Olav H. Hauge
Encyclopedia
Olav Håkonson Hauge was a Norwegian poet
. He was born in Ulvik
and lived his whole life there, working as a gardener in his own orchard
.
Aside from writing his own poems, he was internationally oriented, and translated poems by Alfred Tennyson, William Butler Yeats
, Robert Browning
, Stéphane Mallarmé
, Arthur Rimbaud
, Stephen Crane
, Friedrich Hölderlin
, Georg Trakl
, Paul Celan
, Bertolt Brecht
and Robert Bly
to Norwegian.
He was also inspired by classical Chinese poetry
, e.g. in his poem "T`ao Ch`ien" in the collection Spør vinden (Ask the wind).
Hauge's first poems were published in 1946, all in a traditional form. He later wrote modernist poetry
and in particular concrete poetry
that inspired other, younger Norwegian poets, such as Jan Erik Vold
. A well-known example, in the Norwegian original:
In English translation:
Hauge has been translated to English by the Scottish
poet Robin Fulton
in Olav Hauge: Selected Poems, from 1990, and by the American
poet Robert Bly
in Trusting Your Life to Water and Eternity: Twenty Poems of Olav H. Hauge, from 1987. The American author
Robert Hedin
translated Hauge in 2001 in the collection The Bullfinch Rising from the Cherry Tree: Poems of Olav H. Hauge and in Leaf-huts and Snow-houses in 2004. Robert Bly
and Robert Hedin together translated Hauge in 2008 in The Dream We Carry: Selected and Last Poems of Olav H. Hauge (Copper Canyon Press
). Words from Glor i oska were used as lyrics for the Solefald
song "Song til stormen" off of their 2010 album, Norrøn Livskunst
.
Poet
A poet is a person who writes poetry. A poet's work can be literal, meaning that his work is derived from a specific event, or metaphorical, meaning that his work can take on many meanings and forms. Poets have existed since antiquity, in nearly all languages, and have produced works that vary...
. He was born in Ulvik
Ulvik
Ulvik is a municipality in Hordaland county, Norway. The municipality stretches from the Hardangerfjord to 1,800 metres above sea level, and borders the municipalities of Granvin, Eidfjord, Ullensvang, Voss, Aurland, and Hol. It takes around two hours to drive from Bergen to Ulvik. The nearest...
and lived his whole life there, working as a gardener in his own orchard
Orchard
An orchard is an intentional planting of trees or shrubs that is maintained for food production. Orchards comprise fruit or nut-producing trees which are grown for commercial production. Orchards are also sometimes a feature of large gardens, where they serve an aesthetic as well as a productive...
.
Aside from writing his own poems, he was internationally oriented, and translated poems by Alfred Tennyson, William Butler Yeats
William Butler Yeats
William Butler Yeats was an Irish poet and playwright, and one of the foremost figures of 20th century literature. A pillar of both the Irish and British literary establishments, in his later years he served as an Irish Senator for two terms...
, Robert Browning
Robert Browning
Robert Browning was an English poet and playwright whose mastery of dramatic verse, especially dramatic monologues, made him one of the foremost Victorian poets.-Early years:...
, Stéphane Mallarmé
Stéphane Mallarmé
Stéphane Mallarmé , whose real name was Étienne Mallarmé, was a French poet and critic. He was a major French symbolist poet, and his work anticipated and inspired several revolutionary artistic schools of the early 20th century, such as Dadaism, Surrealism, and Futurism.-Biography:Stéphane...
, Arthur Rimbaud
Arthur Rimbaud
Jean Nicolas Arthur Rimbaud was a French poet. Born in Charleville, Ardennes, he produced his best known works while still in his late teens—Victor Hugo described him at the time as "an infant Shakespeare"—and he gave up creative writing altogether before the age of 21. As part of the decadent...
, Stephen Crane
Stephen Crane
Stephen Crane was an American novelist, short story writer, poet and journalist. Prolific throughout his short life, he wrote notable works in the Realist tradition as well as early examples of American Naturalism and Impressionism...
, Friedrich Hölderlin
Friedrich Hölderlin
Johann Christian Friedrich Hölderlin was a major German lyric poet, commonly associated with the artistic movement known as Romanticism. Hölderlin was also an important thinker in the development of German Idealism, particularly his early association with and philosophical influence on his...
, Georg Trakl
Georg Trakl
Georg Trakl was an Austrian poet. He is considered one of the most important Austrian Expressionists.- Life and work :Trakl was born and lived the first 18 years of his life in Salzburg, Austria...
, Paul Celan
Paul Celan
Paul Celan was a poet and translator...
