Geschichten zur Weihnachtszeit

by Selma Lagerlöf

Selma Lagerlöf lässt urtümliche Legenden wieder lebendig
werden. Ein Leckerbissen für alle großen und kleinen Freunde der
Nobelpreisträgerin: Vom Luciatag, der in Skandinavien die Weihnachtszeit mit dem Erscheinen der Lichtkönigin einleitet, bis hin zum Dreikönigsfest führen Selma Lagerlöfs wundersame Erzählungen durch die winterlichen Wochen bis hin zum Christfest. Sich ihrem Zauber hinzugeben, ist wie eine Rückkehr in die Kindertage.

“Selma Lagerlöf - Dichterin aus Vergnügen. (..) Die Schauplätze der Wirklichkeit bevölkerte sie mit Figuren ihrer Einbildungskraft, von denen manche sie schon seit der Kindheit begleiteten. Sie verflossen mit dem Raum, die personifizierten Welten. Auch die Phantasie ihrer Leser hat sie an diese Räume gebunden; darin liegt vielleicht Selma Lagerlöfs Bedeutung für die Weltliteratur.” ( Die Zeit)

207 pages, Hardcover

Published January 1, 1976

About the author

Selma Ottilia Lovisa Lagerlöf (1858-1940) was a Swedish author. In 1909 she became the first woman to ever receive the Nobel Prize in Literature, "in appreciation of the lofty idealism, vivid imagination and spiritual perception that characterize her writings". She later also became the first female member of the Swedish Academy.

Born in the forested countryside of Sweden she was told many of the classic Swedish fairytales, which she would later use as inspiration in her magic realist writings. Since she for some of her early years had problems with her legs (she was born with a faulty hip) she would also spend a lot of time reading books such as the Bible.

As a young woman she was a teacher in the southern parts of Sweden for ten years before her first novel Gösta Berling's Saga was published. As her writer career progressed she would keep up a correspondance with some of her former female collegues for almost her entire life.

Lagerlöf never married and was almost certainly a lesbian (she never officially stated that she was, but most later researchers believe this to be the case). For many years her constant companion was fellow writer Sophie Elkan, with whom she traveled to Italy and the Middle East. Her visit to Palestine and a colony of Christians there, would inspire her to write Jerusalem, her story of Swedish farmers converting into a evangelical Christian group and travelling to "The American Colony" in Jerusalem.

Lagerlöf was involved in both women issues as well as politics. She would among other things help the Jewish writer Nelly Sachs to come to Sweden and donated her Nobel medal to the Finnish war effort against the Soviet union.

Outside of Sweden she's perhaps most widely known for her children's book Nils Holgerssons underbara resa genom Sverige (The Wonderful Adventures of Nils).

Reviews

[Sue]

Geschichten zur Weihnachtszeit by Selma Lagerlöf is a bittersweet reminiscence of a bygone era, capturing the hardships and simple joys of rural life. Lagerlöf's tales pull you into the lives of the poor and often forgotten people she writes about, evoking a deep sense of empathy for their struggles.

One of the stories' detail struck me, particularly because it resonated with some of my own experiences. I recalled the chilly mornings, rising before dawn to walk through deep snow to reach the church by 9 or 10 a.m., although the exact time escapes me now. The church was 7 kilometers away, and with no transport available, we had to make the long trek on foot. Sometimes, we could shorten the journey by leaving the road and crossing the fields, a memory that added a personal touch to my reading experience.

Lagerlöf's writing beautifully captures the harsh realities of the past, yet it also reminds us of the enduring strength and resilience of those who lived through it.

[mos]

„Und siehe, wie er nun an der Stelle vorbeikam, wo er die kahlen Wurzelknollen eingepflanzt hatte, da sah er, daß üppige grüne Stengel daraus emporgesproßt waren, die schöne Blumen mit silberweißen Blüten trugen.“ (Zitat Seite 104)

Inhalt und Thema
Die bekannte Autorin und Nobelpreisträgerin öffnet dem Leser mit diesen zwölf Geschichten eine Welt der alten nordischen Sagen und Legenden rund um Weihnachten.
Es geht um das Bewahren der Traditionen ihrer Heimat für spätere Generationen, um Geborgenheit, Glaube, Mitgefühl, Religion, aber auch um Schuld und Sühne.
Schon in der ersten Geschichte, „Der Weihnachtsgast“, treffen wir Figuren aus ihrem Roman Gösta Berling wieder, eine andere Geschichte erklärt den Luciatag und die sehr poetische Geschichte „Die Legende von der Christrose“ handelt von einem besonderen Garten, der nur in der Weihnachtsnacht mitten im Wald zu sehen ist. Alle Geschichten haben einen christlich-religiösen Bezug.

Fazit
Eine Sammlung von besinnlichen Geschichten, die Ende des 19. und Anfang des 20. Jahrhunderts entstanden sind und die sprachlich und inhaltlich diese Zeit für den Leser fühlbar und erlebbar machen.