Henrik Jæger was a Norwegian literary historian, literary critic and playwright.

He was born in Bergen

Bergen

Bergen is the second largest city in Norway with a population of as of , . Bergen is the administrative centre of Hordaland county. Greater Bergen or Bergen Metropolitan Area as defined by Statistics Norway, has a population of as of , ....

 as a son of sailmaker Herman Jæger (1824–1871) and Birgitte Pedersen. He was a nephew of Tycho Jæger

Tycho Jæger

Tycho Christoffer Jæger was a Norwegian painter.He was born in Bergen as a son of the first cousins, shoemaker Tycho Christoffer Jæger and Øllegaard Jæger. He was an uncle of Henrik Jæger. From September 1870 he was married to Bergithe Steendahl .He painted between 1841 and 1889, almost...

. In June 1881 he married Marie Louise Holstad (1853–1931), and their daughter Dagmar Helene Jæger (1889–1979) married Olaf Gjerløw

Olaf Gjerløw

Jens Olaf Gjerløw was a Norwegian newspaper editor. He was editor for the newspaper Morgenbladet from 1920 until his death in 1949, except for a period in German prisons during World War II.-Personal life:...

.

He is known for his early monographies on Henrik Ibsen

Henrik Ibsen

Henrik Ibsen was a major 19th-century Norwegian playwright, theatre director, and poet. He is often referred to as "the father of prose drama" and is one of the founders of Modernism in the theatre...

, and for writing the first large Norwegian literary history, Illustreret norsk Literaturhistorie (1896). Among his plays are Løse Fugle and Arvegods.

Selected works

• Illustreret norsk Literaturhistorie (1896; 3 volumes; finished by Otto Anderssen after Jæger's death)