Hans Seland

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Hans Seland (Mars 5, 1867– June 30, 1949) may not be among Norway’s most known authors, but is certainly among the most celebrated ones within such diverse circles as Norwegian emigrants in America, those who seek to promote the New Norwegian language (Nynorsk) in Norwegian society, legal practitioners, humorists and children. His life and career brought him to the White House twice, an achievement and popularity few other authors have obtained.

As the author of over 50 books, Seland reached out to a broad audience. A few remarks commenting the eventful life of this writer and his audience follows:

• Norwegian-Americans in the U.S.: his fame as a “wandering storyteller” eventually led him to the States in 1904, where he visited several of the Norwegian communities which had grown up after the great migration from Norway. He writes in his autobiography Aar og Dagar (Years and Days) how stunned he was to see how faithfully the Norwegians had preserved their dialects and the formal church language, and at the same time successfully accommodated to “the American way of living”. His travels inspired him to write several complimentary articles of the US and the preservation of Norwegian history, literature, and culture in general among the emigrants living there. His fame led him to President Theodore Roosevelt the same year, personally invited by the senator of Washington D.C. at the time.

• The New Norwegian language: as early as the late 1800s, Seland chose to write in his native tongue, Nynorsk, at a time when most Norwegian authors still hung on to the Danish-inspired Bokmål. This, and the quality of his writings, led him to the friendship with several other combatants of the new language, including well-known authors as Ivar Aasen, Aasmund Olavsson Vinje, Arne Garborg and Jonas Lie, plus other distinguished authors as Bjørnstjerne Bjørnson, the author of the national anthem of Norway.

• Legal practitioners: In Norway 1907 was a father and his son found guilty of murder, a verdict who later has been called one of the worst cases of miscarriage of justice in the history of Norway. Seland immediately engaged in the case and started writing reader's letter to different papers in defense of the convicted, using his influence and proficiency in writing to agitate for a reopening of the case. The press at large and the public came over the years to the same conclusion, but the Supreme Court refused to reopen the case. Ironically, the Supreme Court first relinquished to the demand of Selands claim in 1942, when Norway itself was subjected to the unrighteous and brutal Nazi-regime. The father and his son were cleared of all charges the following year. Seland wrote a famous book in 1947, discussing all aspects of the case. This case, from the year of the murder in 1907 to the sentence of acquittal in 1943, is still studied by Norwegian law-students today as an example how a judicial system might work/not work.

• Humorists: Seland was, above all, a humorist. Many of his books are in a genre that may be called “Stubs of fun”, or in his own words; Morostubbar. They consist of many small humorous stories, the normal ones averaging about 1-2 pages each. These he wrote out of his own imagination, or based them on actual situations experienced on his travels. He traveled all around telling his tales, and was a frequent and popular voice in the radio at his days. Among the great comedians of the pre-war era, Seland would be counted among the greatest.

• Children: In a time of political turmoil as Norway sought independence from the Kingdom of Sweden, Seland in 1904 gave out his book Prinsesse Gullsko og systerne hennar (Princess Gold-Shoe and her sisters; a title page from a Swedish edition may be seen to the right). As all adults were discussing how to find a peaceful solution to end the union with Sweden, Seland thought of the kids. His book was a welcome breath of childish fun and imagination to the lives of thousands, and by using New Norwegian he reached a broader audience as the children finally got to read stories in their own dialect, as New Norwegian were, and still is, spoken by most Norwegians. He published several more books for children, and by 1908 he was involved creating schoolbooks teaching children how to read in the new language. Illustrations to his books were among others by famous artists as Theodor Kittelsen.

• Hans Seland (together with Hans Haga and Nils Trædal) were among the most important politicians in the agrarian party (Bondepartiet) to prevent this to join the fascist Nasjonal Samling of Vidkun Quisling.

• More could be said about the life of this fascinating character, for instance his meeting with President Calvin Coolidge in 1925 as representative for the Norwegian Farmers' Union, but interested persons should find out more in one of his biographies or articles written about him. Sadly, almost all literature written by or about him is only available in Norwegian, reducing a potential international audience. But for the interested, some of his English writings while staying in the US should be able to obtain