Tomten by viktor rydberg,In nordic folklore, a tomte was a kind of - not always benevolent - vätte (local spirit or minor deity) connected to a farmstead. There is, in fact, an etymological connection to the word tomt ("piece of land, plot").
Rydberg's immensly popular poem Tomten, first published in 1881, transformed him into a philosophic and fatherly guardian. Combined with the gift-giving julvätte ("Christmas vätte") of Rydberg's earlier story Little Vigg - and, of course, with foreign influences - he then evolved into the modern Jultomte, local version of Santa Claus.
The young artist Jenny Nyström (1854-1946) illustrated both the poem and the story - and thus embarked on a 60-year career devoted to creating the visual image of the Swedish christmas.
In 1960 Harald Wiberg produced new illustrations for a childrens' book edition of Tomten. Astrid Lindgren then wrote a prose paraphrase of the poem for the export version. In this form the book had - and still has - considerable success on the international market.
A translation of the poem, called The Gnome, is included in Judith Moffett's anthology The North! To the North! : five swedish poets of the nineteenth century (Southern Illinois Univ Press, 2001). It is also published in Veritas 24, the journal of the Viktor Rydberg society.
Rydberg's immensly popular poem Tomten, first published in 1881, transformed him into a philosophic and fatherly guardian. Combined with the gift-giving julvätte ("Christmas vätte") of Rydberg's earlier story Little Vigg - and, of course, with foreign influences - he then evolved into the modern Jultomte, local version of Santa Claus.
The young artist Jenny Nyström (1854-1946) illustrated both the poem and the story - and thus embarked on a 60-year career devoted to creating the visual image of the Swedish christmas.
In 1960 Harald Wiberg produced new illustrations for a childrens' book edition of Tomten. Astrid Lindgren then wrote a prose paraphrase of the poem for the export version. In this form the book had - and still has - considerable success on the international market.
A translation of the poem, called The Gnome, is included in Judith Moffett's anthology The North! To the North! : five swedish poets of the nineteenth century (Southern Illinois Univ Press, 2001). It is also published in Veritas 24, the journal of the Viktor Rydberg society.
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