- Hulda (poet)
Unnur Benediktsdóttir Bjarklind (1881 - 1946) who wrote as Hulda (the fairy or hidden one)Tierney 1999:678.] was an Icelandic poet. A proponent of
symbolism , she was the most prominent figure in a group of writers who revived and revitalized the "þulur " genre of oral litany.Having a librarian as a father Hulda received an extensive home education. She studied English, German and French as well as the Scandinavian languages, granting her access to the works of European writers. Among Icelandic poets she admired the rural poetry of
Eggert Ólafsson and the lyrical quality of Benedikt Gröndal's works.Stefán Einarsson 1957:279-80.] She began contributing poems to periodicals at the age of twenty and was quickly discovered byEinar Benediktsson andÞorsteinn Erlingsson , who hailed her as a star ofneo-romanticism . Her first volume of poetry, "Kvæði" (Poems; 1909) consists of lyrical nature poetry, contrasting the neo-romantic dream of freedom with the virtues of hard work [Neijmann 2007:345.] while some metaphors suggest the oppressed condition of women. [Tierney 1999:679.] Despite delicate health and the duties of a housewife, Hulda was a prolific writer, publishing seven volumes of poetry, the last appearing posthumously in 1951.Stefán Einarsson 1957:280.] One of her best known works is a patriotic poem written to celebrate the establishment of the Icelandic Republic in 1944.Hulda wrote more than ten volumes of prose; fairy tales, short stories and sketches as well as the two-volume novel, "Dalafólk" (People of the Valleys). She wrote the novel as a reaction to "Sjálfstætt fólk" (Independent People) by the socialist writer
Halldór Laxness . In contrast to Laxness' bleak view of rural life in Iceland, Hulda presents a somewhat idealized picture of the old manorlike farmsteads.Notes
References
* Neijmann, Daisy L. (2007). "A History of Icelandic Literature". University of Nebraska Press. ISBN 0803233469
* Stefán Einarsson (1957). "A History of Icelandic Literature". New York. Johns Hopkins Press.
* Tierney, Helen (1999). "Women's Studies Encyclopedia". Greenwood Press. ISBN 0313296200
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