Carit Etlar
Encyclopedia
Carit Etlar, the better-known pen name
of Carl Brosbøll (August 7, 1816 - May 9, 1900), was a Danish
author
, known mostly for his 1853 book Gjøngehøvdingen about the eponymous Svend Poulsen Gønge.
. In his childhood, Brosbøll developed an interest in tales of taters and other outcasts. His father was a businessman, and Carl spent much time travelling through Jutland
for his father. He was a talented drawer
and started studying at the Royal Danish Academy of Fine Arts. He eventually abandoned his drawing studies, and finished a university degree in 1844. Brosbøll joined the Danish army for the 1848 First Schleswig War, and was employed at the Royal Danish Library in 1853. Owing to ill health, he gave up his library work in 1885, and went travelling, especially on Corsica
. He was married in 1851 to Hansine Erasmine Thorbjørnsen, whom he later divorced to marry Olga Augusta Schultz in 1888.
Carit Etlar. He would use the name Carit Etlar for the rest of his professional career. He wrote as an anonymous playwright
for the Royal Danish Theatre
in 1844. In 1853, he published Gjøngehøvdingen (The Partisan Chieftain), a fictionalized account of historical figure Svend Poulsen Gønge's exploits during the 17th century, centering on the 1658–1660 Dano-Swedish War
. Gjøngehøvdingen was hugely popular, and was followed up by the 1855 sequel Dronningens Vagtmester (The Queen's Bodyguard). Etlar published more than 75 short stories, books, and plays through his career, and was active until his death.
Etlar's literary style was unique in Denmark, as it was highly varied and inventive. It relied on entertaining and fast-paced adventure, with effective focus on action with the main character beating improbable odds. His descriptions of Jutland, which he knew extensively from his youth, was likened to that of Steen Steensen Blicher
. He had a fundamental fascination with everyday common life, writing with strong nationalistic overtones, and in his time, Etlar's popular appeal was second only to B. S. Ingemann. However, his writing was also criticized for being trivial, and for relying on variations of the same character archetype
s, with his main characters most often modelled on D'Artagnan
.
Pen name
A pen name, nom de plume, or literary double, is a pseudonym adopted by an author. A pen name may be used to make the author's name more distinctive, to disguise his or her gender, to distance an author from some or all of his or her works, to protect the author from retribution for his or her...
of Carl Brosbøll (August 7, 1816 - May 9, 1900), was a Danish
Denmark
Denmark is a Scandinavian country in Northern Europe. The countries of Denmark and Greenland, as well as the Faroe Islands, constitute the Kingdom of Denmark . It is the southernmost of the Nordic countries, southwest of Sweden and south of Norway, and bordered to the south by Germany. Denmark...
author
Author
An author is broadly defined as "the person who originates or gives existence to anything" and that authorship determines responsibility for what is created. Narrowly defined, an author is the originator of any written work.-Legal significance:...
, known mostly for his 1853 book Gjøngehøvdingen about the eponymous Svend Poulsen Gønge.
Biography
Born Johan Carl Christian Brosbøll on August 7, 1816 in FredericiaFredericia
Fredericia is a town located in Fredericia municipality in the eastern part of the Jutland peninsula in Denmark, in a sub-region known locally as Trekanten, or The Triangle...
. In his childhood, Brosbøll developed an interest in tales of taters and other outcasts. His father was a businessman, and Carl spent much time travelling through Jutland
Jutland
Jutland , historically also called Cimbria, is the name of the peninsula that juts out in Northern Europe toward the rest of Scandinavia, forming the mainland part of Denmark. It has the North Sea to its west, Kattegat and Skagerrak to its north, the Baltic Sea to its east, and the Danish–German...
for his father. He was a talented drawer
Drawing
Drawing is a form of visual art that makes use of any number of drawing instruments to mark a two-dimensional medium. Common instruments include graphite pencils, pen and ink, inked brushes, wax color pencils, crayons, charcoal, chalk, pastels, markers, styluses, and various metals .An artist who...
and started studying at the Royal Danish Academy of Fine Arts. He eventually abandoned his drawing studies, and finished a university degree in 1844. Brosbøll joined the Danish army for the 1848 First Schleswig War, and was employed at the Royal Danish Library in 1853. Owing to ill health, he gave up his library work in 1885, and went travelling, especially on Corsica
Corsica
Corsica is an island in the Mediterranean Sea. It is located west of Italy, southeast of the French mainland, and north of the island of Sardinia....
. He was married in 1851 to Hansine Erasmine Thorbjørnsen, whom he later divorced to marry Olga Augusta Schultz in 1888.
