Rydberg, Abraham Viktor

Rydberg, Abraham Viktor (ä`brähäm vĭk`tôr rüd`bĕryə), 1828–95, Swedish philosopher and writer. Singoalla (1857), a romantic and mystical story of medieval times, was his first major work. His polemical novel The Last Athenian (1859, tr. 1869) contrasted Hellenic tolerance and humanism with Christian dogmatism and bigotry. In The Teaching of the Bible about Christ (1862), he opposed fundamentalist Christian views. Rydberg's verse is distinguished for its majestic lyricism and for its sense of the mystery of human existence.

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Rydberg, Abraham Viktor 

Born Dec. 18, 1828, in Jönköping; died Sept. 21, 1895, in Djursholm, near Stockholm. Swedish writer.

Rydberg expressed democratic sympathies in such works as his serial adventure novel The Vampire (1848). His romanticism was most fully expressed in the novella Singoalla (1857; Russian translation, 1901), about the love of a knight and a Gypsy girl. In the historical novels The Pirate of the Baltic (1857), The Last Athenian (1859; Russian translation, 1901), and The Armorer (1891), Rydberg combined romantic plots with sharp criticism of the fanaticism and intolerance of the church. In his lyric verses Rydberg continued the romantic tradition but also turned to contemporary themes. He was also a translator and wrote works on cultural history and the history of philosophy. In the period 1886–89 he published Studies in the Field of Germanic Mythology.

WORKS

Kulturhistoriska föreläsningar, vols. 1–6. Stockholm, 1903–06.
Skrifter, vols. 1–12. Stockholm, 1945–46.

REFERENCES

Warburg, K. Viktor Rydberg: En Levnadsteckning, vols. 1–2. Stockholm, 1900.
Büssow, H. V. Rydbergs historische Romane. Braunschweig, 1929.
Lindberger, Ö. Prometeustanken hos Viktor Rydberg, vols. 1–2. Stockholm, 1938.
Granlid, H. Nyagrepp i Rydbergs lyrik. Stockholm, 1973.

A. A. MATSEVICH