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{{Short description|Swedish novelist (1828–1895)}}
{{for|the Swedish ice hockey player|Victor Crus Rydberg}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2022}}
{{Infobox writer
| name = Viktor Rydberg
| image = Viktor Rydberg 1876.jpg
| imagesize =
| caption = Rydberg in 1876
| pseudonym =
| birth_name = Abraham Viktor Rydberg
| birth_date = {{birth date|1828|12|18|df=yes}}
| birth_place = [[Jönköping]], [[Sweden]]
| death_date = {{Death date and age|1895|09|21|1828|12|18|df=yes}}
| death_place = [[Djursholm]], [[Stockholm county]], Sweden
| occupation = Author, journalist, novelist, translator and poet
| nationality = [[Sweden|Swedish]]
| period = [[Victorian era|Victorian]], Oscarian
| genre = [[Romance novel|Romance]]
| subject = [[Mythology]], [[Religion]]
| movement =
| notableworks = ''Singoalla'', ''Undersökningar i Germanisk Mythologi I-II'', ''Fädernas Gudasaga''
| spouse = Susen Hasselblad
| partner =
| children =
| relatives = Johann Rydberg (father), Hedvig Düker (mother)
| awards =
| signature =
| website =
| portaldisp =
}}
'''Abraham Viktor Rydberg''' ({{IPA|sv|ˈɑ̂ːbraham ˈvɪ̌kːtɔr ˈrŷːdbærj}}; 18 December 1828{{snd}}21 September 1895) was a [[Swedes|Swedish]] writer and a member of the [[Swedish Academy]], 1877–1895.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.svenskaakademien.se/akademien/ledamotsregisternew/abraham-viktor-rydberg|title=Rydberg, Abraham Viktor|publisher=Swedish Academy|access-date=22 December 2014|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141222202951/http://www.svenskaakademien.se/akademien/ledamotsregisternew/abraham-viktor-rydberg|archive-date=22 December 2014}}</ref> "Primarily a classical idealist",<ref>Charles Wharton Stork, Anthology of Swedish Lyrics: From 1750 to 1915, New York, The Scandinavian-American Foundation, London, 1930</ref> Viktor Rydberg has been described as "Sweden's last [[Romanticism|Romantic]]" and by 1859 was "generally regarded in the first rank of Swedish novelists."<ref>Cyclopedia of World Authors, Revised 3rd edition, Vol. 4, Edited by Frank N. Magill, 1997, s.v. Viktor Rydberg</ref>
== Biography ==
Despite his economic status, Rydberg was recognized for his talents. From 1838 to 1847, Rydberg attended grammar school, and studied law at the university in [[Lund]] from 1851 to 1852. Due to financial reasons,<ref>''Encyclopædia Britannica'', Micropædia, 1986, s.v. Viktor Rydberg, p. 269.</ref> his university studies ended after one year, without a degree. Afterward, he took a job as a private tutor. In 1855, he was offered work at the ''[[Göteborgs Handels- och Sjöfartstidning]]'', a newspaper in Gothenburg, where he remained employed for more than 20 years. It was during this time that his first novels saw print. He soon became a central figure of late Romanticism in Sweden, and Sweden's most famous living author.
Throughout his adult life, Rydberg was active in politics. In 1859, he wrote a pamphlet on national defense, which inspired the "Sharpshooter's movement", a voluntary militia of some political importance during the 1860s. In 1870, he took a controversial pro-German stance during the [[Franco-Prussian War]]. Representing the traditional economic system of Sweden, from 1870 to 1872, Rydberg was a member of the Swedish Parliament as a supporter of the [[Lantmanna Party]]. Having been a supporter of the Jewish cause since his youth, it was MP Viktor Rydberg who gave the keynote speech in the parliamentary debate to enact a law granting all non-Lutherans full civil rights. He worked diligently for working-class people and in 1906 his works on the labor question in both prose and poetry were regarded as part of the "treasury of this class."<ref name="Shaw">''The American Monthly Review of Reviews'' by Albert Shaw; "Viktor Rydberg: Reformer, The Dante of Sweden", p. 96</ref> He also advocated language reform, purging foreign words from the Swedish language, particularly those of German origin.<ref>{{harvp|Bandle|Braunmüller|Jahr|Karker|2002}}</ref> Around this time, he advocated a more [[Germanic languages|Germanic spelling]] of his own name: ''Viktor'', as opposed to ''Victor''.
