Johan Nordahl Brun

Johan Nordahl Brun

Johan Nordahl Brun (also "Johan Nordal Brun") (born March 21, 1745 in Byneset (now part of Trondheim ), † July 26, 1816 in Bergen ) was a Norwegian Lutheran bishop and poet.

Youth and education

His parents were the merchant and later farmer Svend Busch Brun (1703–1784) and his second wife Mette Catharina Nordal (1721–1790). On September 2, 1773 he married Ingeborg Lind (February 2, 1746 - August 7, 1827), daughter of the Christian Erichsen Lind and his wife Elen Svendsdatter Myhre.

Brun grew up in poor conditions, first in Byneset and from the age of four in Klæbu . At first he worked on a farm. At the age of 12 he became a non-commissioned officer in the Nordenfjeldske skiløperkorps. In 1760 he came to the Cathedral School in Trondheim. There he was influenced by the teacher in history Gerhard Schøning . After the examen artium and the Annenexamen he worked from 1764 in Trondheim as a private tutor and did theology in self-study. In 1767 he passed the theological state examination in Copenhagen. After that he was a teacher in Trondheim for a few years.

The poet

During these years he tried his hand at poet in different fields and different styles. In 1768 he anonymously published a small comedy Jomfru Pecunia (Virgin Pecunia). His first major work was the moral-allegorical didactic poem Religionens Reyse gjennom Forfængeligheds Land (Journey of religion through the land of nothingness), which was read in Det Kongelige Norske Videnskabers Selskab in 1769 . In 1770, on the occasion of the return of Bishop Johan Ernst Gunnerus from a trip to Finnmark, he wrote “Naturens Navnedag” (Nature's name day) based on Christian Braunmann Tullin's natural poetry. He also anonymously wrote the prose poem En øm Faders Betragtninger ved sin dødfødde Søns Liig-Sten (One of a father's reflections on the burial stone of his stillborn son).

Brun was employed by Bishop Gunnerus as secretary and librarian of the Scientific Society. In 1771 he traveled with Gunnerus to Copenhagen and supported him there as secretary in the reform of the Danish university. He was also involved in the bishop's plans to found a Norwegian university of his own. At the turn of the year 1771/1772 he wrote the patriotic drinking song For Norge Kiempers Fødeland (For Norway, the fatherland of fighters). The song was frowned upon by the Danish authorities but soon became popular among Norwegian students in Copenhagen.

Because of his lack of knowledge of German, Brun had to give up his secretary position. So he worked as a playwright. In February he won the prize in the competition for the first Danish original tragedy with the play Zarine , which he dedicated to Gunnerus. It was successfully premiered on February 24, 1772. This success was celebrated by the Norwegian students and a few months later led to the foundation of the “Norske Selskab” (Norwegian Society) in Copenhagen. Zarine is a love drama in Alexandrian meter according to the French-Classical model, based on the model of Voltaire's tragedies . With this style he became the target of Johan Herman Wessel in his parody Kierlighed uden Strømper (Love without stumps).

After the tragedy Zarine , the Danish theater management asked him to write another tragedy, this time with material from Norwegian history. Four months later he delivered the tragedy Eine Tambeskielver . The shape was the same as Zarine's , but the fabric was taken from Snorri Sturluson . The play was rejected because the Danish press identified an aggressive national-Norwegian tendency which met resistance. The tendency is seen today rather ambivalent: loyalty to the king and love for the Norwegian fatherland, which the Danes only saw as a Danish province. This double bond remained characteristic of Brun throughout his life. In his work Til Nordmænd om Troeskab mod Kongen og Kierlighed til Fædrenelandet. I Anledning Eine Tambeskiælver (To the Norwegians about loyalty to the king and love for the country. On the occasion of Eine Tambeskiælver) he rejected the criticism of the Danish journalists. In it, he emphasized that the Norwegians were truly loyal to the king. With Montesquieu, he traced the difference between Norwegians and Danes back to the climatic and natural conditions in the two countries: The colder climate produces tougher people. Separatist aspirations lay outside his world of thought throughout his life.

