The enthusiastic nationalism of Henrik Wergeland and his young following brought on a conflict with the conservative element, which was not ready to accept everything as good simply because it was Norwegian. This conservative element maintained that art and culture must be developed on the basis of the old association with Denmark, which had connected Norway with the great movement of civilization throughout Europe. As the poetical leader of this “Intelligence” party, as it was called, appeared J. S. Welhaven.
Johan Sebastian Cammermeyer Welhaven was born in Bergen in 1807, entered the university in 1825, became a “Lector” in 1840, and afterward Professor of Philosophy. “His refined æsthetic nature,” says Fr. Winkel Horn, “had been early developed, and when the war broke out between him and Wergeland he had reached a high point of intellectual culture, and thus was in every way a match for his opponent. The fight was inaugurated by a preliminary literary skirmish, which was, at the outset, limited to the university students; but it gradually assumed an increasingly bitter character, both parties growing more and more exasperated. Welhaven published a pamphlet, ‘Om Henrik Wergelands Digtekunst og Poesie,’ in which he mercilessly exposed the weak sides of his adversary’s poetry. Thereby the minds became still more excited. The ‘Intelligence’ party withdrew from the students’ union, founded a paper of their own, and thus the movement began to assume wider dimensions. In 1834 appeared Welhaven’s celebrated poem ‘Norges Dæmring,’ a series of sonnets, distinguished for their beauty of style. In them the poet scourges, without mercy, the one-sided, narrow-minded patriotism of his time, and exposes, in striking and unmistakable words, the hollowness and shortcomings of the Wergeland party. Welhaven points out, with emphasis, that he is not only going to espouse the cause of good taste, which his adversary has outraged, but that he is also about to discuss problems of general interest. He urges that a Norwegian culture and literature cannot be created out of nothing; that to promote their development it is absolutely necessary to continue the associations which have hitherto been common to both Norway and Denmark, and thus to keep in rapport with the general literature of Europe. When a solid foundation has in this manner been laid, the necessary materials for a literature would surely not be wanting, for they are found in abundance, both in the antiquities and in the popular life of Norway.” Welhaven continued his effective work as a poet and a critic. Through a series of lyrical and romantic poems, rich in contents and highly finished in style, he developed a poetical life, which had an important influence in the young Norwegian literary circles. He died in 1873.
Andreas Munch (1811-1884), an able and industrious poetical writer, took no part in the controversy between Wergeland and Welhaven, but followed his Danish models independently of either. His “Poems, Old and New,” published in 1848, were quite popular. His best work is probably “Kongedatterens Brudefart” (The Bridal Tour of the King’s Daughter), 1861.
In the period of about a dozen years following the death of Wergeland, the life, manners and characteristics of the Norwegian people were given the especial attention of the literary writers. Prominent in this period was Peter Christian Asbjörnsen (1812-1885), who, partly alone and partly in conjunction with Bishop Jörgen Moe (1813-1882), published some valuable collections of Norwegian folk tales and fairy tales. Moe also published three little volumes of graceful and attractive poems. Among other writers of this period may be named Hans H. Schultze (“Fra Lofoten og Solör”), N. Östgaard (“En Fjeldbygd”), Harald Meltser (“Smaabilleder af Folkelivet”), M. B. Landstad (hymns), and the linguist Sophus Bugge.
The efforts to bring out the national life and characteristics of the people in the literature also led to an attempt to nationalize the language in which the literature was written. The movement was the so-called “Maalstræv,” and had in view the introduction of a “pure Norwegian” book-language, based upon the peasant dialects. The most prominent supporter of this movement was Ivar Aasen (1813-1898), the author of an excellent dictionary of the Norwegian language. A prominent poetical representative of this school was Aasmund Olafson Vinje (1818-1870), while Kristofer Janson (born 1841) has also written a number of stories and poems in the Landsmaal (country tongue).
A new and grand period in the Norwegian literature commenced about 1857, and the two most conspicuous names in this period—and in the whole Norwegian literature—are those of Henrik Ibsen and Björnstjerne Björnson.
Henrik Ibsen was born in Skien in 1828. He has written many beautiful poems; but his special field is the drama, where he is a master. His first works were nearly all historical romantic dramas. His first work, “Catilina,” printed in 1850, was scarcely noticed until years afterward, when he had become famous. In 1856 appeared the romantic drama, “Gildet paa Solhaug” (The Feast at Solhaug), followed by “Fru Inger til Oestraat,” 1857, and “Hærmændene paa Helgeland” (The Warriors on Helgeland), 1858. In 1863 he wrote the historical tragedy “Kongsemnerne” (The Pretenders), in which the author showed his great literary power. Before this play was published, he had been drawn into a new channel. In 1862 he began a series of satirical and philosophical dramas with “Kjærlighedens Komedie” (Love’s Comedy), which was succeeded by two masterpieces of a similar kind, “Brand,” in 1866, and “Peer Gynt,” in 1867. These works were written in verse; but in “De Unges Forbund” (The Young Men’s League), 1869, a political satire, he abandoned verse, and all his subsequent dramas have been written in prose. In 1873 came “Keiser og Galilæer” (Emperor and Galilean). Since then he has published a number of social dramas which have attracted world-wide attention. We mention: “Samfundets Stötter” (The Pillars of Society), “Et Dukkehjem” (A Doll’s House), “Gengangere” (Ghosts), “En Folkefiende” (An Enemy of the People), “Rosmerholm,” “Fruen fra Havet” (The Lady from the Sea), “Little Eyolf,” “Bymester Solnes” (Masterbuilder Solnes), “John Gabriel Borkman.”
Björnstjerne Björnson (born in Österdalen in 1832) is the more popular of the two giants in the Norwegian literature of to-day. His works are more national in tone. It has been said that to mention his name is to raise the Norwegian flag. His first successes were made in the field of the novel, and the first two, “Synnöve Solbakken” (1857), and “Arne” (1858), made his name famous. These, and his other peasant stories, will always retain their popularity. He soon, however, entered the dramatic field, and has since published a great number of dramas and novels. “Halte Hulda,” 1858; “Mellem Slagene,” 1859; “Kong Sverre,” 1861; “Sigurd Slembe,” 1862; “Maria Stuart,” 1863; “De Nygifte” (The Newly-married Couple), 1865; “Kongen,” 1877; “Leonarda,” 1879; “Det ny System,” 1879; “Over Ærne,” 1883; “En Fallit,” “Det flager,” etc., and many others.
In the field of belles-lettres there is, at the present time, a number of other talented authors. Jonas Lie (born 1833) has produced a number of excellent novels. Then there are Alexander Kielland (born 1849), Magdalene Thoresen (born 1819), Arne Garborg, Gunnar Heiberg, and a number of young authors.
In the field of science, also, modern Norway has a rich literature with many prominent names, such as the historians Peter Andreas Munch (1810-1863), Rudolph Keyser (1803-1864), Johan Ernst Sars (born 1835), and O. A. Överland.