History of the Literature of the Scandinavian North From the Most Ancient Times to the Present (Classic Reprint)

Book excerpt: Excerpt from History of the Literature of the Scandinavian North From the Most Ancient Times to the Present That in early times became detached from the great folk-tree which we usually call the gothic-germanic (or Teutonic) race. This branch embraces the inhabitants of Denmark, Norway, Sweden, and Iceland. The latter be longs, though merely ih a political sense, to Denmark. In the following review of the intellectual life of these nations, as it has, in the course of time, found expression in litera ture, we propose to consider the inhabitants of the four countries named collectively, although they at the present time, not only in politics, but also in many other respects, possess strongly marked national individualities, and differ one from the other in many things. We feel justified in so doing for the reason that they, in spite of differences, andin spite of all the feuds and conflicts that have divided them in the past, still in reality constitute a unity, which, quite unlike the other European peoples, even those which are most nearly related to one another, has acquired to the close observer a common physiognomy. They are sister nations, which, with the changes that time has wrought, have in some respects been developed each in her own peculiar manner. They have frequently met as foes, but in spite of this, they have preserved the mark of kin ship, that became their common inheritance when they. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.