Sten Sture the Younger and Kristina Gyllenstierna I: The Valkyrie of Sweden

Stjernström, Louise, 1812-1907Project Gutenberg · United StatesDec 2019

Rating 2.7
Word count
654K words
Chapters
66

Tags

Foreign Language Books Historical FictionHistorical Figures Historical SagaMilitary StrategySwedish HistoryPortrait GalleryPower GameRoyal LegendPatriotismTurbulent EraNordic SettingFemale Leader

Summary

Project Gutenberg was the first provider of free electronic books, or eBooks. Michael Hart, founder of Project Gutenberg, invented eBooks in 1971 and his memory continues to inspire the creation of eBooks and related technologies today.Sten Sture nuorempi ja Kristiina Gyllenstjerna I: Ruotsin Valkyria by StjernströmAuthor: Stjernström, Louise, 1812-1907,Language: Finnish, Class: PT: Language and Literatures: Germanic, Scandinavian, and Icelandic literatures, Release Date: Sep 15, 2017

Editor's review

This book is a historical novel by the Finnish author Louise Stjernström (1812–1907); the Finnish title means "Sten Sture the Younger and Christina Gyllenstierna I: The Valkyrie of Sweden", prepared by Project Gutenberg as a free electronic edition. The work draws on the Sture family and Christina Gyllenstierna in Swedish-Finnish history and belongs to the nineteenth-century historical novel tradition: real historical figures as the skeleton, with literary scenes and dialogue, showing power struggles and the fortitude of a female character. Its value is that readers enter the political and family context of the late Nordic Middle Ages through narrative, and can also observe how a nineteenth-century Finnish writer used historical material to imagine women and national history. Note the distance between novel and history; do not take the plot as historical source. It suits readers interested in Nordic history, Finnish literature or the historical novel form; those without Finnish will need a translation or reference material.

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Reading tips

  1. Learn the basic facts about Sten Sture and Christina Gyllenstierna first, then read the novel.
  2. Distinguish historical figures from literary invention as you read, marking scenes and dialogue the author adds.
  3. If Finnish is hard going, first find related background material in English or Chinese.
  4. After reading, compare with a general history and discuss how the novel shapes female historical roles.

About the publisher

Project Gutenberg United States · Founded in 1971

Project Gutenberg is a digital publishing project focused on public-domain ebooks. Its publishing direction centers on classic literary works whose copyright has expired, covering genres such as poetry, drama, fiction, and epic. Representative books include Lyrical Ballads by Wordsworth and Coleridge, Proust's Du côté de chez Swann, Shakespeare's Macbeth and The Complete Works of William Shakespeare, Homer's The Iliad, Dante's La Divina Comèdia: Purgatòri, Cervantes's The History of Don Quixote, Volume 2, and Grahame's The Wind in the Willows. Its author resources consist mainly of classic Western writers such as Wordsworth, Proust, Shakespeare, Homer, Dante, Cervantes, Grahame, and Tolstoy. Its publishing feature is the provision of freely accessible ebooks in EPUB and Kindle formats; it is not a traditional publisher, and publicly available information is limited.

Contents

  1. 1
  2. 2
  3. 3
  4. 4
  5. 5
  6. 6
  7. 7
  8. 8
  9. 9
  10. 10
  11. 11
  12. 12
  13. 13
  14. 14
  15. 15
  16. 16
  17. 17
  18. 18
  19. 19
  20. 20
  21. 21
  22. 22
  23. 23
  24. 24
  25. 25
  26. 26
  27. 27
  28. 28
  29. 29
  30. 30
  31. 31
  32. 32
  33. 33
  34. 34
  35. 35
  36. 36
  37. 37
  38. 38
  39. 39
  40. 40
  41. 41
  42. 42
  43. 43
  44. 44
  45. 45
  46. 46
  47. 47
  48. 48
  49. 49
  50. 50
  51. 51
  52. 52
  53. 53
  54. 54
  55. 55
  56. 56
  57. 57
  58. 58
  59. 59
  60. 60
  61. 61
  62. 62
  63. 63
  64. 64
  65. 65
  66. 66

FAQ

Is this novel about real history? It is based on the real historical figures Sten Sture and Christina Gyllenstierna and belongs to historical fiction. The figures and major events have a historical basis, but specific scenes, dialogue and psychological description are largely literary invention and cannot be quoted directly as historical source; read it against a general history.
Can I read this without knowing Finnish? The original is in Finnish, and Project Gutenberg provides the Finnish public-domain electronic text. Without Finnish, you need a translation or related background material. You might first read a general account of Swedish-Finnish history, then try to follow key plot points against the text.
Why does the title include 'The Valkyrie of Sweden'? The Valkyrie comes from Norse myth, the female chooser of the slain. The title uses it to figure Christina Gyllenstierna's fortitude amid turbulent politics; it is literary rhetoric given by the author, not a historical title. Understanding the metaphor helps grasp the novel's intent in shaping the female character.
Is this the first part of a series? Judging by the 'I' in the title, this is the first part of a series, focusing on the beginning of the story of Sten Sture and Christina Gyllenstierna. For the complete narrative you would need the later parts; reading the first part alone can still serve as an entry into this historical and literary world.

This site is an index: you start “Search all sources” in your browser, and the entries it lists all point to third-party sites; please judge their availability yourself.

About the author

Stjernström, Louise, 1812-1907 Author

Louise Stjernström (1812–1907) was an important writer in the field of Finnish historical fiction. Details of her life are relatively limited in publicly available sources, but the twelve works held in the collection show that she devoted herself over a long period to narrative writing set against Nordic history. She was especially drawn to figures shared by Swedish and Finnish history, from Gustav Vasa and Gustav II Adolf to Erik XIV and John III, and most of her works revolve around monarchs and their times. She often developed her material in series, such as the successive volumes on Gustav II Adolf and the Vasa dynasty. Her tone is solemn, and she gives weight to political conflict and family feuds, weaving religion, power and personal fate together. Her titles carry clear markers of historical fiction, indicating that she wrote for general readers, recreating the shifts of Nordic royal power in an accessible yet careful manner.