Throughout his life and career, Rydberg coined several Swedish words; many, such as ''gudasaga'' for the foreign ''mythologi'', are still in use today.<ref>{{harvp|Bandle|Braunmüller|Jahr|Karker|2002|p=1544}}</ref> In 1884, he refused to support [[Anarchism|anarchist]] writer [[August Strindberg]], in [[Getting Married (Strindberg)|his blasphemy case]]. As a juror in an 1888 trial of [[socialist]] leader [[Hjalmar Branting]], Rydberg voted to send him to jail for [[blasphemy]]. They never spoke to one another again. His apprehension of unregulated capitalism at the dawn of the industrial age is most fully expressed in his acclaimed poem ''Den nya Grottesången'' (''The New Grotti Song'') in which he delivered a fierce attack on the miserable working conditions in factories of the era, using the mill of ''[[Grottasöngr]]'' as his literary backdrop.<ref>{{harvp|Kunitz|Colby|1967|p=810}}</ref>
For his lifetime of literary achievement, Rydberg received an honorary doctorate from the [[University of Uppsala]] in 1877 and was elected a member of the [[Swedish Academy]] the same year. He served from 1883 as teacher, from 1884 as professor, of the History of Culture at Stockholms högskola, now [[Stockholm University]], and from 1889 as the first holder of the J. A. Berg Chair of the History and Theory of Art there.<ref>Svante Nordin, "Rydberg, Abraham Viktor", ''Svenskt biografiskt lexikon'', 31 (2000–2002), p. 45. On the J. A. Berg professorship and its holders, see "Professorer i konsthistoria", [appendix] in Britt-Inger Johansson & Hans Pettersson (eds.), ''8 kapitel om konsthistoriens historia i Sverige'', Stockholm: Rasters förlag, 2000, p. 248-251.</ref> In 1889, he was also elected a member of the [[Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences]].
Since the late 1920s, scholars and critics have speculated about Rydberg's private life and sexual orientation. Referring to a failed engagement, [[Judith Moffett]] writes:
<blockquote>
We can construct a story of backdoor illicit liaisons and front door respectability from these fragments and others— Rydberg would hardly be the first, if it were true— but he never spoke openly about his private life at any time, and our best guess would still be guesswork.<ref>{{harvp|Moffett|2001|p=81}}</ref>
</blockquote>
Svanberg (1928) and Stolpe (1978) suggested that Rydberg had a homosexual orientation, based on their interpretations of Rydberg's published works.{{cn|date=February 2023}} Moffett (2001) endorsed Stolpe's theory, speculating that Rydberg's sexual orientation was the result of the early loss of his mother, concluding that Rydberg was homosexual but celibate. In her opinion, Rydberg found all sexual expression "despicable, impossible, or, at best, delicious but lethal."<ref>{{harvp|Moffett|2001|p=82}}</ref> [[Sven Delblanc]] (1983) argued that the novel ''Singoalla'' "reflected homosexual desires and impulses in Rydberg himself", and that the protagonist's slaying of his unacknowledged son Sorgborn ['child of sorrow'] was a "masked representation of homosexual intercourse."<ref>Quoting Stig Bäckman ''Viktor Rydberg som Erland Månesköld. Om Sven Delblancs läsning av Singoalla,'' Samlaren 125:78–91.</ref> Bäckmann (2004) disputed this theory noting that there is "no textual evidence" to support this "empathetic reading" of Rydberg's biography.{{cn|date=February 2023}}
== Publications ==
[[Image:Östra kyrkogården i Göteborg, den 17 aug 2006, Viktor Rydbergs grav, bild 2.JPG|thumb|Viktor Rydberg's grave in [[Gothenburg]].]]
In 1857, Rydberg's first novel, ''Fribytaren på Östersjön'' (''[[The Freebooter of the Baltic]]''; 1857), a historical romance set in the 17th century, incorporating themes of piracy, witchcraft and nautical excursions, was published.
This was soon followed by his first major success, and one of his most popular novels, ''Singoalla'' (1858), a "romantic story out of the Middle Ages, permeated with a poetic nature-mysticism, about the tragic love between a knight and a gypsy girl."<ref name="Kunitz_Colby">{{harvp|Kunitz|Colby|1967}}</ref> Rydberg rewrote the book throughout his life. The fourth and final edition of 1894, concludes with Erland dying as a hermit monk. The story has been made into a film twice, and today, a popular brand of cookie takes its name from the book's main character: Singoalla. A review of the first English translation of the work in the Saga-Book of the Viking Club, Vol. 4, Part 1, 1904–5, noting that the book "has already been translated into most of the languages of continental Europe", remarks that "Singoalla is a novel occupying a pre-eminent place among Rydberg's prose writings."
