Norway Dantesque Encyclopedia

Norway Dantesque Encyclopedia

Norway. – Scandinavian region, in which the Germanic element, having reached the time of the great migrations, prevailed over the aborigines, who were incorporated or marginalized.

Towards the middle of the century IX began a process of national unification, then reinforced by the Christianization that developed in the following two centuries. In the secc. XII and XIII the Norway was troubled by struggles for the throne, until, towards 1240, the sovereign power was strengthened under Haakon IV; In the second half of the century. XIII the rights advanced by the clergy were the cause of controversy (Davidsohn, History IV II 586 ff.). The fourteenth and fifteenth centuries saw the beginning of the dissolution of national unity.

The history of Norway, which is poorly represented also in the planisphere of Vesconte (Revelli, Italy 52), was not well known by D., even if his contemporaries Florentines had commercial relations with the region (Davidsohn, Storia IV II 483, 542). He names her only once, to indicate one of his kings, probably Acone (Haakon) VII, listed among the unworthy Christian rulers in Pd XIX 139.

Fortuna of D. In Norway. – Of Norway there is only one mention in D., in the periphery (that… of Norway, Pd XIX 139) in which the poet mentions the king, who at the time of the vision was Håkon V Magnussøn (see ACONE). But commentators disagree in indicating which sovereign D. was alluding to: the oldest give a vague geographical description without naming the king, and many modern Italians are of the opinion that D., like the ancient chiosatori, had hardly any news of the Norwegian king. Of the three Norwegian commentators, Michael U. Schmidt, based on the commentary translations of Molbech and Lovén in Danish and Swedish, opts for Håkon V, who gave asylum to the assassins of the Danish king Erik VII in 1288 and with their help waged war against his successor Erik VIII, with looting of the Danish shores which for nine years proved very disastrous for both kingdoms. OCL Vangensten claims that D. was able to receive information directly from those Florentine merchants to whom the tenth collection was transferred from the Tuscan Uguiccio, chaplain of Pope Honorius IV, collector of the “subsidium Terrae Sanctae” for Norway (1285-95) and intimate of the king Eirik Prestehater (1280-1299); Einar Molland mentions the bitter conflict between the anti-clerical tutelary government of Eirik Prestehater and the Norwegian Church, which could induce D. to place this king among the damned. chaplain of Pope Honorius IV, collector of the “subsidium Terrae Sanctae” for Norway (1285-95) and close friend of King Eirik Prestehater (1280-1299); Einar Molland mentions the bitter conflict between the anti-clerical tutelary government of Eirik Prestehater and the Norwegian Church, which could induce D. to place this king among the damned. chaplain of Pope Honorius IV, collector of the “subsidium Terrae Sanctae” for Norway (1285-95) and close friend of King Eirik Prestehater (1280-1299); Einar Molland mentions the bitter conflict between the anti-clerical tutelary government of Eirik Prestehater and the Norwegian Church, which could induce D. to place this king among the damned.

According to smber, the Comedy was read in Norway since the seventeenth century, but one began to have a knowledge of the poem and to feel a deeper interest in D. only in the period of Scandinavian Romanticism, when the first translations of the poem were published. Norway has only six translators of D., who have also limited themselves to fragmentary translations of the poem, the Convivio, the Vita Nuova and the Rime.

In our century, a fragment of Hell translated by August Western appeared in the Norwegian language. A complete translation of the Comedy into the so-called “New Norse” language (nynorsk), a work of Henrik Rytter, of which only the fifth canto of Hell was published, served as the basis for Sigmund Skard for his translation with commentary, of 42 cantos of the poem, a translation which, partially abolished the feminine rhymes unsuitable for the Norwegian language, adopted a free choice of masculine and feminine rhymes. Fragments of the Convivio, Vita Nuova and Rime, as well as fragments of the entire Comedy, were translated into Norwegian by Kristen Gundelach with prefaces by the translator and Aasmund Brynildsen.

Dante’s studies in Norway show preference for historical and biographical facts rather than for Dante’s philosophy, allegory and mysticism. The last twenty years has opened new fields of study for a deeper penetration of the Dante’s world: the identification of the frozen north with paganism, the Christian faith with the heat of the south wind in medieval allegory is exposed in the treatise Calor fidei by Vegard Skånland. D.’s moral conception, the problem of evil and love are discussed in articles by Erna and Harald Ofstad. Ernst Sinding attempts a comprehensive exposition of the poem; the individual characters are also treated: Ulysses from Rytter, Matelda from Just Bing and Vegard Skånland. In the medieval Norse legend Draumkvædet, places and images similar to those of the Comedy have been seen by Fredrik Bætzmann and, more recently, by Mattias Tveitane and Giovanni Gonnet. Arne Johan Henrichsen wrote an interesting essay on D. and his language. D. and his works have been described in the literary histories of J. Bing and Francis Bull, and articles about D. are found in all the great Norwegian encyclopedias. The Norwegian poets Andreas Munch, Arne Garborg, Hans E. Kinck, Nils Kjær, Olaf Bull, Helge Krog in their works have been influenced by D., and we can also see the Dante influence in the works of the figurative artists Gustav Vigeland and Edvard Munch. D. and his works have been described in the literary histories of J. Bing and Francis Bull, and articles about D. are found in all the great Norwegian encyclopedias. The Norwegian poets Andreas Munch, Arne Garborg, Hans E. Kinck, Nils Kjær, Olaf Bull, Helge Krog in their works have been influenced by D., and we can also see the Dante influence in the works of the figurative artists Gustav Vigeland and Edvard Munch. D. and his works have been described in the literary histories of J. Bing and Francis Bull, and articles about D. are found in all the great Norwegian encyclopedias. The Norwegian poets Andreas Munch, Arne Garborg, Hans E. Kinck, Nils Kjær, Olaf Bull, Helge Krog in their works have been influenced by D., and we can also see the Dante influence in the works of the figurative artists Gustav Vigeland and Edvard Munch.

Norway Dantesque Encyclopedia

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