After 1772, when he had become a pastor, he mainly wrote hymns and poems. A highlight is his Easter psalm Jesus lever, Graven brast (Jesus lives, the grave burst) from the Evangeliske Sange (Evangelical chants) (1786). His profane poems in Mindre dikte (Smaller Poems) (1791) were also particularly vivid. The poem Jeg tog min nystemte Cithar i Hænde (I took my retuned zither in my hands) is a good example of this. Many poems contain national motifs, Norwegian nature in winter and the joy of using skis and ice skates. His last great poetic work, Jonathan (1796), is an extensive epic in Alexandrian verse with biblical material. It was dedicated to Israel and the Jews in all countries. The poem was unsuccessful and even panned by critics, but Brun considered it his main work.

Political attitude

In 1791 he took over the material from Eine Tambeskiælver in the Singspiel Endres og Sigrids Brøllop , in which the two main characters are supposed to allegorically represent the union of Norway and Denmark. Although there was no doubt about his loyalty to the king, he ran into certain difficulties when, without his knowledge, his song For Norge, Kæmpers Fødeland was printed in Kristiansand in 1785 and distributed in Trondheim. Perhaps this was the reason why he did not join the movement for the establishment of a Norwegian national university during this period. He wanted to avoid anything that might give the appearance of separatist ideas. His writing Fornuftig Kjærlighed til Fædrenelandet ( Sensible Fatherland Love ) (1788) and his essays in the reactionary Folkevennen suggest this.

The other pieces he wrote in the 90s were bourgeois comedies in the Ludvig Holberg tradition . This shows the conservative, paternalistic and anti-revolutionary attitude of Bruns. This is most clearly expressed in Republikken paa Øen (The Republic on the Island) of 1793. In it he shows that the ideal of equality is unrealistic. Only a strict social order can ensure peace and freedom.

Brun defended the legitimacy of the royal power in everything and considered Danish absolutism to be the best form of government. In 1814 he vigorously opposed entering into a union with Sweden. As long as there was a prospect that Christian Friedrich could become king in Norway, he paid homage to the Danish prince as "our Norway's first man". He managed that the representatives of Bergen in the first extraordinary Storting voted against the union with Sweden. When the union was in place, he accepted the situation, but took no pleasure in the new democratic constitution. At first he feared that Prince Karl Johann would depose him before the meeting of the extraordinary storting because of his obviously anti-Swedish agitation. But Karl Johann soon came to an understanding of Brun's attitude through the delegates from Bergen, recognized his great importance and soon even won him as a supporter, so that he awarded him a medal. Brun entered into correspondence with the Swedish greats and was respected by everyone.

Brun played an important role in the development of the Norwegian identity. He has often been lined up with the powerful personalities Bjørnstjerne Bjørnson and Grundtvig . The more recent research emphasizes the opposites in his poetry and in his polemical writings. The urge to assert oneself found there was not the same as what was later associated with the term “nationalism”, but rather a patriotism that referred to regional roots and was proud of the Norwegian character and history .

The spiritual career

Byneset Church.

On October 29, 1772 Brun was appointed resident chaplain in Byneset and on April 14, 1774 he was pastor at the Kreuzkirche in Bergen . Here he devoted himself to pastoral care and was a thoroughly contentious clergyman when he said that the church or the weak did not get their rights. He now also defended the rights of the diocese. In 1793 he became provost. When the resident bishop Ole Irgens went blind in 1797, he was entrusted with the performance of episcopal duties, received the title and rank of bishop in 1803 and, after Irgens' death in the same year, took over the diocese of Bergen on January 6, 1804 .

As a bishop, he was very involved in practical work and went on many visitation trips, some to areas that a bishop had never visited, for example Jostetal . He tried very hard to proclaim Christianity. He opposed the Enlightenment Christianity and the spreading deism with a strongly internalized faith in the Christ of the Bible. He despised the passivity and self-reflection of pietism . Nonetheless, as one of the few clergymen, he was quite lenient with the attitude of the lay preacher Hans Nielsen Hauge . In general, he was tolerant in personal dealings and had constant contact with the free thinker Peter Andreas Heiberg when he was in Bergen. In 1785 he wrote the font Vore gamle Kirkeskikke forsvarede mod Hr. Confessionarius og Doktor Bastholm (defense of our old church practice against Mr. Confessionarius and Doctor Bastholm), in which he defended the old liturgy against rationalistic reforms of worship. His faith was closely linked to his patriotism. In 1815 he was accepted as an honorary member of the Evangelical Society in Stockholm. In the last years of his life he worked for the establishment of a Norwegian Bible Society , the establishment of which he was still to see.