Authorship
Brosbøll had poems and articles published in various magazines, before making his breakthrough with the 1839 novel Smuglerens Søn (the Smuggler's Son) under the pen namePen name
A pen name, nom de plume, or literary double, is a pseudonym adopted by an author. A pen name may be used to make the author's name more distinctive, to disguise his or her gender, to distance an author from some or all of his or her works, to protect the author from retribution for his or her...
Carit Etlar. He would use the name Carit Etlar for the rest of his professional career. He wrote as an anonymous playwright
Playwright
A playwright, also called a dramatist, is a person who writes plays.The term is not a variant spelling of "playwrite", but something quite distinct: the word wright is an archaic English term for a craftsman or builder...
for the Royal Danish Theatre
Royal Danish Theatre
The Royal Danish Theatre is both the national Danish performing arts institution and a name used to refer to its old purpose-built venue from 1874 located on Kongens Nytorv in Copenhagen. The theatre was founded in 1748, first serving as the theatre of the king, and then as the theatre of the...
in 1844. In 1853, he published Gjøngehøvdingen (The Partisan Chieftain), a fictionalized account of historical figure Svend Poulsen Gønge's exploits during the 17th century, centering on the 1658–1660 Dano-Swedish War
Dano-Swedish War (1658–1660)
The Dano-Swedish War of 1658–60 was a war between Denmark–Norway and Sweden. It was a continuation of an earlier conflict between the two belligerents which had ended just months earlier, after Sweden and Denmark brokered a peace agreement in Roskilde in 1658...
. Gjøngehøvdingen was hugely popular, and was followed up by the 1855 sequel Dronningens Vagtmester (The Queen's Bodyguard). Etlar published more than 75 short stories, books, and plays through his career, and was active until his death.
Etlar's literary style was unique in Denmark, as it was highly varied and inventive. It relied on entertaining and fast-paced adventure, with effective focus on action with the main character beating improbable odds. His descriptions of Jutland, which he knew extensively from his youth, was likened to that of Steen Steensen Blicher
Steen Steensen Blicher
Steen Steensen Blicher was an author and poet born in Vium near Viborg, Denmark.- Biography :Blicher was the son of a literarily inclined Jutlandic parson whose family was distantly related to Martin Luther....
. He had a fundamental fascination with everyday common life, writing with strong nationalistic overtones, and in his time, Etlar's popular appeal was second only to B. S. Ingemann. However, his writing was also criticized for being trivial, and for relying on variations of the same character archetype
Archetype
An archetype is a universally understood symbol or term or pattern of behavior, a prototype upon which others are copied, patterned, or emulated...
s, with his main characters most often modelled on D'Artagnan
D'Artagnan
Charles Ogier de Batz de Castelmore, Comte d'Artagnan served Louis XIV as captain of the Musketeers of the Guard and died at the Siege of Maastricht in the Franco-Dutch War. A fictionalized account of his life by Gatien de Courtilz de Sandras formed the basis for the d'Artagnan Romances of...
.
Selected bibliography
-
- Smuglerens Søn - (1839)
- Madsalune - (1841)
- Strandrøveren - (1853)
- Gjøngehøvdingen - (1853)
- Dronningens Vagtmester - (1855)
- Vaabenmesteren - (1855)
- Herremænd - short novel (1855)
- I Dynekilen - drama (1862)
- Herverts Krønike - (1863)
- Krigsbilleder - short novel (1865)
- Broget Selskab - (1868)
- Tranens Varsel - (1869)
- Viben Peter - (1874)
- Tordenskjold i Dynekilen - drama (1872)
- Fangen paa Kalø - (about Gustav Vasa) (1877)
- Salomon Baadsmand - (1881)
- Minder, fortalt af ham selv - (autobiography) (1896)
Adaptations
- Gøngehøvdingen, 1961 film
- Dronningens vagtmesterDronningens vagtmesterDronningens vagtmester is a 1963 Danish drama film directed by Johan Jacobsen and starring Poul Reichhardt. It followed the 1961 film Gøngehøvdingen.-Cast:* Poul Reichhardt - Ib* Jens Østerholm - Svend Gønge* Birgitte Federspiel - Kulsoen...
, 1963 film - Gøngehøvdingen, 1990 musicalMusical theatreMusical theatre is a form of theatre combining songs, spoken dialogue, acting, and dance. The emotional content of the piece – humor, pathos, love, anger – as well as the story itself, is communicated through the words, music, movement and technical aspects of the entertainment as an...
- Gøngehøvdingen, 1992 TV series