An Estonian journalist and translator have read Lars-Henrik Olsen's historical novel for children.

Af : Raivo Juurak

The latest three novels by Lars‑Henrik Olsen form a trilogy in which all the events in the plot are associated with the Danish King Valdemar II's crusade to Estonia in 1219. The main character in the books is a young man by the name of Svend, who because of his ingenuity is known by the nickname of Pindehugger (Hairsplitter).

A series of three

Som landet lå (1993) (As the Land Lay) gives a survey of life in a little village in Denmark, where Svend Pindehugger was a shepherd in his childhood, and where he grew up into a young man. With the support of wealthy village folk Svend is given the chance to join King Valdemar's crusade to Estonia, taking part as a bowman in the historic Battle of Lyndanise, where according to tradition the Danish national flag, the "Dannebrog" ‑ a white cross on a red background fell from the sky.
   Skjult af skoven (1993) (Hidden by the Forest) describes the situation in Estonia after the Danish victory in the Battle of Lyndanise. Svend arrives by chance in a little Estonian village deep in the forest, and there he stays for a whole year. Thanks to his humanity and courage, he wins the respect of the villagers and the love of a beautiful Estonian girl.

In Ravnens skrig (1994) (The Cry of the Raven), on his way back to Denmark, Svend again encounters many unexpected events, and the homeward journey lasts another year.

Interesting and uncomfortable

To an Estonian, Olsen's three novels about Svend Pindehugger and Valdemar's crusade to Estonia make extremely interesting, but at the same time somewhat uncomfortable, reading. In particular, it can be an unpleasant experience to approach the first novel Som landet lå, which tells how King Valdemar left for Estonia to convert the Estonians, knowing ‑ as an Estonian ‑ that he is going to be victorious.
   The uncomfortable feeling grows when it becomes apparent that the main character in the trilogy is a man who in every way is handsome and clever. Watching Valdemar approaching the Estonian city of Tallin with his 1500 ships, and preparing his army for the battle, an Estonian reader wishes that everything might rum out well in this battle for the fine young man called Svend though at the same time this means that it must rum out badly for his own fellow countrymen, who are just as fine! And we know that this will be the outcome, for we have learned your history at school.

Two societies

Lars‑Henrik Olsen's view of King Valdernar's crusade is stem and even severe. He feels no admiration for it. It is said by characters in the novels that Valdemar is too young, that he cannot understand what is really valuable in life, that the German crusaders seeking to convert Estonia at the same time are making use of him in their own interest, and that Valdemar does not realise that no war is to be won completely once and for all. Olsen clearly stands on the side of the people who are defending their freedom, and for the author an assault on a free country is assault on a tree country is always an assault and always represents violence even if flags do fall from the sky during the process.
   Olsen does not economise on his colours when describing the horrors of war brought to Estonia by King Valdemar ‑theft, robbery, arson, burning, rape and murder. On the other hand, the defenders of freedom in Estonia are all portrayed as fine men and women. The women are clever and extraordinarily beautiful, while all the men, even the worst of them, are men of honour.
   The trilogy then represents the clash between two different societies when they encounter each other. On the one hand there is Danish society, which has arrived at the early Middle Ages, the age of wolves and bears. This age is so rough and cruel that better people must ‑like Svend Pindehugger ‑ take refuge in foreign parts or deep in the forest in order to survive the times. By way of contrast, there is Estonian society which, according to Lars‑Henrik Olsen, was still at that time untouched by medieval cruelty and resembled Paradise before the

Everyday life

Lars‑Henrik Olsen appears to have given a factually accurate account of everyday life in Estonia in the 13th century. Through the eyes of Svend Pindehugger we are able to see Estonians skiing and bear‑hunting, and in the sauna. We see what kind of corn was cultivated in the fields, how the Estonians made hay, dried meat, made sacrifices in the sacred grove, and how they brewed beer.
   By means of these descriptions of everyday life, the author seeks to show that, in the ways in which they tended their domestic animals and cultivated their fields, the heathen Estonians were very like the Christian Danes in these ancient times ‑ before the crusade. One of King Valdemar's soldiers applies his own logic to it: Estonians cannot be all that barbaric if they can brew beer!

Originality

The process of conversion in Estonia is also correctly portrayed. From schools, chronicles and historical novels, Estonians of today are familiar with the events portrayed in such fine detail in Olsen's novel. It is a great pleasure to see that a foreigner is also apprised of foreigner is also apprised of these facts. It is even a real delight to note how organically Lars‑Henrik Larsen can fuse historical events with Svend Pindehugger's impossible adventures, be it the conversion of the same villagers on several occasions or the roasting of the heart of a missionary.

Lembitu

However, Olsen has had certain problems with historical fact. The historical Lembitu is referred to in Brother Henrik's Chronicle of Livonia as the most troublesome enemy of the German crusaders and one of the most active of Estonian army leaders. He organised military attacks on Livonia, tried to liberate not only Estonia but also Livonia, and in 1217 he mustered 6,000 men near Paala in order to deliver the final and decisive blow to the German crusaders.
   In comparison with his historical prototype, Olsen's literary Lembitu is a pretty pale and bloodless character, nothing but an old village headman who cannot even stand up to a bear in the forest without help from the neighbouring village states that Lembitu perished imagination in this trilogy in 1217 in the battle against about the cruel age of the German crusaders, Olsen lets him live to meet Svend Pindehugger in 1219!

Inaccuracies

There are a few minor historical inaccuracies in Olsen's trilogy, but the reader should not adopt too stern an attitude towards them. The author himself Writs that he does not aim to be scrupulously exact. For instance, he lets his illiterate peasants use a remarkable number of foreign words in their speech. He lets them measure the distances in kilometres, weights in kilograms etc. And as well as the Bible, one of the peasants quotes from a pop song text written only a few years ago by the Danish writer and poet or Benny Andersen ‑ all of which goes to show that the author is also in possession of a little humorous literary wolves and bears in the lands around the Baltic Sea.

The humanist attitude

The main value of Olsen's three novels is the author's own humanist attitude. He stands firmly on the side of the people defending their freedom, and he has done a great deal of work in order to familiarise his readers with the connections and contacts between Estonians and Danes in the 13th century. Lars‑Henrik Olsen is an extremely good storyteller, and in many places I find his novels as thrilling to read as books by Robert Louis Stevenson and Walter Scott. It is to be hoped that the trilogy will before long be translated into Estonian.