Jacob B. Bull

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Jacob B. Bull. Drawing by Andreas Bloch

Jacob B. Bull , Jacob Breda Bull, (born March 28, 1853 in Rendalen , Hedmark , † January 7, 1930 in Copenhagen ) was a Norwegian author.

biography

His parents were the pastor Mathias Bull (1815–1876) and his wife Henriette Margrethe Breda (1817–1887). His first marriage was on December 29, 1876, in Kristiania Gunvor Sofie Rytterager (April 10, 1843– January 23, 1882), daughter of the landowner Johannes Olsen Rytterager (1816–1903) and his wife Jakobine Laurentze Marie Hoffeldt (1818–1845). His second marriage was on January 9, 1883 in Stockholm, Anna Maria Augusta Berglöf (July 15, 1854– March 11, 1922), daughter of the factory owner August Th. Berglöf and his wife Maria Charlotta Hesselgreen.

Bull grew up in the vicarage in Øvre-Rendal. His closeness to nature shaped his later poetry. The father's house was characterized by openness to culture and tolerance. He held several newspapers and also enjoyed discussing politics. Music and singing were cultivated in the parental home. He soon mastered several instruments and considered studying music. His mother, too, had a great influence on him with her cheerful Christianity and care for the poor. As a youth he often sat with the servants and heard their stories, which he later incorporated into his works. He later wrote a short story about his nanny Marit. She critically accompanied the development of his Norwegian style, discovered his talents, encouraged his imagination and advised him to study.

At the age of 15 he moved to Christiania to the Latin school there. He learned the classical languages ​​and English. He was very interested in fiction and knew its classics. In 1872 Bull passed the exam artium, then studied theology and took the exam in 1876. But he never became a clergyman. His open, liberal view of Christianity did not fit into the orthodox theology of the faculty at the time. Rather, he began as a journalist, founded the Dagen newspaper in 1878 , but soon switched to the humorous subject and founded the Krydseren magazine , which appeared from 1879 to 1885. His parodies were particularly popular there. He then bought Folkebladet , where he published many of his short stories and poems.

He later settled in Copenhagen, but visited his home valley as often as possible. He never became a city dweller.

He lived in the time of the beginning industrialization and experienced his literary breakthrough in neo-romanticism. It was anchored in the ethical values ​​of the old peasant society. At the same time he was skeptical or even negative about some central thoughts and ideas of his time that had rejected belief in the creation of nature by God. He struggled against these ideas throughout his life. He opposed the conclusions of Darwinism. But he was heavily influenced by liberal theology, which saw Jesus as a guide and love as a central value. He attached great importance to human reason. A lifelong friendship with Bjørnstjerne Bjørnson worked in the same direction. He expressed his view of life in 1907 in the play in verse form Veslefrikk .

He traveled a lot and had constant financial problems. Some of his lyrics were quickly thrown out and received bad reviews. It was not very popular with the critics of the time. This was partly due to the different quality, but partly also to his worldview, which ran diametrically against the zeitgeist , and to his simplistic, extreme and irreconcilable message that he expressed in his polemical contemporary novels and plays. Only his descriptions of the life of the people were consistently received positively. Despite the bad reviews, his works were sold in large editions. His debut was the novella Paa Grænsen (On the Frontier), which was printed in Morgenbladet in 1879 . She was clearly influenced by Bjørnson. He was able to achieve a certain amount of attention with his socially critical pieces Uden Ansvar and Alvorsmænd . But he secured his place in Norwegian literature through his short stories describing the nature of rendalen, sketches, fairy tales and stories, for example Fra skog og fjeld , Mellem fjeldene (Between the mountains) and Folk fra dalen . His descriptions of nature and people are influenced by romanticism, but also have a socially critical note when they take on the differences between rich and poor, for example. He put a lot of work into his settlement book on Rendalen. He edited the first two volumes himself, the third was completed in 1940 by his son Hjalmar and a commission from the municipality of Rendalen.

A year before his death he finished the socially critical novel En høvding , which dealt with the labor movement.

1900-1903 Bull was chairman of the Norwegian Writers' Union. In 1911 he became a first class knight of the St. Olavs Order .

His second wife and himself were buried in a grave near Lommesjøen in Ytre Rendal. The old rectory where he spent his childhood has been a communal Bull Museum since 1964.

Works (selection)

  • Uden Ansvar (Without responsibility / obligation). Drama, 1890
  • Alvorsmænd. (Prudent People), play, 1891
  • Skisser. (Sketches) 1891
  • Event and history. (Fairy tales and stories) 1892
  • Af Norges frihedssaga. (from the Norwegian Freedom Story). Poem, 1893.
  • Fra skog and fjeld. (Von Wald und Berg) 1894
  • Mellem fjeldene (Between Mountains) 1895
  • Folk fra dalen. (The people of the valley) 1897
  • Bondeoprøret. (Peasant uprising) 1900
  • Dyveke i Norge. (Dyveke in Norway) 1901
  • Tordenskjold. (Thunderstorm) drama, 1901
  • Dyveke i Danmark, (Dyveke in Denmark) 1902
  • Fonnaasfolket. (The people of Fonnås), 1902
  • Fra fru Ingers tid. (From Mrs. Inger's time) Copenhagen 1902
  • Jomfruerne on Østraat. (The Virgins at Østråt) Copenhagen 1903
  • Kong Kristjern Tyran. (The tyrant King Christian) 1904
  • Christian Frederik Norges conge. (Christian Frederik, the Norwegian King), play, 1905
  • Eline Vangen, Copenhagen 1906
  • Fjeldkraker and skogstrold. (Felsenkrach and Waldtroll, youth stories), Copenhagen 1906
  • Veslefrikk. (Fairytale play), 1907
  • Østerdalskongen. (The King of Østerdalen) Copenhagen 1907
  • Glomdalsbruden. (The Bride of Glåmdal) 1908
  • Hans Nielsen Hauge. 1908
  • Hunting historian. (Hunting Stories) 1908
  • Ole Pedersen Høyland, 1910
  • Livets triumf. (Triumph of Life) 1911
  • Lys hævn. (Light / cheerful vengeance) 1913
  • Præstens søn. (The pastor's son) 1915
  • Den nye gud. (The New God) 1917
  • Rendalen, dens historie og bebyggelse (Rendal, its history and settlement) Vol. 1, 1916, Vol. 2, 1919, Vol. 3 (completed by Hjalmar Bull), 1940
  • The kjærlighet store. (The great love) 1923
  • Mr. Samuel, 1920
  • Mr. Samuels rige, 1922
  • Jørund Smed, 1924
  • Thordis Eikaberg, 1925
  • Viddens lord. (The Lords of Vidden) 1927
  • Ættens øde. (The wasteland of sex) 1928
  • En høvding. (A chief) 1929
  • Fjeld-ljom. (Rock Echo) poem, 1929

Remarks

  1. ↑ The "Examen artium" was the regular entrance examination for university, which required knowledge of Latin and Greek. So it corresponded to the Abitur, but was accepted by the university until 1883.

literature

Web links

personal data
SURNAME Bull, Jacob B.
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Bull, Jacob Breda
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Norwegian poet
DATE OF BIRTH March 28, 1853
PLACE OF BIRTH Rendalen , Hedmark
DATE OF DEATH January 7, 1930
Place of death Copenhagen