, Bertolt Brecht
Bertolt Brecht
Bertolt Brecht was a German poet, playwright, and theatre director.An influential theatre practitioner of the 20th century, Brecht made equally significant contributions to dramaturgy and theatrical production, the latter particularly through the seismic impact of the tours undertaken by the...
and Robert Bly
Robert Bly
Robert Bly is an American poet, author, activist and leader of the Mythopoetic Men's Movement.-Life:Bly was born in Lac qui Parle County, Minnesota, to Jacob and Alice Bly, who were of Norwegian ancestry. Following graduation from high school in 1944, he enlisted in the United States Navy, serving...
to Norwegian.
He was also inspired by classical Chinese poetry
Chinese poetry
Chinese poetry is poetry written, spoken, or chanted in the Chinese language, which includes various versions of Chinese language, including Classical Chinese, Standard Chinese, Mandarin Chinese, Cantonese, Yue Chinese, as well as many other historical and vernacular varieties of the Chinese language...
, e.g. in his poem "T`ao Ch`ien" in the collection Spør vinden (Ask the wind).
Hauge's first poems were published in 1946, all in a traditional form. He later wrote modernist poetry
Modernist poetry
Modernist poetry refers to poetry written between 1890 and 1950 in the tradition of modernist literature in the English language, but the dates of the term depend upon a number of factors, including the nation of origin, the particular school in question, and the biases of the critic setting the...
and in particular concrete poetry
Concrete poetry
Concrete poetry or shape poetry is poetry in which the typographical arrangement of words is as important in conveying the intended effect as the conventional elements of the poem, such as meaning of words, rhythm, rhyme and so on....
that inspired other, younger Norwegian poets, such as Jan Erik Vold
Jan Erik Vold
Jan Erik Vold is a Norwegian lyric poet, translator and author. He was a core member of the so-called "Profil generation", the circle attached to the literary magazine Profil. Throughout his career as an artist, he has had the ability to reach the public, both with his poetry and his political views...
. A well-known example, in the Norwegian original:
- Katten
- sit i tunet
- når du kjem.
- Snakk litt med katten.
- Det er han som er varast i garden.
In English translation:
- The cat is sitting
- out front
- when you come.
- Talk a bit with the cat.
- He is the most sensitive one here.
Hauge has been translated to English by the Scottish
Scottish people
The Scottish people , or Scots, are a nation and ethnic group native to Scotland. Historically they emerged from an amalgamation of the Picts and Gaels, incorporating neighbouring Britons to the south as well as invading Germanic peoples such as the Anglo-Saxons and the Norse.In modern use,...
poet Robin Fulton
Robin Fulton
Robin Fulton , is a Scottish poet and translator. He has lived in Stavanger, Norway, since 1973 working as a university lecturer- Fulton holds a PhD from Edinburgh University....
in Olav Hauge: Selected Poems, from 1990, and by the American
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
poet Robert Bly
Robert Bly
Robert Bly is an American poet, author, activist and leader of the Mythopoetic Men's Movement.-Life:Bly was born in Lac qui Parle County, Minnesota, to Jacob and Alice Bly, who were of Norwegian ancestry. Following graduation from high school in 1944, he enlisted in the United States Navy, serving...
in Trusting Your Life to Water and Eternity: Twenty Poems of Olav H. Hauge, from 1987. The American author
Author
An author is broadly defined as "the person who originates or gives existence to anything" and that authorship determines responsibility for what is created. Narrowly defined, an author is the originator of any written work.-Legal significance:...
Robert Hedin
Robert Hedin
Gunnar Robert Hedin is a Swedish handball player who competed in the 1992 Summer Olympics and in the 1996 Summer Olympics.He was born in Ystad....
translated Hauge in 2001 in the collection The Bullfinch Rising from the Cherry Tree: Poems of Olav H. Hauge and in Leaf-huts and Snow-houses in 2004. Robert Bly
Robert Bly
Robert Bly is an American poet, author, activist and leader of the Mythopoetic Men's Movement.-Life:Bly was born in Lac qui Parle County, Minnesota, to Jacob and Alice Bly, who were of Norwegian ancestry. Following graduation from high school in 1944, he enlisted in the United States Navy, serving...
and Robert Hedin together translated Hauge in 2008 in The Dream We Carry: Selected and Last Poems of Olav H. Hauge (Copper Canyon Press
Copper Canyon Press
Copper Canyon Press is an independent, non-profit small press, specializing in the publication of poetry and located in the picturesque town of Port Townsend, Washington. Since 1972, the Press has published poetry exclusively and has established an international reputation for its commitment to...
