Frans G. Bengtsson
Frans G. Bengtsson (1894–1954) was born and raised in the southern Swedish province of Skåne, the son of an estate manager. His early writings, including a doctoral thesis on Geoffrey Chaucer and two volumes of poetry written in what were considered antiquated verse forms, revealed a career-long interest in historical literary modes and themes. Bengtsson was a prolific translator (of Paradise Lost, The Song of Roland, and Walden), essayist (he published five collections of his writings, mostly on literary and military topics), and biographer (his two-volume biography of Charles XII (Karl XII:s levnad) won the Swedish Academy’s annual prize in 1938). In 1941 he published Röde Orm: Sjöfarare i västerled (Red Orm at Home and on the Western Way), followed, in 1945, by Röde Orm: Hemma och i österled (Red Orm at Home and on the Eastern Way). The two books were published in a single volume in the United States and England in 1954 as The Long Ships. During the Second World War, Bengtsson was outspoken in his opposition to the Nazis, refusing to allow for a Norwegian translation of The Long Ships while the country was still under German occupation. Bengtsson married Gerda Fineman in 1939. He studied at the University of Lund from 1912, receiving his licentiate in philosophy in 1930. He died in 1954 after a long illness.
30 Books Written
Frans Gunnar Bengtsson’s The Long Ships resurrects the fantastic world of the tenth century AD when the Vikings roamed and rampaged from the northern fastnesses of Scandinavia down to the Mediterranean. Bengtsson’s hero, Red Orm—canny, courageous, and above all lucky—is only a boy when he is abducted from his Danish home by the Vikings and made to take his place at the oars of their dragon-prowed ships. Orm is then captured by the Moors in Spain, where he is initiated into the pleasures of the senses and fights for the Caliph of Cordova. Escaping from captivity, Orm washes up in Ireland, where he marvels at those epicene creatures, the Christian monks, and from which he then moves on to play an ever more important part in the intrigues of the various Scandinavian kings and clans and dependencies. Eventually, Orm contributes to the Viking defeat of the army of the king of England and returns home an off-the-cuff Christian and a very rich man, though back on his native turf new trials and tribulations will test his cunning and determination. Packed with pitched battles and blood feuds and told throughout with wit and high spirits, Bengtsson’s book is a splendid adventure that features one of the most unexpectedly winning heroes in modern fiction.--nyrb.com
Rödhårig och mjäll i hyn, bred mellan ögonen, stubbnäst och stormynt- detta är porträttet av Röde Orm, hjälten i Frans G. Bengtssons underhållande roman där fornnordisk och österländsk saga ingått en sällsynt lyckad förening. I mustiga färger och kärnfull stil skildras de skiftande öden Röde Orm går till mötes på sina äventyrliga vikingafärder. Röde Orm är en av världens mest lästa berättelser om vikingatiden. En mustig skröna om vikingarnas liv på land och på äventyrsfärder i väster- och österled. Röde Orm är en av de hjältar som aldrig dör. Berättelserna om vikingahjälten skapades redan på trettiotalet och har blivit några av våra mest älskade och lästa böcker. De trycks ständigt i nya upplagor och finns idag översatta till nitton språk.
Vikingaskildring från en ganska våldsam tid, skriven med stor humor och berättarkonst om Röde Orm och hans följe
1a delen i författarens biografi över Kalle Dussin!
The Sword Does Not Jest: The Heroic Life of King Charles XII of Sweden
by Frans G. Bengtsson
Rating: 4.4 ⭐
This biography of Charles XII, King of Sweden, 1697-1718, is concerned not only with his military genius but also with his ""attributes of a hero..qualities of a saint...limitations of a madman"", to quote from Eric Linklater's engaging introduction. For sincere students of history it should be worthwhile reading because Bengtsson's ability to review and recreate the events of Charles' life, the qualities of the man himself and how they affected his actions on the field of battle as well as in the drama of political life, and the many international figures who played their parts, is outstanding and creates an intelligent and sympathetic analysis of ""a splendid anachronism"". The progress from childhood days in Sweden, his position as an absolute monarch on his accession, his march against Denmark, his tremendous victory, at 18, over the Russians at Narva, the long campaign that led to defeat at Poltava nine years later, after invading Poland and Saxony, moves to his flight to Turkey and the years he spent there, part of them as prisoner, and winds up with his escape to Sweden and the fatal invasion of Norway. Translated from the Swedish by Naomi Walford, this is destined for those who follow military biography, history and unique figures. (Kirkus)
From unwilling captive to legendary seafarer—the Viking saga that became a cult classic.Young Orm Tostesson’s quiet life ends the day raiders drag him from his home. What begins as captivity turns into a life of plunder, peril, and unlikely fortune. From the northern seas to Moorish courts, from Irish monasteries to the halls of kings, Orm must rely on quick wits, sharp steel, and a knack for survival as he carves his place in a brutal age.Battles and betrayals. Slavery and treasure. Laughter in the face of death. Each voyage tests him, shaping a boy into a legend.Frans G. Bengtsson’s Röde Orm has thrilled generations of readers with its blend of historical authenticity, dry humor, and swashbuckling adventure. First published in the 1940s and long known in English as The Long Ships, this masterpiece now returns to its original title in a fresh, contemporary translation—bringing Orm’s world to life for modern readers like never before.If you enjoy Bernard Cornwell, Conn Iggulden, or the Icelandic sagas, you’ll be swept away by this timeless Viking epic.Discover the saga that inspired a generation of historical fiction—read Red A Viking Tale today.
Fortsättningen av biografin över krigarkungen Karl XII
Frans G. Bengtssons berättelse om Orm Tostessons hisnande resa från enkel bondpojke till respekterad vikingakrigare är en klassiker som saknar motstycke inom svensk litteratur. Allt börjar när Orm och hans vän Toke av en slump hamnar ombord på ett vikingaskepp. Vad som följer är en färd i väster- och österled där de ställs inför farliga sjöslag, politiska intriger och möten med nya kulturer. Men under sina äventyr tvingas Orm inte bara strida i fysiska strider – han ställs också inför djupare frågor om kärlek och vad det egentligen innebär att vara hjälte.Med humor, finess och vind i seglen skildrar Bengtsson en tid i förändring, där gamla gudar förlorar sin makt och kristendomens inflytande tar fast form. "Röde Orm" är en äventyrsberättelse om ära, heder och att hitta sin plats i världen – allt under en av de mest turbulenta epokerna i vår historia.
Frans G. Bengtsson -- poet, novelist, essayist, and historian, with a taste for "the kind of history which provides the stuff of poetry and food for the imagination" -- started his literary career in 1923 with a collection of poems, and has now, at the age of 55, published nine books. His writing is distinguished by his wide reading (which shows a marked preference for English literature", brilliant style, developed along classical lines, and sparkling wit. With his feeling for the romance and heroism of the past, Frans G. Bengtsson finds it a worthy task to sing of arms and men.Mr. Bengtsson has achieved widespread popularity in his native Sweden with his biography of King Charles XII and his novel about that adventurous and colourful Viking, Red Orm. Over 40,000 copies of his latest collection of essays have already been sold. As an essayist he is unrivalled in Sweden.A Walk to an Ant Hill is a selection from Frans G. Bengtsson's five books of essays which contains much of the best he has written.
Inför kvinnan ställd: Efterlämnade dikter i urval av Hjalmar Gullberg
by Frans G. Bengtsson
Rating: 3.0 ⭐
Translated from Swedish by Leif Bohn
Swedish