Esaias Tegnér

Esaias Tegnér (Swedish: [tɛŋˈneːr]; 13 November 1782 (1782-11-13) – 2 November 1846 (1846-11-03)) was a Swedish writer, professor of Greek, and bishop. During the 19th century, he was regarded as the father of modern poetry in Sweden, mainly through the national romantic epic Frithiof's Saga. He has been called Sweden's first modern man. Much is known about him, and he also wrote openly about himself.

Early life

His father was a pastor, and his grandparents on both sides were peasants. His father, whose name had been Esaias Lucasson, took the surname of Tegnérus—altered by his fifth son, the poet, to Tegnér—from the village of Tegnaby in the province of Småland, where he was born. In 1792 Tegnérus died.

In 1799 Esaias Tegnér, hitherto educated in the country, entered Lund University, where he graduated in philosophy in 1802, and continued as tutor until 1810, when he was elected Greek lecturer. In 1806 he married Anna Maria Gustava Myhrman, to whom he had been attached since his earliest youth. In 1812 he was named professor, and continued to work as a lecturer in Lund until 1824, when he was made Bishop of Växjö. He remained in Växjö until his death, twenty-two years later.

He was comparatively slow in development. His first great success was a dithyrambic war-song for the army of 1808. In 1811 his patriotic poem Svea won the great prize of the Swedish Academy, and made him famous. In the same year was founded in Stockholm the Gothic League (Götiska förbundet), a sort of club of young and patriotic men of letters, of whom Tegnér quickly became the chief. The club published a magazine, entitled Iduna, in which it printed a great deal of excellent poetry, and ventilated its views, particularly as regards the study of Icelandic literature and old Norse history. Tegnér, Geijer, Afzelius, and Nicander became the most famous members of the Gothic League.