In 1859, Rydberg's most ambitious novel, and his last one for thirty years, was published under the title ''Den siste Atenaren'' (''The Last Athenian''). This, his best-known novel, offers a contrast between "Rydberg's admiration for classical antiquity and his critical attitude to dogmatic Christianity."<ref name="Kunitz_Colby"/> This struggle is set in Athens, in the time of the last pagan emperor, [[Julian the Apostate]], during the transition from Platonic paganism to Christianity. The novel advocates a philosophy founded on the noblest elements of both ideologies. [[William W. Thomas, Jr.|William Widgery Thomas, Jr.]] said that "at scarcely thirty years of age" Rydberg was "already acknowledged to be the foremost living prose writer of Scandinavia."<ref>[[William Widgery Thomas, Jr.]] writing in the introduction to ''The Last Athenian''.</ref>
In 1862 he wrote and published ''Bibelns lära om Kristus'' (''The Bible's Doctrine concerning Christ''), a work of contemporary religious criticism, which was hugely successful. Introducing modern [[Biblical criticism]] to Scandinavia, he used the [[New Testament]] itself to deny the divinity of [[Christ]]. "At a conference of the Swedish church in 1865, Mr. Rydberg ...and he pleaded his cause with so much eloquence as to make a favorable impression upon his most eminent official opponents. The agitation which he called forth made his name known throughout Sweden, and in 1870 he was elected a member of parliament, where he boldly advocated democratic principles."<ref>''The Literary World'', Vol. XIII, Jan–Dec 1882, Boston. E. H. Hames & Co, p. 282 (6 Aug.)</ref>
The long-term effects of the book would be the weakening of the authority of the Church over the educated classes of Scandinavia. August Strindberg "acknowledged the liberating influence of Rydberg's Bibelns lära om Kristus (The Bible's Doctrine Concerning Christ, 1862) on his generation (like David Friedrich Strauss and Ernst Renan)."<ref>Michael Robinson, editor, Strindberg's Letters, Vol. II, 2001, p. 403.</ref> He taught freedom of individual conscience. It was this that inspired him in the fight against the state church.<ref name="Shaw"/> Predictably, this book attracted the ire of the orthodox religious establishment and is generally credited for Rydberg's exclusion from the [[Swedish Academy]] until as late as 1877. From 1865 to 1868, Rydberg suffered a severe bout of depression caused by the theological struggle and a broken engagement in 1865.
Rydberg's next work, ''Medeltidens Magi'' (''The Magic of the Middle Ages'') 1865 is an exposition of the magical practices and beliefs of the Medieval period. According to Rydberg, the contemporary Church was still driven by the ideology of the Dark Ages, and its dualistic notions of good and evil, represented by God and the Devil, Heaven and Hell, contributed towards the horror of the witch-hunts in Europe and America in the recent past. From this point forward, Rydberg was economically successful as a writer.
[[Image:Fädernas gudasaga - John Bauer.jpg|right|thumb|cover to ''Fädernas gudasaga'']]
"Lille Viggs äventyr på julafton" ("Little Vigg's Adventures on Christmas Eve", 1871) is a short [[Christmas]] tale for all ages, originally written for a newspaper, but later widely printed. It has since become a Christmas classic in Sweden.
After a long journey in [[Kingdom of Italy|Italy]] in 1874, Rydberg published ''Romerska sägner om apostlarna Petrus och Paulus'' (''Roman Legends concerning the Apostles Peter and Paul'' 1874) and ''Romerska Dagar'' (''Roman Days'' 1877), a series of essays on Italian culture, history and archaeology; The journey is said to have strengthened Rydberg's creative power, as he now produced some of "the finest philosophical lyrics in Swedish literature".<ref name="Kunitz_Colby_809"/> "His poems are not numerous, but their masterly form and wealth of thought give them rank among the best poetry in Swedish literature."<ref>Frederik Winkel Horn, PhD., History of the Literature of the Scandinavian North from the Most Ancient Times to the Present. Chicago, South Carolina Griggs and Co., 1895.</ref> Charles Wharton Stork remarks: "In the originality and forcefulness of his imagery Rydberg marks an important advance in Swedish poetry;" "there is a manliness in Rydberg's voice which makes the notes carry. His ideas are not the shadows of others, they are his by strong conviction."<ref>Anthology of Swedish Lyrics: From 1750 to 1915, New York, The Scandinavian-American Foundation, London, 1930, pp. xxx & xxxi.</ref>
Other important works include his translation of [[Johann Wolfgang von Goethe|Goethe]]'s ''[[Goethe's Faust|Faust]]'' (1876) and the historical novel ''Vapensmeden'' (''The Armoror'', 1891), his first novel in three decades. Set during the [[Protestant Reformation|Reformation]], the novel depicts the struggle between Lutheran Protestantism and Roman Catholicism. In it, Rydberg "still fought fanaticism and dogmatism, and his ideal was still humanity and liberty."<ref name="Bédé_Edgerton">''Columbia Dictionary of Modern European Literature'', Second Edition, edited by Jean-Albert Bédé and William B. Edgerton, 1980.</ref>
