Entitled Ensign Stal’s Songs — 17 of the 35 cantos — in English, which was published by G.W. Edlund, Helsingfors, 1907, with an introduction translated from the author’s Swedish manuscript, and with explanatory notes.

As Frithiof’s Saga is the national Epic of Sweden, so The Songs of Ensign Stål (Fanrik Stals Sagner) form the National Military Song-Cycle of Finland. Its original edition appeared at Borga and Helsingfors, December 1848.

Its author is the renowned Finnish poet, Johan Ludvig Runeberg (1804-1877), and its vehicle is the Swedish language, employed for long as the literary language of Finland. Such it continued to be until 1835, when Lonnrot brought out the epic, Kalevala, in Finnish, at once and permanently creating for it a literary audience in Finland, the land of a thousand lakes, now rich in periodicals and literature in its own language. Here dwelt also Topelius, Tavaststjerna, and other celebrated poets whose writings were almost entirely in Swedish.

Runeberg was in 1831 Lecturer on Roman Literature in Helsingfors University. In 1837 he accepted the chair of Latin in Borga College, there residing during the remainder of his life, and from 1847 to 1850 being Rector of the college. His only journey out of his native land was a brief visit to Sweden in 1851.

He was content to read of foreign lands without visiting them. His nature exemplified the dictum of Longfellow, To stay at home is best. The globe-trotter becomes too cosmopolitan to experience an unmixed devotion to his native land. A wanderer could not have written VartLand, the first canto of the Fanrik Stål cycle. Only a portion of its native soil adheres to the roots of a transplanted tree. Perhaps the Northlander longest retains the home-longing in distant realms where strange stars float over the heavens; but Runeberg must have spent his life in the North to have penned so powerfully the patriotic poems that bind in one the hearts of the Finnish and Swedish nations.

Tegner, in Frithiof’s Saga, made the High-priest once say:

"For eagerly the strong man circles earth and sea,

Like berserker who pallid bites into his shield,

But, wearied, homeward turns his thoughtful steps at last."

And Horatius, long ago, portrayed the comsummation of the wanderer’s repose when at last — at last — from long and weary years of pilgrimage, he returns to his childhood’s home, once more to rest upon the longed-for couch. Runeberg did more than to return to his own land, — he did not leave it.

While the twenty-four Cantos of Frithiof’s Saga, each in its own metrical and strophic form, constitute a connected hero-song, the thirty-five cantos of the present work are wholly detached, each complete in itself, and delineative of episodes having no connection, except incidentally, with each other. It would be difficult to weave so many characters into one Romance.

These portrayals of heroic exploits and martial scenes in the war of 1808 — 9 between Sweden and Russia (in which the latter country wrested Finland from the former), are strikingly projective of northern ideals, and have long inspired the national heart with patriotic fire.

While a few of the personages described are fictitious creations of Runeberg, they each yet represent concepts of Finland’s military life and valor, and as substrata for the projection of heroic attributes must be of equal value with the historic characters.

All poems are great as they speak to our own hearts. This is perhaps a poem’s apology for existence. It seems to me Runeberg’s Sagner are tangent at enough points to the world-thought to bridge over the chasms of language, race, time and place, and show that heroism, chivalry, codes of honor, depth of thoughts and feelings, — are international and universal. His characters radiate the atmosphere of living subjects, and with them he makes us acquainted.

Runeberg is the interpreter of Finland’s ideals, its racial qualities, and its traditions of heroism; but in this very office he becomes cosmopolitan. In painting northern moods, he paints moods that abide. In portraying past valor, he portrays also the valor of the present times. Sometimes he sets forth what we have not been able to say, but deeply feel when it is said; for therein we constantly find ourselves. He has removed the barriers of education, view-point and heredity, and thus has helped produce world-literature. In Finnish heroism we perceive all heroism. Like the Knights of Arthur, each hero for the time transcends every other. We must reverence his lance. We must regard his cause as just, we must recognize his enemy as unjust and worthy of death. When he kills his foe, we must believe it was the will of Heaven; if he himself falls, it was the temporary triumph of Hell.

Runeberg is mighty in his charming simplicity. Always the simplest words prevail. The labor of translating is thus greatly augmented. Rather than elaborate, he even repeats the same monosyllabic word or words — the same plain thought. No mental exhaustion results from the attempt to enucleate his meaning. No interminable periods exasperate the reader’s patience.

