Selma Lagerlöf (1858-1940) quickly established herself as a major author of novels and short stories, and her work has been translated into close to 50 languages. Most of the translations into English were made soon after the publication of the original Swedish texts and have long been out of date. This Norvik Press series, ‘Lagerlöf in English’, provides English-language readers with high-quality new translations of a selection of the Nobel Laureate’s most important texts.

• ‘Mamsell Fredrika’ / ‘Miss Fredrika’ – an imaginative and extravagantly expressed tribute to a female trailblazer in Swedish literature, centred, like many of Lagerlöf’s stories, around Christmas.‘De fågelfrie’ / ‘The Outlaws’ – a narrative, steeped in nature mysticism and fin-de-siècle-feel, about clashes, but also fluid boundaries, between pagan and Christian mindsets in medieval times, fuelled by the descriptive energy that Lagerlöf attributed to her writing at the time.‘Gudsfreden’ / ‘God’s Peace at Christmas’ – an enquiry into a close encounter, with elements of crime, between human and animal, and Lagerlöf’s first depiction of the Ingmarssons, the powerful family of peasants that would take centre stage in Jerusalem.‘Spelmannen’ / ‘The Fiddler’ – a story, both playful and uncanny, about a self-assured musician and the shadows of abandoned family, set during a Nordic summer night in a landscape that is both attraction and trap.‘Silvergruvan’ / ‘The Silver Mine’ – a nation-orientated narrative about the homeland’s real riches, anticipating some of the major themes in Nils Holgersson. ‘Två spådomar’ / ‘Two Prophecies’ – a biographical sketch in six life moments, infused with motifs of deciphering, reading and writing, about Lagerlöf’s route to becoming an author, published at a time when her national, and indeed international, fame was growing fast.‘Bortbytingen’ / ‘The Changeling’ – a suspense-filled story about unexpected contact and strange parallels between a human and an ‘alien’ sphere, featuring an unconventional and resourceful heroine.‘Den heliga bilden i Lucca’ / ‘The Sacred Image in Lucca’ – a miraculous legend and picaresque travel adventure played out in Italy, foregrounding poor but hopeful working-class characters and told in a lucid style and light-hearted tone.‘Dimman’ / ‘The Mist’ – a modern parable with a punishing ending, published in the context of the First World War and critiquing attitudes, including artistic ones, to the reality of global conflict and suffering.

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