Between 1886 and 1889, his literary work was focused on [[Norse mythology|Norse]] and broader [[Germanic mythology]].<ref name="Bédé_Edgerton"/> "Rydberg had already begun, in the guise of fiction, to devote himself to cultural history, and this now continued in the form of a series of scientific investigations. These dealt first and foremost with religion and mythology."<ref>Jørgen Bukdahl, Scandinavia Past and Present: Five modern democracies, 1959</ref> He published several works in the field including two articles on the origins of the [[Poetic Edda]] poem ''[[Völuspá]]'', in which he debated the authenticity of the poem with Norwegian scholar [[Sophus Bugge]], who held that the poem was based on Classical and Biblical sources. An article by [[George Stephens (philologist)|George Stephens]] in ''[[The Antiquary (journal)|The Antiquary]]'' August 1881, describes Rydberg's response:
<blockquote>"Against this last theory, the Swedish savant, Dr. Viktor Rydberg, of Gotenburg, has written a brilliant paper in the two first numbers of ''Nordisk Tidskrift'' for 1881. It is not too much to say, that a more crushing and masterly reply was never penned.<ref>{{cite journal|last=Stephens|first=George|author-link=George Stephens (philologist)|year=1881|title=Northern Antiquarian Literature|journal=The Antiquary|volume=4|issue=August|pages=64–66|url=https://archive.org/details/antiquary19appegoog/page/n71/mode/2up}}</ref></blockquote>
A century later, Old Norse scholar [[Ursula Dronke]] characterizes this work similarly:
<blockquote>
"... over one hundred pages (as against [[Anton Christian Bang|Bang]]'s twenty-three!) of marvellously intelligent, masterly criticism of the errors, imprecise thinking and failure of scholarly imagination that underlay Bang's claim."<ref>"Völuspá and the Sibylline Traditions", ''Latin Culture and Medieval Germanic Europe'', ed. Richard North and T. Hofstra, 1992 [Reprinted in her book ''Myth and Fiction in Early Norse Lands''].</ref></blockquote>
Even Sophus Bugge acknowledged that Rydberg won the argument, ushering in the modern age of Eddic scholarship by firmly vanquishing the nature-school of mythology.<ref name="de_Vries_250">Jan de Vries, ''Forschungsgeschichte der Mythologie'', Freiburg and Munich: Verlag Karl Alber, 1961, p. 250</ref> The result of his own investigations in prose was titled ''Segerssvärdet'' 1882, (''The Sword of Victory''), followed by two volumes of mythic studies titled ''Undersökningar i germanisk mythologi, första delen'', 1886 (''Investigations into Germanic Mythology, Volume 1''); and ''Undersökningar i germanisk mythologi, andre delen'', (''Investigations into Germanic Mythology, Volume 2'') 1889 as well as a children's version of Norse mythology in 1887 titled ''Fädernas gudasaga'' (''Our Fathers' Godsaga''). In a letter to Rydberg, after receiving the first volume of his mythological research, Bugge stated: "As I have read my heart has warmed more and more. ...Forgive these words from a man who before such a magnificent and in many respects remarkable work is well aware that he is nothing but a philologist."<ref>Karl Warburg, Viktor Rydberg, En Lefnadsteckning II, p. 623, translated by Fredrik Gadde in "Viktor Rydberg and Some Beowulf Questions", p. 73.</ref>
Henrik Schück wrote at the turn of the 20th century that he considered Rydberg the "last —and poetically most gifted —of the mythological school founded by Jacob Grimm and represented by such men as Adalbert Kuhn" which is "strongly synthetic" in its understanding of myth.<ref>Henrik Schück, quoted by Karl Warburg in Viktor Rydberg, En Lefnadsteckning, 1900.</ref> Of this work, [[Jan de Vries (linguist)|Jan de Vries]] said:
<blockquote>
"At a time, when one was firmly convinced that the Old Norse myths were a late product, Rydberg's voice resounds. At that time, he swam against the stream, but he clearly expressed that which has become an ever stronger certainty today: a large part of the myths of the Germanic tradition —and that is to say basically the Old Norse tradition—must be set back in a time when the undivided Proto-Indo-European people themselves created the vessel of their worldview in myths."<ref name="de_Vries_250"/></blockquote>
During the 1880s, Rydberg also published two studies of runic inscriptions. His acceptance speech into the Swedish Academy, titled "Om Hjeltesagan å Rökstenen" (translated as "Concerning the Heroic-Saga on the [[Rök runestone]]") was published in English translation, with an introduction by Swedish Scholar Ola Östin, in its entirety in ''The Runestone Journal'' 1, 2007, a publication of the [[Asatru Folk Assembly]].
Rydberg's final publication, an essay titled ''Den hvita rasens framtid'', "The Future of the White Race", was published posthumously as an introduction to the Swedish edition of [[Benjamin Kidd]]'s ''[[Social Evolution]]''. Noting that "Rydberg's conception of race is not equivalent with the modern term; the meaning he gives the word is in fact more cultural than biological, ...he includes Jews, Muslims, Hindus, Buddhists living in Asia, America and to some extent Africa in this expression." Swedish scholar Anna Lindén says "what he actually criticizes is a phenomenon within Europe, not on other continents", continuing, <blockquote>"The Swedish author is, unlike Kidd, not a Social Darwinist and far more pessimistic about the European future than the Irishman. A common feature is, however, that both of them view religion and ethics as most important for the survival of a "race".
