The Crown Pretenders (Ibsen)

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The Crown Pretenders (original title: Kongs-Emnerne ) is a play by the Norwegian poet Henrik Ibsen .

General

The play The Crown Pretenders was written in 1863; but Ibsen states that his sources and the idea for the piece go back to 1858. The play has five acts based on historical events from the thirteenth century. The first performance took place in Oslo in the Christiania Theater on January 19, 1864 (Christiania was the name of the Norwegian capital Oslo in the 19th century).

The plot of the play is based on the conflict between the Norwegian King Håkon IV. Håkonsson (* 1204, † 1263) and his father-in-law Jarl Skule Bårdsson . The portrayal of the conflict in Ibsen's play was, according to general opinion, indirectly related to the hidden rivalry between Ibsen himself and his friend and successor Bjørnstjerne Bjørnson in the management of the Norwegian State Theater.

Characters of drama

  • Håkon Håkonsson, elected king by a powerful tribe
  • Inga von Varteig, his mother
  • Jarl Skule Bårdsson, a high Norwegian nobleman; Håkon's rival and later father-in-law
  • Ragnhild, Skule's wife
  • Sigrid, Skule's sister
  • Margrete, Skule's daughter; Håkon's future wife
  • Guthorm Ingesson
  • Sigurd Ribbung
  • Nikolas Arnesson, Bishop of Oslo; Representative of the Church
  • Dagfinn Bonde, Håkons Marshal
  • Ivar Bodde, Håkons court chaplain
  • Vegard Väradal, one of his courtiers
  • Gregorius Jonsson, a nobleman
  • Paul Flida, another nobleman
  • Ingebjörg, Anders Skjaldarband's wife
  • Peter, her son, a young priest
  • Sira Viljam, court chaplain to Bishop Nikolas
  • Master Sigard von Brabant, a doctor
  • Jatgejr the Skald, an Icelander
  • Baard Bratte, a man from the Trondheim area

Historical background

Håkon Håkonsson ruled as King of Norway from 1217 to 1263. In the early stages of his rule, much of his power, about a third of the kingdom, was in the hands of Skule Bårdsson. In 1225, Håkon Skule's daughter Margrét Skúladóttir married. The relationship between the rivals became more and more strained as Håkon was able to consolidate his own power in the second phase of his rule. In 1239, the conflict between the two escalated to an open war after Skule proclaimed himself king. The rebellion ended in 1240 when Skule died.

This ended the civil war era in Norway, which had lasted from 1130 to 1240.

literature

References and footnotes

  1. ↑ since 1857
  2. ↑ Henrik Ibsen and Bjornstjerne Bjornson (Nicoline Bech-Meyer, English)
  3. ↑ "Bonde" means "the farmer" in Norwegian, which is used in the text in an allusion.
  4. ^ Helle, Knut (2003) The Cambridge History of Scandinavia, Volume 1: Prehistory to 1520

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