Ensign steel
Fähnrich Stahl (original title Fänrik Ståls sägner ; German: The stories of Fähnrich Stål ) is the title of a poetry collection by the Finnish-Swedish poet Johan Ludvig Runeberg . It appeared in two parts in 1848 and 1860 and deals with the Russo-Swedish War 1808–1809. It was illustrated by Albert Edelfelt with numerous drawings. A German translation by Wolrad Eigenbrodt appeared in several editions towards the end of the 19th century and in the first half of the 20th century.
Fänrik Ståls sägner is still considered a national epic in Finland (along with Kalevala ) and Sweden .
Historical background
Finland has been part of Sweden since the Middle Ages . In 1805, Sweden made with Great Britain , Russia and Austria , the third against Napoleon directed coalition . The background was, on the one hand, Sweden's close economic ties with England, and, on the other hand, the hatred of the Swedish King Gustav IV Adolf of Napoleon. Sweden's situation became precarious, however, when Russia allied itself with France in the Peace of Tilsit in 1807 and Denmark also formed an alliance with France. Russia could now invade Finland with Napoleon's backing. This happened in February 1808. Since the Baltic Sea was frozen over, no reinforcements could come from Sweden at first. The Swedish-Finnish army under General Field Marshal Mauritz Klingspor therefore moved to northern Finland. The Sveaborg fortress on the Finnish south coast, which was supposed to tie up Russian forces, surrendered without a fight on May 3, 1808 for reasons that have not yet been clarified. Despite some initial successes by the Swedish-Finnish army, the Russian army managed to occupy all of Finland by the end of 1808 and to carry the war to Sweden. On March 13, 1809, the Swedish King Gustav IV Adolf, who was blamed for the fiasco, was overthrown. Peace was only made on September 17, 1809: In the Treaty of Fredrikshamn (Finnish Hamina), Sweden had to cede all of Finland to Russia, which resulted in the Grand Duchy of Finland .
Content and meaning
Fänrik Ståls sägner tells, mostly in ballads and anecdotal poems, stories from the Swedish-Russian war, in particular heroic deeds of the Swedish-Finnish soldiers. In a kind of framework, it is described how the lyrical self as a young man worked as a tutor in the country and met the old ensign Stål, who told him about his war experiences. Not only generals and officers are presented, but also common soldiers. Even civilians such as the sutler Lotta Svärd - whose name lives on in the Lotta movement named after her - and Landshövding (governor, roughly: district president) Wibelius are lovingly portrayed. Of course, the most brilliantly successful are the hateful, biting sarcasm depictions of the three people who Runeberg blames for the military debacle: King Gustav IV Adolf, Commander-in-Chief Mauritz Klingspor and the commandant of Sveaborg Fortress Carl Olof Cronstedt . The constant theme of Fänrik Ståls sägner is the love of the country, which unites people from all walks of life in a common, selfless service. It is preceded by the poem Vårt land (“Our Country”), which is now the Finnish national anthem.
The unbroken patriotism, the naive glorification of war, in which the very real horrors are completely concealed, and some peculiarities such as the desperation of the village girl that his friend has deserted instead of looking for death in battle, seem strange today. But what is still alive today is the simple, catchy, unaffected, popular language of the poems. At the same time, Runeberg works artistically with a multitude of different verse forms and meter measures, following the example of Fritiof's saga by Esaias Tegnér .
Here is a typical example from Fänrikens marknadsminne ("The ensign's memory of the fair"):
- Before fuck jag icke falla, där sången hjälte föll,
- där den käcka finska, sina Högtidsstunder hell,
- där vår era lyste klarast, där vår lycka blidast var,
- under Siikajokis, Lappos, Alavos och Salmis.
("Why couldn't I fall when so many a hero fell, when the dashing Finnish army had its festive hours, when our honor shone most clearly, when our happiness was mildest, during the days of Siikajoki, Lappo, Alavo and Salmi?" )
The individual poems
First part
- Vårt land ("Our Land")
- Fänrik Stål ("Ensign Stål")
- Molnets broder ("brother of the cloud")
- Veterans ("The Veteran")
- Löjtnant Zidén ("Lieutenant Zidén")
- Torpflickan ("The Village Girl")
- Sven Dufva ("Sven Dufva")
- Von Konow och hans korpral ("Von Konow and his corporal")
- The döende krigaren ("The dying warrior")
- Otto von Fieandt ("Otto von Fieandt")
- Sandels ("Sandels")
- De två dragonerna ("The Two Dragoons")
- Gamle Hurtig ("The old Hurtig")
- Kulneff ("Kulneff")
- Konungen ("The King")
- Fältmarskalken ("The Field Marshal")
- Sveaborg ("Sveaborg")
- Chub vid Jutas ("Chub with Jutas")
Second part
- Soldiergossen ("The Soldier Boy ")
- Björneborgarnas marsch ("The March of the Björneborgs")
- Fänrikens marknadsminne ("The ensign's memory of the fair")
- Lotta Svärd ("Lotta Svärd")
- Gamle Lode ("The Old Lode")
- Främlingens syn ("What the stranger has seen")
- Fänrikens hälsning ("The Ensign's Greetings")
- Von Törne ("Von Törne")
- Den femte juli ("The fifth of July")
- Munter ("Munter")
- From Essen ("From Essen")
- Trosskusken ("The Coachman")
- Wilhelm von Schwerin ("Wilhelm von Schwerin")
- N: r femton Stolt ("No. 15, Stolt")
- Bröderna ("The Brothers")
- Landshövdingen ( "The landshövding")
- Adlercreutz ("Adlercreutz")
Winged words
Fänrik Ståls sägner is characterized by many short, concise, distinctive formulations. Many of them have become winged words in the Swedish language . Here some examples:
- O land, du tusen sjöars land ("O land, you land of a thousand lakes" - from Vårt land )
- Jag såg en här, som frös och svalt / och segrade tillika ("I saw an army that froze and hunger and nevertheless won" - from Fänrik Stål )
- De tala några enkla ord, / tag mot dem, dyra fosterjord ("You [the poems] speak some simple words, accept them, dear fatherland" - from Fänrik Stål )
- Mer än leva, fann jag, var att älska, / mer än älska är att dö som denne ("More than to live, I thought, was to love / More than to love is to die like this one" - from Molnets broder )
- Släpp ingen djävul över bron ("Don't let a devil cross the bridge" - from Sven Dufva )
- Ett dåligt huvud hade han, men hjärtat, det var gott ("He had a weak head, but his heart was good" - from Sven Dufva )
- Giv åt Stål en penning även, / eller tag ock min ("Give Stål a penny too [jokingly for medals], or take mine too" - from De två dragonerna )
- Vid femton år gevär han tog, vid sjutton var han man. ("At fifteen he took the rifle, at seventeen he was a man" - from soldiers' gutters ).
- Ojämt falla ödets lotter ("The lots of fate fall unequally " - from Fänrikens marknadsminne )
- Han kysste och han slog ihjäl / med samma varma själ ("He kissed and he beat dead with the same warm soul" - from Kulneff )