"Evolution is rightly said to be one of the most typical theme in 19th century Europe, but parallel to this optimism in the second half of the century there was a widespread, nearly apocalyptic, anxiety for the degeneration of the population caused by exceptional fast development. Rydberg shared this anxiety: he was very critical to industrialism and unhealthy milieu of the big European metropolises, ...in combination with low nativity this was a dangerous threat to Europe, especially compared to the steadily growing, physically as well as morally sound population in China and the Far East. ...This lack of morals will in the long run ruin the ecological system as well as the poor people on our continent."<ref>Anna Linden, in En europeisk apokalyps? Om Viktor Rydbergs 'Den hvita rasens framtid' (Centrum för Europaforskning, 2005)</ref></blockquote>
In contrast to Kidd's optimistic Darwinism (''all'ottimismo darwiniano di Kidd''), Rydberg foresaw the possibility of European culture being overcome by the more industrious and more prolific Chinese nation.{{#tag:ref|"In dissenso rispetto all'ottimismo darwiniano di Kidd, Rydberg tratteggiava il crollo della cultura europea per opera della nazione cinese."<ref>Dotti, Luca (2004). ''L’utopia eugenetica del welfare state svedese, 1934–1975'', p. 58</ref>|group=Note}}{{#tag:ref|"The racial focus originated in the nineteenth-century tradition with anthropologists such as Anders Retzius promoting superior Nordic virtues, while Victor Rydberg wrote about the potential downfall of the white race and the threat of the Chinese."<ref>Kerr, Anne, and Tom Shakespeare (2002). ''Genetic Politics: From Eugenics to Genome''. Cheltenham, Eng.: New Clarion, {{ISBN|1-873797-25-7}}, p. 49</ref>|group=Note}} In this essay,
<blockquote>"Rydberg's belief in a swift, negative transformation ... is not initially eugenic or biological; instead he advocates moral rearmament." "Rydberg envisioned European culture being overthrown by the Chinese. He predicted that the downfall would come in the very near future and would come about because of moral degeneration, demographic conditions, and the ensuing defects in the population."<ref>Broberg, Gunnar, and Mattias Tydén (1996). "Eugenics in Sweden: Efficient Care," in ''Eugenics and the Welfare State: Sterilization Policy in Denmark, Sweden, Norway, and Finland'' ([[Gunnar Broberg]] & [[Nils Roll-Hansen]], eds.), University of Michigan Press, 2005, p. 79-80.</ref></blockquote>
[[Image:Swedish author Viktor rydberg with signature.jpg|right|thumb|Viktor Rydberg portrait with signature]]
===Mythological works===
{{main|Investigations into Germanic Mythology}}
There is no shortage of scholarly opinion and no consensus on Viktor Rydberg's works on Indo-European and Germanic mythology. Some scholars feel that his work is ingenious,{{#tag:ref|Commenting on specifics of Rydberg's comparative mythology, the Dutch scholar [[Jan de Vries (linguist)|Jan de Vries]] calls him "sagacious." De Vries, writing in ''The Problem of Loki'', 1933, said:<blockquote>The resemblance between Loki and Prometheus, which indeed cannot be denied, was mostly considered to be a proof of his character as a fire-god, even going back to the Aryan period. The sagacious Swedish scholar V. Rydberg argued in the same way, considering him only more particularly to be connected with the heavenly fire, the lightning; this seems to be shown by the etymological meaning of the names Byleistr and Farbauti both parents of Loki."</blockquote>|group=Note}} while others feel the work is too speculative. One scholar expressed the opinion that "Rydberg's views" concerning resemblances of Thor and Indra were carried to extremes, therefore receiving "less recognition than they deserved,"<ref>E.O.G. Turville-Petre, ''Myth and Religion of the North'', 1964, p. 103</ref> while another says "Rydberg correctly establishes, like many before and after him, the similarities with the myth of Thor and the Midgard serpent" with that of Indra and the dragon Vrtra.<ref>Helge Ljungeborg, "Tor, Undersökningar i Indoeuropisk och Nordisk Religionshistoria, 1947, p. 58 ff.</ref> Others contest individual points of the work.{{#tag:ref|Marlene Ciklamini observed in 1962, "Since Suttungr is unanimously declared to be the possessor of the poetic mead, it is difficult to agree with Rydberg that Hávamál 140 represents Bölþorn's son as the owner. His hypothesis is based on a misinterpretation of the stanza, since Háv. 140 represents the boast of a god who deprived his enemies of the exclusive right to magic and the ownership of the mead.... Rydberg's suggestion that Mímir is Bölþorn's son is not substantiated by any source."<ref>Marlene Ciklamini, "Óðinn and the Giants", Neophilologus 46:145-58 (1962), p. 151.</ref>|group=Note}} While some scholars have praised Rydberg's method,<ref>William Nicolson, M. A. "Myth and Religion; An Enquiry into their Nature and Relations", Press of the Finnish Literary Society, 1892, p. 13 ff.