Brun was a great orator in his time and considered his collection of sermons Hellige Taler (holy speeches) (1797–1798 and 1805) to be his spiritual testament. His use of biblical texts continued the traditional interpretation and stood in contrast to the demand of the Enlightenment for a scientific interpretation of the Bible.

Honors

Because of the trust of the king in his unbreakable loyalty, Brun became a knight in 1810 and commander of the Dannebrog Order in 1812, Dannebrogsmann in 1813, a clerical member of the North Star Order in 1815 and the day after his death the commander of this order. After his death, Crown Prince Karl Johan had a memorial erected for him in the cathedral in Bergen .

Works

• Jomfru Pecunia (Virgin Pecunia), anonymous. Copenhagen 1768
• Naturens Navnedag (Nature's Name Day), 1770
• Tsarine. Et Sørgespil i fem Optog ved ohan Nordahl Brun (Tsarine. A tragedy in five acts by Johan Nordahl Brun), Copenhagen 1772
• A Tambeskielver, Oslo 1945.
• To Nordmænd om Troeskab mod Kongen and Kierlighed to Fædrenelandet. I Anledning Eine Tambeskiælver (To the Norwegians on loyalty to the king and love for the country. On the occasion of Eine Tambeskiælver), Trondheim 1773
• Before gamle Kirkeskikke forsvarede mod Mr. Confessionarius og Doktor Bastholm (defense of our old church custom against Mr. Confessionarius and Doctor Bastholm), 1785
• Tanker om Norges Odelsret (Thoughts on Norway's Odels Law. 1788
• Endres and Sigrids Brøllop. Et Syngestykke i tre Handlinger (The Wedding of Endres and Sigrid. A Singspiel in three acts), Copenhagen 1791
• Republics paa Øen. Et Skuespil i Fem Handlinger The republic on the island. A play in five acts), Bergen 1793
• Evangeliske Sange over Høimessetexter (Evangelical chants over texts of the High Mass), Bergen 1786
• Hellige Taler (holy speeches) 1–2, 1797–98
• Samling af Johan Nordahl Bruns Mindre Digte (Collection of Johan Nordahl Bruns' smaller poems), Copenhagen 1791

Remarks

The article is essentially based on the Norsk biografisk leksikon . Other information is shown separately.

1. ↑ Thrap p. 145.
2. ↑ After Thrap S. 146, she died on August 27, 1829th
3. ↑ The “examen artium” was the entrance exam for admission to the course, so it corresponded to our Abitur, but was accepted by the university.
4. ↑ The "Annenexamen" was an Examen philosophicum, an intermediate examination, the passing of which was a prerequisite for further studies for a state examination.
5. ↑ ^{a b c d} Thrap p. 146.
6. ↑ ^{a b c} Thrap p. 148.
7. ↑ ^{a b} Thrap p. 149.
8. ^ A "resident chaplain" was a permanent chaplain in contrast to the traveling chaplains.
9. ↑ ^{a b} Thrap p. 147.
10. ↑ The “Stiftspropst” was the pastor at the Episcopal Church and the bishop's deputy.
11. ^ Johan Nordahl Brun . In: Bernhard Meijer (Ed.): Nordisk familjebok konversationslexikon och realencyklopedi . 2nd Edition. tape  4 : Brant-Cesti . Nordisk familjeboks förlag, Stockholm 1905, Sp. 337 (Swedish, runeberg.org ).

literature

• Liv Bliksrud: Johan Nordal Brun . In: Norsk biografisk leksikon ; Retrieved November 16, 2009.
• D. Thrap: Brun, Johan Nordahl . In: Carl Frederik Bricka (Ed.): Dansk biografisk Lexikon. Tillige omfattende Norge for Tidsrummet 1537-1814. 1st edition. tape 3 : Brandt – Clavus . Gyldendalske Boghandels Forlag, Copenhagen 1889, p. 145-150 (Danish, runeberg.org ).
• Johan Nordahl Brun . In: Det Kongelige Norske Videnskabers Selskab Forhandlinger , 1931, dknvsjubileum2010.no (PDF)