Selma Lagerlof is one of Sweden's best-loved storytellers. In 1909, she became the first woman to win the Nobel Prize for literature. The essay, "On the Site of the Great Kungahälla," reveals some of the legendary particulars Selma garnered from her literary work, Edda. In Sturlason's account, Konunga-hella was a city, now Kungälv, at the mouth of the Göta river near the boundary between Norway and Sweden, where royalty from the two countries would meet to negotiate peace, often through marriage. In the two stories from the Queens collection included in the book, the proposed pacts involve kings from a Christian Norway and queens and princesses from a still-pagan Sweden. Lagerlöf's stories romanticize the materials in Sturlason's blow-by-blow chronicle. Her objectives are complex: though the women are her primary focus, she is drawn to the notion of the kings' adopted Christian faith. King Olaf of "Astrid" ruled Norway from 1016 to 1028, and was canonized as Norway's patron saint a century later. As king, he, like the earlier ruler, Olaf Trygveson of "Sigrid Storräde," made the conversion of his people a prime objective, using less than Christian methods to accomplish it. His "sainthood" is considerably idealized by Lagerlöf. Trygveson became King of Norway in 995 and jumped to his death five years later in a losing sea battle with the Swedes and Danes. These events are foreshadowed in Lagerlöf's narrative. "The Silver Mine," from a later volume (1908), centers around Gustav III, King of Sweden from 1771 until his assassination in 1792. His rule began with dramatic liberal reforms; then he emptied the country's purse in his court's extravagance and in drawn-out wars with Russia and Denmark. In this legend, he visits a town in Dalecarlia, the southwest province in which Lagerlöf lived from 1897-1919, and takes heart at the people's contented poverty.
About the Author: Selma Lagerlöf (1858-1940) was probably one of the most well-known literary figures to have come out of Sweden. During her lifetime her stories and novels were read and enjoyed all over the world, particularly after she became the first woman to receive the prestigious Nobel Prize in Literature in 1909. The essence of Lagerlöf's writings is certainly just as relevant today, however. Her works have powerful imagery and themes that make them universal and timeless. Also, as an avid supporter of causes such as women's rights and world peace, her thoughts and concerns are equally valid today. Selma Lagerlöf was born in the ancestral manor home of Mårbacka, in the province of Värmland in Sweden. Her childhood was marked by an illness that forced her to avoid strenuous activities but which opened up a world of stories and books instead. Of particular importance for her development as an author was the abundance of family legends and regional tales that her grandmother passed on to her, as well as the rich tradition of Nordic stories and mythology that surrounded her. It was a fantastic fairy tale world, in the midst of reality, that later came to have a great effect on her storytelling. Lagerlöf was a schoolteacher and wrote fiction on the side for ten years before she was able to support herself solely with her writing. Lagerlöf compiled many of her earlier short stories into a collection in 1894 under the heading Invisible Links. Using her personal narrative technique, even somewhat reminiscent of the old Icelandic tales, she depicts the Swedish people, their lives and struggles, through glimpses into their souls. The profound truth that comes across in her stories is the fact that people do not act according to opinions or principles, but are driven by inner irrational forces. Thus, in all our confrontations in life, our actions are always unpredictable. To the American audience, Selma Lagerlöf is perhaps best known and loved for her charming and imaginative storybooks The Wonderful Adventures of Nils and The Further Adventures of Nils, originally written in 1906-7 as texts for teaching Sweden's geography to schoolchildren. It is exciting that Penfield Books has taken the initiative to reintroduce the writings of this acclaimed Scandinavian author.