</ref> still others have commented on what they see as fundamental flaws in his methodology, objecting to any systematization of the mythology including the one imposed by Snorri Sturlusson, believing it artificial. However, [[John Lindow]]<ref>Handbook of Norse Mythology, p. 39-45</ref> and [[Margaret Clunies Ross]]<ref>Prolonged Echoes, pp. 234–238</ref> have recently supported a chronological systemization of the most important mythic episodes as inherent in the oral tradition underlying Eddic poetry. Rydberg believed that most of the Germanic myths were part of a chronological epic, an approach that [[H. R. Ellis Davidson]] characterized as arising "from an assumption that the mythology was once complete and rational."<ref>''Myths and Symbols in Pagan Europe'', page 197. Syracuse University Press.</ref>
While Rydberg's ingenuity has been recognized by some,{{#tag:ref|Mary E. Litchfield wrote: "Rydberg's researches have made it possible, for the first time, for one to form a definite conception of the cosmology of the mythology, and also because it clears away many inconsistencies that have long clung to it."<ref>Mary E. Litchfield ''The Nine Worlds, Stories from Norse Mythology'', 1890 (reprinted by Freedonia Books, Amsterdam in 2001)</ref>|group=Note}} his work has most often been criticized for being too subjective. Yet, within his work, many find points on which they can agree.{{#tag:ref|"Victor Rydberg suggested that Siritha is Freyja herself and that Ottar is identical with same as Svipdagr, who appears as Menglöd's beloved in Fjölsvinnsmál. Rydberg's intentions in his investigations of Germanic mythology were to co-ordinate the myths and mythical fragments into coherent short stories. Not for a moment did he hesitate to make subjective interpretations of the episodes, based more on his imagination and poetical skills than on facts. His explication of the Siritha-episode is an example of his approach, and yet he probably was right when he identified Siritha with Freyja."<ref>Britt-Mari Näsström (1995) ''Freyja: The Great Goddess of the North''. University of Lund, {{ISBN|91-22-01694-5}}</ref>|group=Note}} In the first comprehensive review of the work in English, Rydberg's "brilliancy" and "great success" were recognized, alongside an acknowledgement that he sometimes "stumbles badly" in his effort to "reduce chaos to order."{{#tag:ref|In the introduction to the first English translation of Danish historian Saxo Grammaticus' ''[[Gesta Danorum]]'' by Oliver Elton, Frederick York Powell wrote in 1894:
<blockquote>No one has commented upon Saxo's mythology with such brilliancy, such minute consideration, and such success as the Swedish scholar, Victor Rydberg. More than occasionally he is over-ingenious and over-anxious to reduce chaos to order; sometimes he almost loses his faithful reader in the maze he treads so easily and confidently, and sometimes he stumbles badly. But he has placed the whole subject on a fresh footing, and much that is to follow will be drawn from his "Teutonic Mythology", adding "The skeleton-key of identification, used even as ably as Dr. Rydberg uses it, will not pick every mythologic lock, though it undoubtedly has opened many hitherto closed."</blockquote>|group=Note}} In 1976, German-language scholar Peter-Hans Naumann published the first evaluation of the full range of Viktor Rydberg's mythological writings. In 2004, Swedish doktorand (PhD student) Anna Lindén reviewed the full two-volume work on mythology, concluding in part that it was not more widely received because it was not fully available in one of the three international languages of scholarship: English, German or French.<ref>"Viktor Rydberg and the comparative study of the history of Indo-European religion", by Anna Lindén, Doktorand, Lund University; Himlens blå, Örjan Lindberger, Veritas 5 (1991)</ref>
At the time of its publication, the German school of Nature mythology dominated the field, and contemporary scholars took a dim view of comparative mythology, which would come to flourish in the 20th century. Commenting on Rydberg's mythological work in 1902, Dutch Professor, P.D. Chantepie de la Saussaye, remarks:
<blockquote>"The comparative school has, even at the present time, some firm adherents. Among these may be reckoned the Swede, V. Rydberg, who shows great learning in the combination of various aspects of mythical narratives and according to whom even the cosmogonic myths are to be classed among the original possessions of the primitive Indo-European period. Such attempts, however, —of which this single example will suffice—lie outside of the current of modern development."<ref>The Religion of the Teutons, Boston and London, Ginn and Co, 1902</ref></blockquote>As Fredrik Gadde has explained, it was in this context, that<blockquote>