In the greater number of the cantos there is required no preparatory study on the part of the reader. The great common mind understands them at once, — whether they be comedies or tragedies, — whether they are set forth in the lyric or epic strain. And freedom from frothy verbiage is imperative, if one would portray the national Finnish character in its blunt simplicity, its silent calmness, its laconic and sententious utterances, — as set forth so vividly in the picture of Munter in the elegiac Canto Twenty Eighth.

And the startling originality of the poet parallels his directness and artlessness. Invention is one of his striking attributes.

Like Tegner, Runeberg is a master of versification. As in Frithiof’s Saga, so each Canto of Fanrik Stals Sagner stands before us in a strophic form unlike that of any other canto. This ever-varied stanza-scheme would of itself forefend against monotony; but each mold seems specially fitted to its subject. Some of these stanzaic forms are borrowed from the English ballad; but our poet was quick to perceive in other literatures the forms that best serve his purpose here. His apprehension of poetic beauty and metrical fitness was clear and keen. Many of the numbers are designed for music, and have received melodic settings, as will be noticed en passant. All the cantos except the third (The Cloud’s Brother) are strophic. Nine of the 35 cantos are iambic.

In multitudes of versified products we might question the appropriateness of a metrical treatment at all. In all languages a large percentage of subjects possessing no inherent poetic quality would have been better set forth in prose. Except that Songs must be metrical, this remark would perhaps in a few cases apply to the Runeberg work, — for example in Cantos Eighth, Tenth, Sixteenth, Twenty-Sixth and Thirtieth, where only a minimum of poetic imagery inheres in the subject itself; but the same is true of much of Dryden, Wordsworth, Pope, Cowper, occasionally of Longfellow, rarely of Tennyson, — almost never of Poe. Yet in defense of the stanza-form of writing, we must recognize wherein lie its powers. Meter, versification, regularity of form, order, the banishment of chaos, the elimination of confusion, the establishment of law, — all are potent. Even in prose there must be an approximate rhythm, — a more or less regular recurrence of accent. Very unrhythmic prose is annoying, disturbing, offensive.

There is a charm per se in ictus, in the ear-satisfaction that results from equal-timed pulsations, in the pleasure of constantly finding something where we expected it, and in a promise fulfilled, — the promise of the evenly recurring accent.

The poet chooses this pulse as does the mouth-pipe of a great organ, which converts an irregular series of air-disturbances or pulsations into its own proper and appropriate tone; — or as a stone-mason out of a heterogeneous heap of stones constructs a cemented wall of regular and artistic proportions.

The quality of satisfying this almost universal rhythmic sense, carrying us along with its currents of measured motion, can therefore be claimed by all verse, even if sometimes unpoetic in imagery; and with the incorporation of rhyme, alliteration, consonance, assonance, and other artifices, the metrical form constitutes for pure poetic thought the most beautiful vesture.

By these processes, and his innate perception of truth and beauty, Runeberg seems to have discovered and set forth for ear and thought every poetic element lying latent within his subjects, often surprisingly infusing it even into his character-portrayals.

But many of the Sagner are highly poetic in matter and loftily classic in treatment. In Canto Third, The Cloud’s Brother, we constantly discern the Homeric and Virgilian touch. Elaborate in its finesse, and stately in its development, its similes are the re-incarnation of the long slumbering Southern epic, and speak to us over the chasm of thousands of years. An excerpt from this Canto will exemplify:

"As when toward the eve, a summer whirlwind, When all nature, Sabbath-like, Is silent, Comes alone, unseen, swift as an arrow, Striking down in forest-lake, while moveth Plant nor leaf, nor is the pine-tree shaken, Nor on rocky strand a floweret wavers, —

Calm is all, the sea-depths only seething; —

So, when smote this strain the young man’s spirit, Sat he speechless, motionless, and shrinking; From his heart each word the blood had driven."

Let us collate this simile with the following from Dryden’s Aeneid, Lib. X:

"As when in summer welcome winds arise, The watchful shepherd to the forest flies, And fires the midmost plants; contagion spreads, And catching flames infect the neighboring heads; Around the forest flies the furious blast, And all the leafy nation sinks at last, And Vulcan rides in triumph o’er the waste; The pastor, pleased with his dire victory, Beholds the satiate flames in sheets ascend the sky; —

So Pallas’ troops their scattered strength unite, And pouring on their foes, their prince delight."

