Singoalla

Rydberg, Viktor, 1828-1895Project Gutenberg · United StatesDec 2019

4.1

Word count: 232K words
Chapters: 24

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.Singoalla by Viktor RydbergAuthor: Rydberg, Viktor, 1828-1895,Language: Finnish, Class: PT: Language and Literatures: Germanic, Scandinavian, and Icelandic literatures, Release Date: Oct 13, 2015

Editor's review

Singoalla is a romantic novella with folkloric overtones by the Swedish author Viktor Rydberg; the Gutenberg edition provided here is a Finnish translation. Set in the Middle Ages, it tells a love story that crosses cultural divides, blending nature description, religious conflict, and themes of fate in a poetic, lyrical style. Rydberg was both a writer and a scholar, and his works often reflect on ideals, faith, and human nature, a quality this book sustains. For readers, it is both a window into Nordic Romantic literature and a chance to experience the appeal of folk narrative combined with lyrical prose. Because this is the Finnish version, readers need the relevant language skills; as material for literary study, it can be understood against the background of Swedish literature and Nordic folklore, and it is best read slowly, savoring the shifts in landscape description and character emotion.

Who it's for

A good fit for

Literature lovers with Finnish reading ability
Readers studying Nordic Romantic literature
Those interested in a medieval love story
Readers who enjoy lyrical, essayistic narrative

Not a good fit for

Readers without Finnish and without an auxiliary translation
Readers who prefer fast-paced plots and heavy action
Those with no interest in religious or folkloric themes

Reading tips

First learn the medieval Nordic background, then begin the text.
Read slowly and note the role of nature description and lyrical passages.
Consult the Swedish original or related criticism for support.
After finishing, map the characters' relationships and consider the conflict between love and faith.

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.

FAQ

What language is this edition in?

According to Project Gutenberg, this edition is a Finnish translation. Readers unfamiliar with Finnish may seek the Swedish original or translations in other languages for comparison in order to understand the work.

What is the story's setting?

The work is set in the Middle Ages and centers on a love that crosses cultural and social divides, involving religious conflict, folklore, and nature description. For the specific plot, refer to the text itself; readers may regard it as a Nordic narrative with Romantic coloring.

Can I understand it without a background in Nordic literature?

It can be read with the relevant language ability, but some knowledge of medieval Nordic society and religion makes characters' motives and conflicts easier to grasp. It is advisable to read a brief introduction to the author and work before beginning the text.

Comments

Find this book

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

Rydberg, Viktor, 1828-1895 Author

Viktor Rydberg (1828–1895) was a Swedish author and scholar whose biographical details remain limited in publicly available sources. The library holds fourteen of his works, spanning a remarkably wide range of subjects: the three-volume Teutonic Mythology: Gods and Goddesses of the Northland, a systematic study of Norse myth; the romantic novel Singoalla; and narrative works such as The Last Athenian, which engage with themes of history and belief. He also wrote The Magic of the Middle Ages, a study of folk belief and ideas. His writing is grounded in myth, religion, and history, combining scholarly rigor with literary readability, and has had some influence on later understanding of the Norse mythological tradition.