"the book was reviewed by several German scholars, who all took up a more or less disparaging attitude towards Rydberg's methods of investigation and his results. Although they speak with high praise of the author's learning, his thorough insight, his ability to occasionally throw light upon intricate problems by means of ingenious suggestions, they criticize severely his hazardous etymologies, his identification of different mythical figures without sufficient grounds, his mixing up of heroic saga and myth, and, above all, his bent for remodeling myths in order to make them fit into a system which (they say) never existed."<ref>{{harvp|Gadde|1942|p=72}}</ref></blockquote>
"Rydberg's work was, then, stamped as a failure, and this verdict from certain points of view cannot be considered unjust, seems to have caused the book to fall into oblivion, a fate which surely it has not deserved."<ref>{{harvp|Gadde|1942|p=73}}</ref> Among contemporary Swedish reviewers, Hildebrand and Bååth were appreciative, the latter unreservedly praising the work.<ref>{{harvp|Gadde|1942}}, citing Hildebrand, Nordisk Tidskrift, 1887, p. 251, and Bååth Nordisk Tidskrift, 1891, p. 68.</ref> In 1892, Irish scholar Stopford A. Brooke remarked: "When we have made every allowance for a certain fancifulness, and for the bias which a well-loved theory creates, this book is a real contribution to Northern mythology."<ref>History of Early English Literature, Vol. I, 1892, p. 111, fn.</ref> While, in 1942, Fredrik Gadde concluded: <blockquote> "Even though the views set forth by Rydberg never stood a chance of being accepted, there are points in his exposition that deserve being once more brought to light."<ref>{{harvp|Gadde|1942}}</ref></blockquote>
Since their publication, some of Rydberg's mythological theories have been cited in a number of other scholarly works including his theory regarding a [[World Mill]],<ref>Georgia de Santilliana and Hertha von Duchend, ''[[Hamlet's Mill]]'', 1969. Clive Tolley, "The Mill in Norse and Finnish Mythology." 1995 Saga-Book 24:63–82, p.73. German Kommentar zu den Liedern der Edda, Bd. 3, Grottosöngr.</ref> the dead,<ref>William H. Swatos, Jr. and Loftur Reimar Gissurarson, Icelandic Spiritualism: Mediumship and Modernity in Iceland, pp. 38–39.</ref> and his identification of Harbard with Loki in the ''Poetic Edda'' poem ''[[Hárbarðsljóð]]''.<ref>Carol Clover "Hárbardsljóð as Generic Farce", in ''The Poetic Edda, Essays on Old Norse Mythology,'' edited by Paul Acker and Carolyne Larrington, 2002, {{ISBN|0-8153-1660-7}}. Kommentar zu den Liedern der Edda, edited by Klaus Von See, Beatrice LaFarge, Eve Picard, Ilona Priebe, and Katja Schultz, Bd. 3, p. 836.</ref> He has been mentioned as one of several writers who proposed analogs of [[Ask and Embla]] in comparative mythology,<ref>"The Askr and Embla Myth in a Comparative Perspective" (2008) by Anders Hultgård. Published in ''[https://books.google.com/books?id=gjq6rvoIRpAC Old Norse Religion in Long-Term Perspectives: Origins, Changes, and Interactions]'', Edited by Anders Andrén, Kristina Jennbart, and Katharina Raudvere, Nordic Academic Press, 2006.</ref> and who sought Indo-Iranian analogs for the ''Poetic Edda'' poem, ''[[Völuspá]]''.<ref>Simek, Rudolf, ''Dictionary of Northern Mythology'', pp. 366–67.</ref> Marvin Taylor cites Rydberg's definition of the phrase, "dómr um dauðan hvern," as predating that of a more contemporary writer cited by the author in his review of Julia Zernack's Geschichten aus Thule, 1994, published in the Saga-Book of the Viking Society.{{#tag:ref|"If Zernack wants to use the word already, how about mentioning Viktor Rydberg, who made the same point in 1886 (''Undersökningar i germansk mythologi'', I 373)?"|group=Note}}
==Bibliography==
Many of Rydberg's works can be found catalogued on the Project Runeberg website listed below.
*1857, ''Fribytaren på Östersjön''
**''[[The Freebooter of the Baltic]]'', translated by Caroline L. Broomall, 1891.
*1858, ''Singoalla''
**Singoalla, A Legend-Story, translated by Josef Fredbärj, 1904.
*1859, ''Den siste Atenaren''
**''The Last Athenian'', translated by William W. Thomas Jr.
*1862, ''Bibelns lära om Kristus'' (‘''Christ According to the Bible''')
*1865, ''Medeltidens Magi''
**"The Magic of the Middle Ages" translated by [[August Hjalmar Edgren]].
*1871, ''Lille Viggs äventyr på julafton'' (Little Vigg's Adventures on Christmas Eve)
**''Little Vigg's Christmas Eve'', in the anthology, Australia Once a Month, translated by D. Conolly, 1885.
*1874, ''Romerska sägner om apostlarna Petrus och Paulus''
**''Roman Legends about the Apostles Paul and Peter'', translated by Ottilia von Düben, 1898.
*1877, ''Romerska Dagar''
**''Roman Days'', translated by Alfred C. Clark, 1877.
*1876, Swedish translation of [[Goethe's Faust]]
*1882, ''Segerssvärdet'' (''The Sword of Victory'')
*1887, ''Fädernas gudasaga''
**''Our Fathers' Godsaga'', translated by William P. Reaves, 2003.
*1886, ''Undersökningar i germanisk mythologi, första delen'', (''[[Investigations into Germanic Mythology]], Volume I'').
