Frans G. Bengtsson | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Born | Frans Gunnar Bengtsson (1894-10-04)4 October 1894 Ängelholm Municipality, Sweden |
| Died | 19 December 1954(1954-12-19) (aged 60) Sweden |
| Occupation | Novelist |
| Genre | Fiction |
Frans Gunnar Bengtsson (4 October 1894 – 19 December 1954) was a Swedishnovelist,essayist,poet andbiographer. He was born inTåssjö (now inÄngelholm Municipality) inScania and died at Ribbingsfors Manor in northernVästergötland.
Bengtsson began as a poet, with his debut workTärningkast (Throwing Dice) published in 1923. In 1929, he published his first essay collection titledLitteratörer och Militärer (Writers and Warriors) with contributions onFrançois Villon,Walter Scott,Joseph Conrad, andStonewall Jackson; he would publish four more collections during the rest of his career. His essays mainly dealt with literary and historical subjects. A selection was translated into English in 1950 and published asA Walk to an Ant Hill and Other Essays.
His biography on the Swedish kingCharles XII (Karl XII:s levnad) 1932 is hismagnum opus. He describes the king through excerpts from contemporary diaries by officers and common soldiers, and from a wealth of quotes from the published literature. Bengtsson's work draws heavily on the biography of Charles XII byVoltaire published in 1731, thirteen years after the king’s death.
Later, Bengtsson became widely known for hisViking saga novelRöde Orm (The Long Ships),[1] published in two parts in 1941 and 1945. The hero Orm, later called Röde Orm (Red Snake) because of his red beard, is kidnapped as a boy onto a raiding ship and leads an exciting lifein the Mediterranean area around the year AD 1000. Later, he makes an expedition eastward intoGardarike.The Long Ships was later adapted intoa film.[1] The novel was the inspiration for the name of the wireless technologyBluetooth.[2]
Bengtsson once said: "Joan of Arc,Charles XII, andGaribaldi are the persons I would like to meet - for them the truth was more important than intrigues."[citation needed]
Bengtsson studied at theUniversity of Lund from 1912, but spent a lot of his time writing poetry and playingchess rather than studying. He graduated with alicentiate degree in English literature in 1930.[citation needed] Bengtsson married Gerda Fineman in 1939 and the couple had a son.
