FRIDEGARD, JAN

(1897-1968)

A Swedish novelist and short story writer, Fridegard was the son ofstatare, people who lived serflike lives on large estates, where they provided the farm labor. With very little education, he took whatever work he could find as a young man. His major literary work is a trilogy about his former self, written from the perspective of a more mature man, consisting ofJag, Lars Hard(1935; tr.I, Lars Hard, 1985),Tack for himlastegen(1936; tr.Jacob's Ladder, 1987), andBarmhartighet(1936; tr.Mercy, 1987), in which the protagonist is a cynical and lazy young man who has little sense of solidarity with his class.Fridegard continued the story about Lars Hard in the novelsHarar min hand(1942; Here Is My Hand) andLars Hard gar vidare(1951; Lars Hard Keeps Going).

Another trilogy is set during the Viking Age. Consisting of the volumesTrägudars land(1940; tr.Land of Wooden Gods, 1989),Gryningsfolket(1944; tr.People ofthe Dawn, 1990), andOfferroäk(1949; tr.Sacrificial Smoke, 1990), it portrays the coming of Christianity to Sweden and offers a detailed psychological portrait of a Viking Age slave named Holme, whose life is not unlike that of thestatarealmost a thousand years later. The novelsLyktgubbarna(1955; The Will-o'-the-wisps),Flyttfåglarna(1956; The Migratory Birds), andArvt g rn(1957; The Heirs) are set in the district of Uppland during Fridegard's childhood. He also wrote a five-volume series of novels—commonly referred to asSoldatsviten(The Soldier Suite)—that take place before and after the year 1800, when Sweden was atwarmore often than not.

Many of Fridegard's short stories were collected in the volumesStatister(1939; Extras),Kvarnbudet(1944; The Message from the Mill), andKvinnoträdet(1950; The Woman Tree). He also wrote four volumes of memoirs,Pä oxens horn(1964; On the Horns of the Ox),Lättingen(1965; Lazybones),Det kortaste sträet(1966; The Short End of the Stick), andTre stigar(1967; Three Paths).