This is one of Bjørnson’s most popular “peasant tales”, showing how honesty and hard work could overcome the social and economic barriers between the gardman and the houseman (see A Dangerous Wooing, also written in 1860). Like Synnøve Solbakken (1857), it has an unambiguously happy ending.
Young Oyvind Thoresen of Pladsen, growing up in a poor family,
has his own lamb. Four-year old Marit Knudsdatter, grand-daughter
of Ola Nordistuen of the Heidegards, tricks him out of the lamb by
tempting Oyvind with a “twisted bun” (8). Tempted by such a
delicacy, he loses the lamb, then feels devastated. Soon after,
however, Marit tearfully returns the lamb to him, forced so to do
by her grandfather, but Oyvind …
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682 words
Citation: Rees, Kathy. "En Glad Gut". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 05 September 2016 [https://staging.litencyc.com/php/sworks.php?rec=true&UID=35805, accessed 23 November 2024.]