**''[https://books.google.com/books?id=8-IyAWECTJgC Teutonic Mythology]'' translated by [[Rasmus B. Anderson]], 1889
*1889, ''Undersökningar i germanisk mythologi, andre delen''.
**Viktor Rydberg's Investigations into Germanic Mythology, Volume 2, Parts 1 & 2, translated by William P. Reaves, 2004–2007.
*1882–1891 Dikter (''Poems'')
**A selection of these appear in ''Anthology of Swedish Lyrics from 1750 to 1925'', translated by Charles W. Stork, 1930; and ''The North! To the North!: Five Swedish Poets of the Nineteenth Century'', translated by Judith Moffett, 2001.
*1891, Vapensmeden,(The Armorer, literally "The Weapon-smith").
*1894, Varia (Miscellanea).
*1895 Den hvitarasens framtid ("The Future of the White Race"). Introduction to Swedish edition of [[Benjamin Kidd]]'s ''Social Evolution''. Stockholm: Hugo Gebers.
<!--
*1904, Bibelns lära om Kristus
*1915, De vandrande djäknarne
*1914, Den siste atenaren
*1914, Dikter
*1910, Fribytaren på Östersjön
*1906, Fädernas gudasaga m.m.
*1902, Medeltidens magi
*1914, Romerske kejsare i marmor samt andra uppsatser i konst
*1915, Singoalla
*1907, Sägner, berättelser och skizzer
*1912, Vapensmeden (Hägringar från reformationstiden)
*1910, Varia (filosofiska, historiska, språkvetenskapliga ämnen)
-->
==Notes==
{{reflist|group=Note}}
==References==
{{Reflist}}
===Bibliography===
{{refbegin}}
*{{cite book |last1=Bandle |first1=Oscar |last2=Braunmüller |first2=Kurt |last3=Jahr |first3=Ernst Håkon |last4=Karker |first4=Allan |last5=Naumann |first5=Hans-Peter |last6=Telemann |first6=Ulf |last7=Elmevik |first7=Lennart |last8=Widmark |first8=Gun |year=2002 |title=The Nordic Languages: an International Handbook of the North Germanic Languages |volume=1 |publisher=Walter De Gruyter |location=Berlin |isbn=3-11-014876-5 }}
*{{cite journal |last=Gadde |first=Frederik |year=1942 |title=Viktor Rydberg and some Beowulf questions |journal=[[Studia Neophilologica]] |volume=15 |issue=1 |pages=71–90 |doi=10.1080/00393274208586909 }}
* {{Cite EB1911|wstitle= Rydberg, Abraham Viktor | volume= 23 |last= Gosse |first= Edmund William |author-link= Edmund Gosse | page = 949 |short= 1}}
*{{cite book |editor1-last=Kunitz |editor1-first=Stanley J. |editor2-first=Vineta |editor2-last=Colby |year=1967 |title=European Authors 1000–1900 |url=https://archive.org/details/europeanauthors100kuni |url-access=registration |location=New York, NY |publisher=H. W. Wilson Co. |chapter=Rydberg, (Abraham) Viktor }}
*{{cite book |last=Moffett |first=Judith |year=2001 |chapter=Viktor Rydberg, 1828–1895 |pages=77–116 |title=The North! To the North! Five Swedish Poets of the Nineteenth Century |publisher=[[Southern Illinois University Press]] |location=Carbondale, IL |isbn=9780809323227 }}
{{refend}}
==Other
*Gustafson, Alrik, ''A History of Swedish Literature'' (Minneapolis, 1961)
==External links==
{{Wikisource author}}
{{commons|Viktor Rydberg|Viktor Rydberg}}
*[http://vrsidor.se/ Viktor Rydberg, His Life and Works, a Memorial by Tore Lund.]
*[http://rydbergsallskapet.nu/ Viktor Rydbergs Sällskapet (The Viktor Rydberg Society), publisher of the Journal ''Veratis'', devoted to Rydberg's Life and Literature.]
* {{Gutenberg author | id=3156}}
* {{Internet Archive author |sname=Viktor Rydberg}}
* {{Librivox author |id=5175}}
* {{OL author}}
*[https://runeberg.org/authors/rydberg.html, Several works online] at [[Projekt Runeberg]] (in Swedish)
*[http://www.germanicmythology.com/viktor_rydberg/viktor_rydberg.html The Complete Mythological Works of Viktor Rydberg]
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20051102033519/http://www.vethist.idehist.uu.se/lychnos/summaries2004.html Viktor Rydberg and the comparative study of the history of Indo-European religion, by Anna Lindén, Doktorand, Lund University.]
*[http://www.eddan.net/ The Invincible Sword of the Elf-Smith, The Complete Norse Mythology Set to Music, based on Rydberg's Fädernas Gudasaga.] by [[Mats Wendt]]
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[[Category:Writers on Germanic paganism]]
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[[Category:19th-century Swedish translators]]
[[Category:19th-century Swedish poets]]
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[[Category:German–Swedish translators]]
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