Johan Nordahl Brun Grieg

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Johan Nordahl Brun Grieg, known as Nordahl Grieg, (November 1, 1902 – December 2, 1943) was a Norwegian poet, novelist, dramatist, and journalist.

Born in Bergen, Norway, he made his debut in 1922 with Omkring Kap det gode Haab which was followed by Skibet gaar videre in 1924. Grieg was known as an anti-fascist and pro-communist writer and, in 1940, after the German invasion of Norway, he escaped to England in the same vessel carrying the Norwegian Royal family and the National Gold treasure. His poetry, and his staunch resistance against the German occupation of Norway in World War II made him a national hero.

In his early resistance against the German occupation he parted from the Norwegian communists, as they mostly were passive until Nazi-Germany invaded the Soviet Union.

Once in Britain, he was commissioned into the Norwegian Armed Forces and served as a war correspondent. At the time of his death he was a Captain (and there is a photo of him in his Captain's uniform on the web). His work involved visiting Norwegian units around Britain and experiencing their duties, in order to make his reports. He also travelled outside Great Britain to meet Norwegian servicemen on duty in Iceland and other more remote outposts. Like other war correspondents he joined operational missions over occupied Europe, and it was in the course of one of these that he lost his life.

On the night of 2-3 December 1943, Captain Grieg was attached to 460 Squadron, an Australian squadron based at Binbrook, as one of several observers for a raid on Berlin. Grieg joined the crew of a Lancaster Mk.III, serial number LM.316 and letter codes "AR-H2", captained by Flying Officer A.R. Mitchell, RAAF. Berlin was always a tough target as it was the capital city and so was well-defended, but also because it lay far in the east of the country, which meant that crews were not only flying on the limits of fuel and of their own endurance, but had to pass over many night-fighter bases on the way to the target, and all the way back home again. 460 Sqn. lost five aircraft that night and one of them was Lancaster LM.316. 37 airmen had been on board these aircraft and only eight survived being shot down, to spend the rest of the war in a POW camp. None of the eight survivors came from aircraft LM.316. So, in addition to the distinguished Norwegian supernumary, all seven crew-members: four Australians and three Britons, went down with the aircraft. Grieg was neither the only war-correspondent shot down that night, nor the only Norwegian. An Australian correspondent also flying with 460 Sqn. was killed, and a British correspondent with another squadron became a POW. Among the 44 'RAF' aircraft and nearly 300 aircrew lost on this single raid were two Norwegians in a Halifax that was part of the elite Pathfinder Force (PFF). The captain of this Halifax was a Norwegian Lieutenant who managed to maintain control long enough to allow his compatriot, and all five British members of the crew, to bale out success- fully and become prisoners of war, at the cost of his own life. For a population as small as that of Norway, the attrition of losses such as this on each raid was quite significant, but the loss of a figure as famous as the poet Nordahl Grieg was the extra blow on this night.

After the war, Grieg became a hero in Norway because of his resistance to the German occupation, both during the invasion itself and in the continuation of the fight in the forces in exile in Britain. Grieg is still popular in Norway today, especially his anti-fascist poetry. A statue of him created by Roar Bjorg, is now placed at the east side of the theater in Bergen.

Nordahl Grieg is related to the famous composer Edvard Grieg, and brother of the powerful Norwegian publisher Harald Grieg.

[edit] Selected works

  • Rundt Kap det gode Håp, 1922 - Around the Cape of Good Hope
  • Skibet gaar videre, 1924 - The Ship Sails On
  • Stene i strømmen, 1925
  • Kinesiske dage, 1927 - Chinese Day
  • En ung manns Kjaerlighet, 1927 - A Young Man's Love
  • Barabbas, 1927
  • Norge i våre hjerter, 1929
  • Nordahl Grieg, Herman Wildenvey, Tore Ørjasæter, Arnulf Øverland: Dikter, 1930
  • Atlanterhavet, 1932 - The Atlantic
  • De unge døde, 1932
  • Vår ære og vår makt, 1935 - Our Honor and Our Glory
  • Men imorgen, 1936 - But Tomorrow
  • Til Ungdommen (Kringsatt av Fiender), 1936 - To the Young
  • Spansk sommer, 1938 - Spanish Summer
  • Ung må verden ennu være, 1938 - May the World Stay Young
  • Nederlaget, 1937 - The Defeat
  • Dikt i utvalg, 1944
  • War Poems of Nordahl Grieg, 1944
  • Friheten, 1945 - All that is Mine Demand
  • Flagget, 1945
  • Håbet, 1946
  • Samlede verker, 1947 (7 vols.)
  • Samlede dikt, 1948
  • Langveisfra, 1964
  • Morgen over Finnmarksvidden, 1967
  • The Defeat, 1967 (in Masterpieces of the Modern Scandinavian Theatre)
  • Skuespill / Nordahl Grieg, 1975
  • Norge, og andre dikt, 1976
  • Et varig vennskap, 1981 (ed. by Brinkt Jensen)
  • Reise gjennom vår egen tid, 1982 (ed. by Martin Nag og Finn Pettersen)
  • Større kriger, 1989 (original title: Greater wars, trans. by Brikt Jensen)