The American Cyclopædia (1879)/Tegnér, Esaias

TEGNÉR, Esaias, a Swedish poet, born at Kirkerud, Wermland, Nov. 13, 1782, died in Wexiö, Nov. 2, 1846. He was the son of a clergyman who had assumed the name of Tegnér after his native village of Tegnaby. He graduated at the university of Lund in 1802, and became teacher of æsthetics and librarian there, and in 1812 professor of Greek. In 1818 he was elected to the academy of sciences and took his degree in divinity, and in 1824 he became bishop of Wexiö. His works include Svea (1811); Nattvards Barnen (“The Children of the Lord's Supper,” 1820), Longfellow's version of which (1841) was regarded by Tegnér as the best of all the translations; Axel (1821); and Frithiofs Saga (1825), based upon Icelandic sagas. The last has been repeatedly set to music, and translated into many languages. Among the latest versions are Count Leinburg's in German (Frankfort, 1873), Leopold Hamel's in English (London, 1875), and Victor Wilder's in French, set to music by Max Bruch (Paris, 1875). A complete collection of Tegnér's published works was edited and his biography written by his son-in-law Böttiger (7 vols., Stockholm, 1847-'51; new ed., 1871 et seq.); and a collection of his posthumous writings has been made by Elof Tegnér (3 vols., 1874). His correspondence has also been recently published. A colossal statue of Tegnér was erected at Lund in 1853.