And with another from Chapman’s Iliad, Lib. XI:

"As when the flakes Of snow fall thick upon a winter day, When Jove, the Sovereign, pours them down on men, Like arrows from above; he bids the wind Breathe not; continually he pours them down, And covers every mountain-top and peak, And flowery mead, and field of fertile tilth, And sheds them on the havens and the shores Of the gray deep; but there the wafers bound The covering of snows, — all else is white Beneath the fast descending shower of Jove; —

So thick the shower of stones from either side Flew toward the other, — from the Greeks against The Trojans, and from them against the Greeks; And fearful was the din along the wall."

Again with a third simile from Pope’s Odyssey, Lib. X:

"As from fresh pastures and the dewy field, (When looted cribs their dewy banquet yield), The lowing herds return; around them throng With leaps and bounds their late imprisoned young, Rush to their mothers with unrul joy, And echoing hills return the tender cry; —

So round me pressed, exulting at my sight, With cries and agonies of wild delight, The weeping sailors, nor less fierce their joy Than if returned to Ithaca from Troy."

Were the metrical vehicles identical in the Runeberg Canto and the three classical quotations given, how easily one could imagine the four to be excerpts from one and the same epic! And had the translators of the classics employed the better meter, the trochaic pentameter of this canto of Runeberg, instead of the iambic pentameter (the customary but inadequate metrical vehicle of the great epics), they would, though with greatly augmented labor, have approached much nearer to the effect of the original spondaic and dactylic hexameter, since at least the traditional accent then would have been retained on the initial syllable of each poetic foot. The Runeberg meter affords a much closer parallel than theirs to the classic form, although both lack the dactyls.

But what our Poet borrowed he made thoroughly his own. Not for a moment is his individuality lost in these Virgilian and Homeric moulds. When he employs them, it is because no others would be so appropriate.

Frequent touches of classicism and sublimity appear throughout the cycle. Sveaborg, Dobeln at Juutas, The Ensign’s Greeting, and Adlercreutz, all move with lofty tone and majestic tread.

And where can purer lyricism, deeper sensibility, or more sincere emotion be found than in The Cottage Maiden, The Dying Warrior, The Soldier Boy, The Stranger’s Vision, or The Brothers? And what poet of any nation or time has portrayed martial characters and scenes more vividly than Runeberg in the songs not specifically mentioned? And where, in all literature, has a mightier love for native land been pictured than in Our Land and The Fifth of July? Or a more admirable tribute awarded to military prowess than in Kulneff, Munter, or Wilhelm von Schwerin?

Runeberg’s language is so simple (often monosyllabic) that a corresponding simplicity in translation often becomes incompatible with the demands of rhythm and rhyme; and to this consideration must be added the fact that many of the songs embody localisms and expressions pertaining to certain stations in life, where the lofty epic style, which must be maintained thoughout Frithiof’s Saga, would not here be at all in keeping. And as our English two-syllable rhymes are so sparse, a true translation of a poem like Munter, where every line must end with such a rhyme, becomes possible only in so far as our language will permit it; for if the English rhymes exist, they need not escape the translator; and if they do not exist, he must not be censured. Nor must he be confined to Anglo-Saxon derivatives, since all our derivatives are Anglicized, and all are so imperatively required in his task. As the difficulty of translation always lies at this end of the line, — in the language into which the original is to be brought over, — translations are therefore no more difficult from one language than from another. A Swedish poem is as translatable into English as a German or French poem is, — no more so, no less so. Yet we constantly hear the dictum that Swedish cannot be rendered in English.

If the original words have representatives as poetical in the new language as in the old, the translation should be as good; if less poetical, it would not be so good; if more poetical, which may sometimes be the case, a literal reproduction might excel the original. This might happen without other credit than literality to the translator. One can readily see how a literal translation of a certain particular line from any language to another could surpass the original. Should these language-conditions, then, be charged to the translator? A good translation of some lines might be far easier than an inferior translation of other lines. To ferry some lines across the Stygian language gulf in the English skiff without capsizing, might prove an enigma to the skillful Charon himself.

In comparing a translation with its original, when we have from earliest childhood had the original sounding in our ears, we are not quite prepared to listen to the reproduction of it in the new tongue.

