Jonas Lie is sufficiently famous to need but a very few words of introduction. Ever since 1870, when he made his reputation by his first novel, "Den Fremsynte," he has been a prime favourite with the Scandinavian public, and of late years his principal romances have gone the round of Europe. He has written novels of all kinds, but he excels when he describes the wild seas of Northern Norway, and the stern and hardy race of sail-ors and fishers who seek their fortunes, and so often find their graves, on those dangerous waters. Such tales, for instance, as "Tremasteren Fremtid," "Lodsen og hans Hustru," "Gaa Paa!" and "Den Fremsynte" are unique of their kind, and give far truer pictures of Norwegian life and character in the rough than anything that can be found elsewhere in the literature. Indeed, Lie's skippers and mates are as superior to Kjelland's, for instance, as the peasants of Jens Tvedt (a writer, by the way, still unknown beyond his native land) are superior to the much-vaunted peasants of Björnstjerne Björnson.But it is when Lie tells us some of the wild legends of his native province, Nordland, some of the grim tales on which he himself was brought up, so to speak, that he is perhaps most vivid and enthralling. The folk-lore of those lonely sub-arctic tracts is in keeping with the savagery of nature. We rarely, if ever, hear of friendly elves or companionable gnomes there. The supernatural beings that haunt those shores and seas are, for the most part, malignant and malefic. They seem to hate man. They love to mock his toils, and sport with his despair. In his very first romance, "Den Fremsynte," Lie relates two of these weird tales (Nos. 1 and 3 of the present selection). Another tale, in which many of the superstitious beliefs and wild imaginings of the Nordland fishermen are skilfully grouped together to form the background of a charming love-story, entitled "Finn Blood," I have borrowed from the volume of "Fortællinger og Skildringer," published in 1872. The re-maining eight stories are selected from the book "Trold," which was the event of the Christmas publishing season at Christiania in 1891. Last Christmas a second series of "Trold" came out, but it is distinctly inferior to the former one.TALES: THE FISHERMAN AND THE DRAUGJACK OF SJOHOLM AND THE GAN-FINNTUG OF WAR."THE EARTH DRAWS"THE CORMORANTS OF ANDVAERISAAC AND THE PARSON OF BRONOTHE WIND-GNOMETHE HULDREFISHFINN BLOODTHE HOMESTEAD WESTWARD IN THE BLUE MOUNTAINS"IT'S ME."
About the Author: Jonas Lauritz Idemil Lie (Norwegian: 1833 - 1908) was a Norwegian novelist, poet, and playwright who is considered to have been one of the Four Greats of 19th century Norwegian literature, together with Henrik Ibsen, Bjornstjerne Bjornson and Alexander Kielland. Jonas Lie was born at Hokksund in Ovre Eiker, in the county of Buskerud, Norway. Five years after his son's birth, Lie's father was appointed sheriff of Tromso, which lies within the Arctic Circle, and young Jonas Lie spent six of the most impressionable years of his life at that remote port. He was sent to the naval school at Fredriksvaen; but his defective eyesight caused him to give up a life at sea. He transferred to the Bergen Cathedral School (Bergen katedralskole) in Bergen, and in 1851 entered the University of Christiania, where he made the acquaintance of Ibsen and Bjornson. He graduated in law in 1857, and shortly afterwards began to practice at Kongsvinger, a town located between Lake Mjosa and the border with Sweden.