The Fall of the King is a novel by Danish author Johannes V. Jensen, published in three parts from 1900 to 1901. It tells the story of Mikkel Thøgersen and the social entanglements which bring him into the service of king Christian II of Denmark

Christian II of Denmark

Christian II was King of Denmark, Norway and Sweden , during the Kalmar Union.-Background:...

.

The Death of Spring (Foraarets Død)

Begins at around 1497 and ends with the defeat of the Danish army at Dithmarschen

Dithmarschen

Dithmarschen is a district in Schleswig-Holstein, Germany. It is bounded by the districts of Nordfriesland, Schleswig-Flensburg, Rendsburg-Eckernförde, and Steinburg, by the state of Lower Saxony , and by the North Sea.-Geography:The district is located on the North Sea...

 in 1500.

The Great Summer (Den store Sommer)

Takes place twenty years later, from the Stockholm Bloodbath

Stockholm Bloodbath

The Stockholm Bloodbath, or the Stockholm Massacre , took place as the result of a successful invasion of Sweden by Danish forces under the command of King Christian II...

 in 1520 to the fall of the king in 1523.

The Winter (Vinteren)

The third and last part opens twelve years after, at the time of the Count's Feud

Count's Feud

The Count's Feud , also called the Count's War, was a civil war that raged in Denmark in 1534–36 and brought about the Reformation in Denmark...

 in 1536, and ends at Mikkel's death.

Critical acclaim

The Fall of the King was named best Danish novel of the 20th century by the newspapers Politiken

Politiken

Politiken is a Danish daily broadsheet newspaper, published by JP/Politikens Hus.The newspaper comes third among Danish newspapers in terms of both number of readers and circulated copies ....

 and Berlingske Tidende

Berlingske Tidende

Berlingske, previously known as Berlingske Tidende , is a Danish national daily newspaper based in Copenhagen...

, independently of each other, in 1999 http://www.litteraturpriser.dk/polaarh.htm and was in 2006 included in the controversial Culture Canon published by the Ministry for Culture

Culture Minister of Denmark

Culture Minister of Denmark is the Danish political minister office responsible for culture, head of the Ministry of Culture of Denmark.The political responsibility for culture, as well as church and education, was with the Kultus Minister from 1848 to 1916 when that post was split up into the...

. On this list of significant Danish works of art, The Fall of the King was ranked alongside works by Hans Christian Andersen

Hans Christian Andersen

Hans Christian Andersen was a Danish author, fairy tale writer, and poet noted for his children's stories. These include "The Steadfast Tin Soldier," "The Snow Queen," "The Little Mermaid," "Thumbelina," "The Little Match Girl," and "The Ugly Duckling."...

, Søren Kierkegaard

Søren Kierkegaard

Søren Aabye Kierkegaard was a Danish Christian philosopher, theologian and religious author. He was a critic of idealist intellectuals and philosophers of his time, such as Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel, Friedrich Wilhelm Joseph Schelling and Karl Wilhelm Friedrich Schlegel...

, Karen Blixen

Karen Blixen

Baroness Karen von Blixen-Finecke , , née Karen Christenze Dinesen, was a Danish author also known by her pen name Isak Dinesen. She also wrote under the pen names Osceola and Pierre Andrézel...

and others. http://www.kulturministeriet.dk/sw34224.asp

External links

• The Culture Canon, http://www.kulturministeriet.dk/sw37439.asp
• http://www.e-poke.dk/jensen_kongens.asp (in Danish)