Mr. Arne's treasure
Mr. Arnes Schatz (original title: Mr. Arnes penningar ) is a short story by the Swedish writer Selma Lagerlöf . The story, published in 1904, is about a gruesome robbery and murder in Bohuslän in the 16th century and the inevitability with which the crime must be atoned for.
action
Three Scottish mercenaries in the service of the Swedish king were thrown into prison on suspicion of treason, but were able to escape and now, disguised as journeyman tanners, want to flee home. When they come to Bohuslän, which was then Danish , they attack the rectory in Solberga and kill the pastor, Mr Arne, and all the residents of the rectory. The leader of the three even murdered Arne's young granddaughter despite requests from the others. Only her foster sister Elsalill can hide and escape. Then the three Scots steal the box in which Mr. Arne keeps his money treasure from the time of the Reformation, when the monasteries were secularized. They also find a captain who wants to bring them to Scotland along with several other Scottish mercenaries. But the ship cannot leave because the sea is frozen over.
The poor fishmonger Torarin from Marstrand , who was sitting at Mr. Arne's table shortly before the murderous attack, takes Elsalill home. Elsalill meets three rich and distinguished Scots in Marstrand. She falls in love with their leader, Sir Archie. Sir Archie promises to take Elsalill to Scotland and enable her to live richly. Sir Archie is moody because he did something bad to a young girl. He hopes to make amends when he marries Elsalill.
The ghost of Mr. Arne's granddaughter shows Elsalill that the three rich Scots are the ones who carried out the massacre in the rectory of Solberga; Sir Archie is the one who murdered Mr. Arne's granddaughter. Elsalill still wants to marry Sir Archie because she loves him and sees no point in punishing him. When the ghost remains relentless, Elsalill reports the three Scots, but hopes Sir Archie can escape in time.
Elsalill and Sir Archie sit together in the Ratskeller. The city guard appears to arrest Sir Archie and the other two killers. Elsalill summons Sir Archie to flee. But when she confesses to betraying Sir Archie, his love turns into hate. Elsalill now recognizes Sir Archie's cruel character. Sir Archie takes Elsalill hostage. The guards don't dare attack Sir Archie now, but Elsalill grabs a guard's lance and kills himself with it. The three Scots get on the ship that is supposed to leave the next morning.
The next morning the ice broke, only the ship with the three bulkheads got stuck. Torarin appears and proves to the captain that he has three murderers on board. The other Scottish mercenaries are bribed with the money from Mr Arne's treasure chest so that they do not help Sir Archie and his two cronies. Then the ship's crew overwhelmed Sir Archie and the other two killers. The citizens of Marstrand - but maybe it is also the ghost train of the murdered residents of Arnes Hof - bring Elsalill's corpse over the ice in a solemn procession. When the body is brought to Marstrand, the ice breaks and the ship is finally free.
meaning
Selma Lagerlöf wrote Mr. Arnes penningar in 1903, during a break while working on Nils Holgersson . The story is based on a true story: the story of the three men dressed as journeyman tanners who committed a brutal robbery on a rectory was well known in Bohuslän. Selma Lagerlöf had heard the story from her brother Daniel, who was a doctor in Kungälv .
Mr. Arnes penningar deals with a theme that always recurs at Selma Lagerlöf: the necessity and the inevitability of atonement for wrongdoing. This refers not only to the robbery of the Scots, but also to Pastor Arne, who came to his treasure due to the secularization of the monasteries in the course of the Reformation, which is therefore a curse. At the same time, Mr Arnes penningar is a haunted story, as Selma Lagerlöf loved it. The Carter of Death and The General's Ring later offer similar effects. From a formal point of view, the narrative is one of Selma Lagerlöf's best: from beginning to end, the plot offers a breathless, ever increasing tension, including a well-placed delay when brief reconciliation and forgiveness appear possible. The story seems to be all of a piece, the course of events arises automatically from the internal logic of the events. It is also masterful how the breaking ice is used as a symbol for justice that is finally breaking through. The language is characterized by haunting simplicity and concentration.
The fact that Selma Lagerlöf portrays the mercenary as a cruel man to whom killing is inherent already points to her later pacifist confession in Bannlyst . The victim role that she has given the main female character is quite traditional.
In 1917 Gerhart Hauptmann reworked Herr Arnes penningar into a verse drama with the title Winter Ballade . In 1919 Mauritz Stiller made the silent film Mr. Arnes Schatz , based on Mr. Arnes penningar , which became a classic. The opera Nordische Ballade by Manfred Gurlitt , which was completed in 1944 but only premiered in 2003, is also based on the story. A remake of the feature film from 1919 was made in 1954 by director Gustaf Molander , see Mr. Arnes Schatz (1954) . At times this film was also shown in cinemas under the title Lost Love .
expenditure
- Selma Lagerlöf: Mr. Arne's treasure. Narration ("Mr. Arnes Penningar"). Manesse Verlag, Zurich 2008, ISBN 978-3-7175-4081-6 (translated by Maria Franzos ).
- Selma Lagerlöf: Mr. Arnes Penningar . Bonnier, Stockholm 2001, ISBN 91-0-055789-7 .
literature
- Vivi Edström: Selma Lagerlöf . Nature and Culture, Stockholm 1991, ISBN 91-27-02261-7 .
Web links
- Mr. Arnes penningar The complete text in Swedish