[4]. This remark does not apply, of course, to the satiric “parabasis” uttered by the Bishop’s ghost in the fifth act. That is a totally different matter.
[5]. The followers of Håkon’s grandfather, King Sverre. See Note, p. 125.
[6]. On page [277] will be found a reference to Brandes’s Ibsen and Björnson; but I may as well give here the substance of the passage. In the original form of the play, three speeches of Ingeborg’s, in her scene with Skule, ran as follows: “It is man’s right to forget,” “It is woman’s happiness to remember,” and “To have to sacrifice all and be forgotten, that is woman’s saga.” It was only on Brandes’s remonstrance that Ibsen substituted the present form of these speeches, in which they became, not the generalised expression of an ideal, but merely utterances of Ingeborg’s individual character.
THE
VIKINGS AT HELGELAND
(1858)
CHARACTERS.
- Örnulf of the Fiords, an Icelandic Chieftain.
- Sigurd the Strong, a Sea-King.
- Gunnar Headman,[[7]] a rich yeoman of Helgeland.
- Thorolf, Örnulf’s youngest son.
- Dagny, Örnulf’s daughter.
- Hiördis, his foster-daughter.
- Kåre the Peasant, a Helgeland-man.
- Egil, Gunnar’s son, four years old.
- Örnulf’s six older Sons.
- Örnulf’s and Sigurd’s Men.
- Guests, house-carls, serving-maids, outlaws, etc.
The action takes place in the time of Erik Blood-axe (about 933 A.D.) at, and in the neighbourhood of, Gunnar’s house, on the island of Helgeland, in the north of Norway.
Pronunciation of Names: Helgeland=Helgheland; Örnulf=Örnoolf; Sigurd=Sigoord; Gunnar=Goonnar; Thorolf=Toorolf; Hiördis=Yördeess; Kåre=Koarë; Egil=Ayghil. The letter “ö” as in German.