Lagerlöf, << LAH gehr `luhf,` >> Selma (1858-1940), a Swedish writer, won the 1909 Nobel Prize for literature. She is best remembered for the meaning and depth she gave to materials of folk origin. Gösta Berling’s Saga (1891), her first novel, is her most admired book. It is a fantastic romance in loosely related episodes that deal with a swashbuckling defrocked minister and his fellow adventurers. Like much of Lagerlöf’s fiction, the book is set in Värmland, the province in west-central Sweden where Lagerlöf was born.
Religion plays an important part in Lagerlöf’s writing. In her two-volume novel Jerusalem (1901-1902), she tells of a Swedish religious group awaiting the second coming of Christ.
The Wonderful Adventures of Nils (1906-1907) is a geography textbook in fairy tale form. It describes Sweden through the eyes of a boy traveling over the country on the back of a wild goose. The book is both factually sound and full of charm. Lagerlöf also used fairy tale elements in Liljecrona’s Home (1911), which is a story based on her own family in the early 1800’s. The trilogy The Ring of the Löwenskölds (1925-1928) combines mystery, romance, and family history. It consists of The General’s Ring, Charlotte Löwensköld, and Anna Svärd.
Selma Ottiliana Lovisa Lagerlöf was born on Nov. 20, 1858, in Mårbacka, her family home in Värmland. Her home is now a Swedish national shrine. She died on March 16, 1940.