We are constantly awaiting a recurrence of the vowel sounds of the original, especially in the rhyming syllables; we are almost as constantly expecting the same consonant sound at the corresponding point in a line. And we are constantly disappointed. We are subconsciously unwilling to let a new series of oral elements or processes carry the poem. We resent the intrusive accents of a strange voice. We cannot quite tolerate the sacrifice of the familiar vowel and consonant succession; for poetry is to us a matter of sound as well as of thought, and of course a translated poem cannot sound like the original. A man does not look natural when clad in a totally different garb, though to one who sees him for the first time in this garb, there appears nothing strange about him. In order impartially to estimate a poem in a new tongue, all remembrance of the vowel-consonant successions of the old would have to be forced out of memory — an extremely difficult and practically impossible process. For if this succession is not new, then the poem would still be in the original language, I believe.

As to whether a poem is a good literary and poetic product in the new language, one who knows it in the original is, caeteris paribus, predisposed to judge it adversely, since he cannot divest his ear of the sound of the old; it still lingers; the old-time impression holds; continual disappointment supervenes; — but as to whether it is a correct reproduction of the original, he and he alone is prepared to determine. So I trust the Swedish scholars will extend to this offering due indulgence on these various points.

The desire of the translator in this effort, as in the case of Tegner’s Frithiof’s Saga, of Wallin’s Dodens Angel, and of The Lyric Poetry of Sweden, is to contribute toward bringing over into our language some of the wonderful poetic literature of the North.

In conclusion I wish to thank Mr. Ernst Skarstedt, Mr. Oliver A. Linder, Dr. Peter Froeberg, Prof. Frans Ericson, Rev. S. G. Hagglund and Rev. L. F. Nordstrom, for valuable suggestions given during the preparation of this work.

New York, January 1924.

CLEMENT BURBANK SHAW.

FOREWORD: THE WAR IN FINLAND, 1808-1809

BY REV. LAWRENCE F. NORDSTROM, B. D.

The Historical Setting of the War.

Upon the throne of Sweden had come Gustavus IV Adolphus in 1796. Early in life he had shown signs of great promise. He loved order, justice and economy, and strove for the attainment of high ideals. His good qualities were too often misdirected; for he lacked strength, and had some serious faults which revealed themselves the more as years passed. He had not the gifts of a regent; and this proved the more disastrous to his kingdom, since he did not surround himself with influential and trusted advisers. He held tenaciously to personal sentiment and opinion, and was absolutely unwilling to sacrifice them even for the common welfare of his subjects. He hated Napoleon of France; and, tending strongly toward mysticism, believed him the monster of Revelation, and himself the re-incarnation of Charles XII of Sweden, divinely charged to conquer and deliver Europe from the Corsican beast. Alexander the First held the reins of government in Russia, having come to the throne in 1801. He showed a very active and intelligent interest in all matters of state, internal as well as foreign, but his enthusiasm was quickly cooled by practical difficulties. He sought expansion of territory and of power, and often without regard to the interests of others.

France was in a state of upheaval about this time. The revolution, inevitable result of the errors of centuries, had broken out, deposing royalty and embroiling factions in war, till at length the victorious Napoleon Bonaparte, the military and diplomatic genius of France, proclaimed himself emperor in 1804. Napoleon possessed a strong will, well nigh indomitable, power of quick decision and tenacity of purpose. He dreamed of gaining dominion overall Europe; and this, added to his genius and power, made him the terror of Europe in war and diplomacy. Coalitions among the nations to nullify his power were numerous.

The powers in the north, — Sweden, Russia and Denmark, — were in combination for the purpose of keeping enemy powers out of the Baltic Sea. These united with England, Austria and Italy in war against Napoleon. Russia, however, after suffering defeat in her struggles with France, broke away from the alliance. An alliance between Alexander and Napoleon was formed at Tilsit in July 1807, and the two emperors forthwith became as close friends as they before had been enemies.

The Cause of the War.

The seed, which brought forth the war of 1808 and 1809 in Finland, was sown at this meeting of the emperors. Napoleon, with his personal influence, captivated Alexander, and soon put him wholly under his power. He convinced him of the great advantages in territorial expansion which an alliance between the two countries would have; and the two emperors practically divided all Europe between them at this time. But Alexander’s eyes were on Turkey. To turn the emperor away from that direction, Napoleon skillfully directed his attention to Finland, as a necessary acquisition preliminary to the contemplated future conquest of Sweden.

A plan was drawn up, inspired by Napoleon. Russia was to demand of Sweden that she shut out from the Baltic the ships of England, — a demand that Sweden was expected to refuse; whereupon Russia was to