The Lionheart brothers
The Löwenherz Brothers ( Swedish Bröderna Lejonhjärta ) is the title of a novel by Astrid Lindgren first published in 1973 . The illustrations for the original edition are from Ilon Wikland .
action
The main characters are the two brothers Karl ("Krümel") and Jonathan Löwe. The story is told in first person form from Karl's perspective.
Nine-year-old Karl is seriously ill in bed and knows that he will die soon, although nobody wants to tell him. He admires his 13-year-old brother, Jonathan, who is smart, cheerful, and popular everywhere. Jonathan tries to take the fear of death away from his beloved little "crumb" by telling him about the land of Nangijala, which one comes to after death. He'll be completely healthy and have adventures all day.
Shortly afterwards, however, Jonathan is killed when he jumps out of the burning house with his brother on his back to save him. The thought that Jonathan now lives in Nangijala comforts Karl. A little later, while falling asleep, Karl has the feeling that he would die that night. In fact, immediately afterwards he finds himself with Jonathan in Nangijala and is healthy. They are now called " Lionheart ", as Jonathan was called by his teacher in her obituary in view of his bravery.
Initially, the Löwenherz brothers have a nice life together with other people in the Kirschtal. Soon, however, Jonathan has to leave to help the neighboring Wild Rose Valley in the resistance against the tyrant Tengil from the land of Karmanjaka, who is holding the valley with the help of the female dragon Katla, which he ruled , and wants to conquer further parts of Nangijala. Karl stays behind alone, but one night hears Jonathan's call in a dream and decides to follow him alone over the mountains.
By a lucky coincidence he finds Jonathan, who is hiding in the Wild Rose Valley. In dangerous situations, Karl learns to deal with his fear and to act prudently. Together they free Orvar, the leader of the resistance, from Tengil's captivity, and an open fight against Tengil and Katla ensues. The fight is decided when Jonathan wins the lure that is used to rule Katla and orders Katla to kill Tengil.
The brothers want to lead Katla back to her cave. On the way, Jonathan loses the lure and with it control of the kite. Katla chases the brothers to a river where the dragon Karm lives, and Jonathan pushes them into the gorge with a boulder. A fight ensues between the two monsters who kill each other. However, Jonathan was touched by Katla's fire during the hunt, resulting in complete physical paralysis. Jonathan tells Karl that after Nangijala there is another land of life, Nangilima. There he will be well again. Since Jonathan can no longer move, it is now Karl who takes his brother on his back and jumps with him into the depths to save him. The book ends with Karl's exclamation after the jump: "I see the light!"
History of origin
When Astrid Lindgren visited the churchyard in Vimmerby , she saw a cross. It read “Here the little Phalen brothers rest. Died 1860 ”. Then Lindgren knew that her next book ( The Lionheart Brothers ) should be about death and these two brothers.
Criticism and interpretation
Astrid Lindgren was one of the first children's book authors to take up the subject of death . It has received criticism from two sides for this. On the one hand, there were opinions that the subject was too serious to be described in children's books. On the other hand, it was criticized that death is played down because the brothers can escape their difficulties by jumping into death.
In contrast, Dieter Matthias and Eva-Maria Metcalf emphasize the connection between death and consolation and see in the text a not trivializing, but rather accepting view of death: The frightened, dying crumb is preparing for its death by being in the last night dreams of the adventures in Nangijala during his physical death and takes courage to part with his now (to die) in order to change into another existence. The moment he shouts at the end of the book: “I see the light!” He dies consciously and full of confidence, because in his dream he has overcome the fear of death and accepted death. The conclusion should therefore by no means be interpreted as suicide, but as a dreamed positive experience of inevitable natural death. The book could therefore be a source of comfort and encouragement for children, because it gives a possible answer to the everlasting question: "What comes after death?"
Awards
In 1979 Astrid Lindgren was awarded the Janusz Korczak International Literature Prize and the Wilhelm Hauff Prize for this book .
Film adaptations
Lindgren himself wrote the screenplay for the film Die Brüder Löwenherz by Olle Hellbom . The two main roles were played by Staffan Götestam and Lars Söderdahl . The film was shown for the first time in the competition at the Berlinale in 1978 and then in 1979 as a miniseries on ZDF . The multi-award-winning film has also been available on DVD in a 102-minute version since January 2004.
theatre
Christian Schönfelder reworked the book into a play for children.
In 2015 the music theater Die Brüder Löwenherz was created at the “Junge Szene” of the Semperoper Dresden . The composer is Helmut Oehring .
continuation
Many young readers turned to Astrid Lindgren again and again and wanted to know how things went on with Karl and Jonathan. Astrid Lindgren therefore wrote an open letter to the Swedish tabloid Expressen in 1974 . Another chapter on the book was published there. Karl and Jonathan live with Mattias in Mattisgården in Äppeldalen. There the two huts build, ride through the woods and sleep by the campfire. Karl also tames a wild dog, which he later calls Mecke. Grim and Fjalar are also in Nangilima. Karl and Jonathan's mother comes to Nangijala first. Sophia takes care of her there. Eventually they both get to Nangilima. Jonathan and Karl have two mothers who live together in a house near them. Tengil and Jossi did not come to Nangilima, but to a land called Lokrume. They are not doing badly there, but it is ensured that they will no longer be able to harm anyone there. Katlas and Karm's whereabouts are unknown. Jonathan once mentioned that they were in Sorokaste, but didn't say much more about it.
literature
- Dieter Matthias: Jump and you will be caught! For the creation of consolation in the film adaptation of the “Brothers Lionheart”. A teaching model for secondary level 1, 1997.
- Eva-Maria Metcalf: Leap of Faith in Astrid Lindgren's Brothers Lionheart. Children's Literature 23, 1995, pp. 165-178.
- Elke Liebs: The longing for death. Suicide in youth literature. The German lesson 2, 2002.
Web links
- Information on The Löwenherz Brothers on KinderundJugendmedien.de
- How the idea for the Löwenherz brothers came about
Individual evidence
- ↑ Waldemar Bergendahl (producer) and Roland Skogfeld & Per Olof Ohlsson (camera): Astrid Lindgren tells from her life . (Film) In: Astrid Lindgren's 100 Years Anniversary Edition. DVD. Universe movie.
- ↑ Schauspielhaus Zürich ( Memento of the original dated November 29, 2014 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
- ↑ The Lionheart Brothers. (No longer available online.) Www.semperoper.de, archived from the original on March 15, 2015 ; accessed on March 15, 2015 . Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
- ^ Kristina Hård: Lokrume och Sorokaste .
- ↑ Hur gick det sedan för Bröderna Lejonhjärta? .