). Words from Glor i oska were used as lyrics for the Solefald
Solefald
Solefald is a Norwegian avant-garde metal/black metal band that was formed by members Lars Are "Lazare" Nedland and Cornelius Jakhelln in August 1995, with Lars singing and playing keyboard/synthesizer/piano and drums, and Cornelius singing and playing guitar and bass. The meaning of the band's...
song "Song til stormen" off of their 2010 album, Norrøn Livskunst
Norrøn Livskunst
- Concept :The press release for described the album as such:With "Norrøn livskunst", SOLEFALD looks to the early 1900-century Norway, when a young nation zealously engaged in exploring its cultural roots. Writers, painters and composers rediscovered Norse mythology, the Edda and the sagas. Houses...
.
List of works
- Glør i oska (Noregs boklag, 1946)
- Under bergfallet (Noregs boklag, 1951), Beneath the Crag
- Seint rodnar skog i djuvet (Noregs boklag, 1956), Slowly the Trees Turn Red in the Gorge
- På ørnetuva (Noregs boklag, 1961), On the Eagle's Tussock
- Dikt i utval: Dogg og dagar editor Ragnvald SkredeRagnvald SkredeRagnvald Skrede was a Norwegian author, journalist, literature critic and translator.-Biography:Ragnvald Skrede was born in Vågå in Oppland county, Norway. Skrede was the youngest seven children. He was a student at Elverum teacher school . In 1928, he was hired as a teacher and sexton in...
. (Noregs boklag, 1965) - Dropar i austavind (Noregs boklag, 1966), Drops in the East Wind
- Spør vinden (Noregs boklag, 1971), Ask the Wind
- Dikt i samling (Noregs boklag, 1972)
- Syn oss åkeren din in selection by Jan Erik VoldJan Erik VoldJan Erik Vold is a Norwegian lyric poet, translator and author. He was a core member of the so-called "Profil generation", the circle attached to the literary magazine Profil. Throughout his career as an artist, he has had the ability to reach the public, both with his poetry and his political views...
. Bokklubben, 1975. (Collected from Dikt i samling) - Janglestrå (Samlaget, 1980), Gleanings
- Regnbogane (1983) (Children's book, illustrations by Wenche Øyen)
- ABC, 1986 (Children's book)
- Mange års røynsle med pil og boge (recording). (Samlaget, 1988)
- Brev 1970-1975 (Cappelen, 1996)
- Det er den draumen (Samlaget, 1998), It's the Dream
- Dagbok 1924-1994 (Samlaget, 2000)
- Skogen stend, men han skiftar sine tre. Aforismar i utval (Samlaget, 2001)
- The Dream We Carry: Selected and Last Poems of Olav H. Hauge, (Copper Canyon PressCopper Canyon PressCopper Canyon Press is an independent, non-profit small press, specializing in the publication of poetry and located in the picturesque town of Port Townsend, Washington. Since 1972, the Press has published poetry exclusively and has established an international reputation for its commitment to...
, 2008) (translated by Robert BlyRobert BlyRobert Bly is an American poet, author, activist and leader of the Mythopoetic Men's Movement.-Life:Bly was born in Lac qui Parle County, Minnesota, to Jacob and Alice Bly, who were of Norwegian ancestry. Following graduation from high school in 1944, he enlisted in the United States Navy, serving...
and Robert Hedin)
Translations
- Utanlandske dikt, 1967
- Stephen Crane: Svarte ryttarar, 1974
- Bertolt Brecht: Til ettertidi, 1978
- Hand grip hand i svevne, 1978
- Dikt i umsetjing, 1982
- Frå Rimbaud til Celan, 1991
Awards
- Kritikerprisen 1961, for På ørnetuva
- Sokneprest Alfred Andersson-Ryssts fond 1968
- Dobloug PrizeDobloug PrizeThe Dobloug Prize is a literature prize awarded for Swedish and Norwegian fiction. The prize is named after Norwegian businessman and philanthropist Birger Dobloug pursuant to his bequest. The prize sum is . The Dobloug Prize is awarded annually by the Swedish Academy.-Prize winners:...
1969 - Sunnmørsprisen 1971, for Spør vinden
- Melsom-prisen 1973
- Aschehougprisen 1978
- Nynorsk barnelitteraturpris 1983 for Regnbogane (jointly with Wenche Øyen)
External links
- NRK: Sound recordings with Olav H. Hauge
- Olav H. Hauge at NRK Forfatter
- Olav H. Hauge at Dagbladet ForfatterDagbladetDagbladet is Norway's second largest tabloid newspaper, and the third largest newspaper overall with a circulation of 105,255 copies in 2009, 18,128 papers less than in 2008. The editor in chief is Lars Helle....
- Olav H. Hauge at Aftenposten AlexAftenpostenAftenposten is Norway's largest newspaper. It retook this position in 2010, taking it from the tabloid Verdens Gang which had been the largest newspaper for several decades. It is based in Oslo. The morning edition, which is distributed across all of Norway, had a circulation of 250,179 in 2007...
- Olav H. Hauge at the Olav H. Hauge & Geirr Tveitt centennial celebration