Transcriber's Note:
1. Page scan source:
http://www.archive.org/details/kingericandoutl02chapgoog
The Publishers of this work give notice that it is Copyright, and thatin case of infringement they will avail themselves of the Protectionnow granted by Parliament to English Literature.
Any person having in his possession for sale or for hire a Foreignedition of an English Copyright is liable to a penalty, which thePublishers of this work intend to enforce.
It is necessary also to inform the Public generally, that single Copiesof such works imported by travellers for their own reading are nowprohibited, and the Custom-house officers in all our ports have strictorders to this effect.
The above regulations are equally in force in our Dependencies andColonial Possessions.
London, June, 1843.
The historical records and traditions of Denmark, as well as the modernproductions of Danish genius, are almost equally unknown to the generalreader is England. While German, Swedish, and Italian works of anyrecognised merit, readily find translators, and the ancient ballads ofSpain have received their English dress from an able and poetic pen, itappears somewhat singular that so little notice has hitherto beenbestowed on the literature of a country, whose rich historicalrecollections are so closely interwoven with those of Anglo-SaxonEngland.
Though but little known in other lands, the ancient traditional lore ofScandinavia is nevertheless the source from which some of the mostdistinguished Danish writers of the present day, have selected theirhappiest themes, and drawn their brightest inspiration. The influenceof the Saga, or traditional romance of Scandinavia, and of the"Kjœmpe Visé," or heroic ballad, is peculiarly apparent in the worksof M. Ingemann.
The close adherence to historic outline--the development of characterby action and dialogue--the delineation of scenery by brief thoughvivid sketches, in preference to elaborate description, arecharacteris