Bjørnstjerne Martinus Bjørnson, Halte-Hulda [Lame Hulda]

Kathy Rees (Independent Scholar - Europe)

The Literary Encyclopedia. Volume 1.3.5: Norwegian Writing and Culture.
Vol. editors: Sven Hakon Rossel (Universitat Wien), Herbert Rowland (Purdue University), Jakob Stougaard-Nielsen (University College London), Anja Tröger (University of Edinburgh)

Dates

First circulation or publication 1858

Places

Norway (Country of Origin)

Genres and Modes

Play

Resources

Act One

The play opens with a trio of women mourning the loss of their kinsman, Gudleik, son of Aslak, recently murdered by one Eyolf Finsson. The main female speaker is the vengeful Hallgerde, who expresses her dislike of Gudleik’s widow, known as Halte-Hulda. (The use of the epithet is in keeping with the Old Norse custom of dubbing a person by a nickname peculiar to certain characteristics of the individual. Halte-Hulda is Bjornson’s invention – there is no instance of a lame woman in the sagas). Hallgerde is angry that Hulde seems quite happy that Gudleik is dead. It is believed that Hulde has been a curse long infecting the men in Gudleik’s family. Stories are related about her, how a…

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1932 words

Citation: Rees, Kathy. "Halte-Hulda". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 07 April 2017 [https://staging.litencyc.com/php/sworks.php?rec=true&UID=35892, accessed 25 November 2024.]

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