The Emperor of Portugallia

For poverty-stricken farm labourer Jan, the birth of his daughter Klara gives life a new meaning; his devotion to her develops into an obsession that excludes all else. We are taken from the miracle of a newborn child and a father's love of his baby girl into a fantasy world emerging as a result of extreme external pressures, in which Jan creates for himself the role of Emperor of Portugallia. Yet this seemingly mad world generates surprising insights and support. Described as 'perhaps the most private of Selma Lagerlöf's books', the novel takes us deep into a father-daughter relationship that carries the seeds of tragedy within it almost from the start.

Selma Lagerlöf (1858-1940) quickly established herself as a major author of novels and short stories, and her work has been translated into close to 50 languages. Most of the translations into English were made soon after the publication of the original Swedish texts and have long been out of date. This Norvik Press series, 'Lagerlöf in English', provides English-language readers with high-quality new translations of a selection of the Nobel Laureate's most important texts.

1144682946
The Emperor of Portugallia

For poverty-stricken farm labourer Jan, the birth of his daughter Klara gives life a new meaning; his devotion to her develops into an obsession that excludes all else. We are taken from the miracle of a newborn child and a father's love of his baby girl into a fantasy world emerging as a result of extreme external pressures, in which Jan creates for himself the role of Emperor of Portugallia. Yet this seemingly mad world generates surprising insights and support. Described as 'perhaps the most private of Selma Lagerlöf's books', the novel takes us deep into a father-daughter relationship that carries the seeds of tragedy within it almost from the start.

Selma Lagerlöf (1858-1940) quickly established herself as a major author of novels and short stories, and her work has been translated into close to 50 languages. Most of the translations into English were made soon after the publication of the original Swedish texts and have long been out of date. This Norvik Press series, 'Lagerlöf in English', provides English-language readers with high-quality new translations of a selection of the Nobel Laureate's most important texts.

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The Emperor of Portugallia

The Emperor of Portugallia

The Emperor of Portugallia

The Emperor of Portugallia

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Overview

For poverty-stricken farm labourer Jan, the birth of his daughter Klara gives life a new meaning; his devotion to her develops into an obsession that excludes all else. We are taken from the miracle of a newborn child and a father's love of his baby girl into a fantasy world emerging as a result of extreme external pressures, in which Jan creates for himself the role of Emperor of Portugallia. Yet this seemingly mad world generates surprising insights and support. Described as 'perhaps the most private of Selma Lagerlöf's books', the novel takes us deep into a father-daughter relationship that carries the seeds of tragedy within it almost from the start.

Selma Lagerlöf (1858-1940) quickly established herself as a major author of novels and short stories, and her work has been translated into close to 50 languages. Most of the translations into English were made soon after the publication of the original Swedish texts and have long been out of date. This Norvik Press series, 'Lagerlöf in English', provides English-language readers with high-quality new translations of a selection of the Nobel Laureate's most important texts.


Product Details

ISBN-13: 9781909408456
Publisher: Norvik Press
Publication date: 12/31/2017
Series: Lagerl�f in English
Pages: 230
Product dimensions: 5.00(w) x 7.70(h) x 0.50(d)

About the Author

Selma Lagerlöf (1858-1940) was born on a farm in Värmland, trained as a teacher and became, in her life-time, Sweden's most widely translated author ever. Novels such as Gösta Berlings saga (1891; Gösta Berling's Saga) and Jerusalem (1901-02) helped regenerate Swedish literature, and the school reader, Nils Holgersson's Wonderful Journey through Sweden (1906-07), has achieved enduring international fame and popularity. Two very different trilogies, the Löwensköld trilogy (1925-28) and the Mårbacka trilogy (1922-32), the latter often taken to be autobiographical, give some idea of the range and power of Lagerlöf's writing. Several of her texts inspired innovative films, among them Herr Arnes pengar (Sir Arne's Treasure), directed by Mauritz Stiller (1919) and based on Herr Arnes penningar (1903; Lord Arne's Silver), and Körkarlen (The Phantom Carriage), directed by Victor Sjöström (1921) and based on Lagerlöf's Körkarlen (1912). She was awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature, as the first woman ever, in 1909, and elected to the Swedish Academy, again as the first woman, in 1914. Having been able to buy back the farm of Mårbacka, which her family had lost as the result of bankruptcy, Lagerlöf spent the last three decades of her life combining her writing with the responsibilities for running a sizeable estate. Her work has been translated into close to 50 languages.

Peter Graves has translated works by Linnaeus, Jacob Wallenberg, August Strindberg, Selma Lagerlöf and Peter Englund, and he has been awarded a number of translation prizes. Before retiring he was Head of the School of Literatures, Languages and Cultures at the University of Edinburgh, where he taught Swedish.

Table of Contents

Series Preface Helena Forsæs-Scott 7

I.

The Beating Heart 15

Klara Fina Goldenborg 20

The Christening 23

Vaccination 26

The Birthday 29

Christmas Morning 32

Scarlet Fever 37

The Visit to the Farm 41

The School Examination 44

The Competition 49

The Catch of Fish 54

Agrippa 58

Forbidden Fruit 62

II.

Lars Gunnarsson 66

The Red Dress 70

The New Owner 73

Storsnipa 78

The Eve of Departure 82

On the Landing Stage 85

The Letter 88

August Där Nol 92

The First of October 95

The Dream Begins 101

Inherited Treasures 105

Dressedin Silk 110

Stars 112

Waiting 115

The Empress 118

The Emperor 121

III.

The Imperial Song 124

The Seventeenth of August 129

Jan and Kattrinna 134

The Funeral 138

The Dying Heart 144

Dethroned 147

The Catechetical Meeting 153

An Old Troll 159

The Sunday after Midsummer 165

Summer Night 175

The Emperor's Wife 182

IV.

The Welcome 184

Flight 190

Detained 196

Words of Farewell 201

Kattrinna's Death 205

The Emperor's Funeral 207

Translator's Afterword Peter Graves 215

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