In his Essays on Scandinavian Literature (1895), Norwegian-American scholar Hlajmar H. Boyesen noted the “two poles” in the progression of Jonas Lie’s writings “from the adventurous romanticism of his maternal heritage to the severe, wide-awake realism of the paternal—the emancipation of the Norseman from the Finn.” Lie grew up (and set his first novel, “The Visionary”) in the Nordland, the wild far northern country of towering peaks and crashing waves which Boyesen is describing here as “the Finn,” but was educated and experienced the toils of life in Norway’s more metropolitan south, in Christiania, where he became known for his sailor novels in 1870s and then became most acclaimed for his realistic domestic novels like One of Life’s Slaves and The Family at Gilje.

However in 1892 (explains Boyesen) “he surprised his admirers by the publication of two volumes of the most wildly fantastic tales, entitled ‘Trolde.’ It was as if a volcano, with writhing torrents of flame and smoke, had bursh forth from under a sidewalk in Broadway. [ed. note quite an image!] It was the suppressed Finn who, for once, was goong to have his fling, even though he were doomed henceforth to silence. … The most grotesque, weird, and uncanny imaginings (such as Stevenson would delight in) are crowded together in these tales, some of which are derived from folklore and legends, while others are free fantasies.”

These illustrations come from an 1892 edition illustrated by Laurence Housman, born 18 July 1865, brother of the poet A.E. Housman and a prolific writer as well as an artist.

These illustrations are in the public domain and the book they are from is available via HathiTrust here.