Poet. He is considered one of the greatest poets in Scandinavian literature. He was a young man when his first collection of poems was published in 1803, and it was a breakthrough for him and for the romantic period in Danish literature. To his contemporaries he was a bold and modern neologist, and in 1929, in the cathedral of Lund in Sweden, he was laurelled as "King of Scandinavian Poetry" by the Swedish poet Esaias Tegnér. Besides his poems and songs, including the Danish national anthem, he wrote several dramas and tragedies based on ancient Nordic legendary figures. Towards the end of his life some critics found his later works old-fashioned and outmoded compared with his early works, but eventually public feeling sided with him, and on his 70th birthday, few months before his death, he was fêted by his fellow poets.
Poet. He is considered one of the greatest poets in Scandinavian literature. He was a young man when his first collection of poems was published in 1803, and it was a breakthrough for him and for the romantic period in Danish literature. To his contemporaries he was a bold and modern neologist, and in 1929, in the cathedral of Lund in Sweden, he was laurelled as "King of Scandinavian Poetry" by the Swedish poet Esaias Tegnér. Besides his poems and songs, including the Danish national anthem, he wrote several dramas and tragedies based on ancient Nordic legendary figures. Towards the end of his life some critics found his later works old-fashioned and outmoded compared with his early works, but eventually public feeling sided with him, and on his 70th birthday, few months before his death, he was fêted by his fellow poets.
Bio by: Erik Skytte
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