The Army of Truth: Selected Poems

Foreword

Henrik Wergeland, Norway’s beloved poet, is also remembered for his ardent work in support of Jews. I am pleased to present this volume of his groundbreaking poems translated, some for the first time, into English, in order to make his historic contribution to humanistic ethics accessible to a wider audience. Henrik Wergeland found it a disgrace that the Norwegian constitution of 1814 did not allow Jews to enter the country. His efforts to change Norwegian law accordingly were finally vindicated in 1851, six years after his death, when Jewish and Jesuit immigration was legalized. The twelve poems in this publication are part of Wergeland’s campaign for Jewish rights. Some of the poems have been selected from Poems, published by Gyldendal Norsk Forlag, Oslo, and Hodder & Stoughton, Ltd., London, in 1929, and translated by G. M. GathorneHardy (“Follow the Call,” “The Maple and the Pine,” “A Voice in the Wilderness,” “On the Sick Bed,” “The Army of Truth”) and I. Grøndahl (“The Thistledown Gatherer,” “Christmas Eve,” “The Three”), both of Great Britain. Three poems have been newly translated for this collection: “Briar Shoots,” “The Jewess,” and “The Women at the Graveyard ,” as well as the prose portion of the poem “Wanton Weeds.” Dr. Dagne Groven Myhren, assistant professor of Nordic literature at the University of Oslo and one of Norway’s foremost specialists on Wergeland and his works, selected the poems to be included in this collection . Dr. Groven Myhren also wrote the introduction and chronology for this publication. Anne Born, a well-known translator who resides in England, has retranslated the poems from the 1929 collection into more modern language and done original translations of the pieces added to this compilation. In addition to being a translator, Ms. Born is also a poet in her own right and has won numerous awards and received recognition in both fields. She has done exemplary work in translating these beautiful verses. Foreword This publication has been supported by Thanks To Scandinavia, a scholarship fund founded in 1963 by Danish entertainer Victor Borge and New York attorney Richard Netter, who has served as its president of the organization since its founding. As director of The NorwayAmerica Association, one of my greatest inspirations and pleasures for more than thirty-six years has been the cooperation with Thanks To Scandinavia and Richard Netter. It is remarkable that since its founding , the organization has raised an endowment of $6 million to provide scholarships for young Scandinavians for studies and research in the United States as a token of gratitude for assistance given Jews during World War II. Thanks To Scandinavia also sponsors diverse educational programs in the United States, Scandinavia, and Israel. In February 1998, the Polish-born Israeli Pessah Ostashinsky received a copy of a Thanks To Scandinavia book entitled Norway’s Response to the Holocaust by the late New York City College professor Samuel Abrahamson . Inspired by the book, he broached the idea of a publication of Wergeland’s translated poems with Thanks To Scandinavia. Unfortunately , Mr. Ostashinky died in November 1998, too soon to see the fruits of his recommendation realized. Thanks To Scandinavia president Richard Netter is known in Norway for his tremendous success in building Thanks To Scandinavia into a significant and perpetual fund. In addition, he richly deserves recognition for his understanding of the value of Henrik Wergeland’s poems in their vital historical context as well as today, and for his unfailing encouragement during the making of this publication, which has finally turned the idea into a reality. His Majesty King Olav V, at an audience at the Royal Palace in Oslo in April 1982, bestowed Mr. Netter with Knight First Class of the Order of St. Olav, which was awarded him for his humanitarian services and the promotion of Norwegian-American relations. Similar awards have been presented to him and Mr. Borge, whose recent passing we mourn, from the other Scandinavian countries. The year 2001 was proclaimed by Secretary-General Kofi Annan as “United Nations Year of Dialogue among Nations,” based on equality among all nations and peoples regardless of their race, color, creed, and national origin. This vision was one strongly held by Henrik Wergeland 150 years ago. His hope for a better tomorrow for future generations x Foreword was based on the need for tolerance, understanding, and mutual respect. His generosity and liberality for his fellow men is abundantly evident in...