The Hatchet (novel)
Encyclopedia
The Hatchet
The Hatchet (orig. Romanian
: Baltagul) is a 1930 crime novel novel written by Mihail Sadoveanu
. The main character of the novel is the wife of a shepard living in the Moldavian village of Măgura Tarcăului, Vitoria Lipan, which has a premonitation that her husband, Nechifor, on a trip to buy a new flock in the town of Dorna, has died. Her premonitions are dismissed by the village's priest and by the prefect of the county, but for Vitoria the archaic symbols and superstitions of the paysant world are more trustworthy then the books of the priests or the science of the government's officials. She calls home her son Gheorghiţă, who was also on business in Jijia, a willage in Wallachia, where he waited for news from his father to pay some debts, and together they embark on a mythical journey at the end of which they find Nechifor's dead body and take their revange on the bandits who killed him. The determined and energetic Victoria Lipan is a unique female character in the Romanian traditionalist novel. The Hatchet is considered Sadoveanu's greatest work and a creative adaptation of many themes from a famous Romanian piece of folklore, the ballad Mioriţa.
The Hatchet (orig. Romanian
Romanian language
Romanian Romanian Romanian (or Daco-Romanian; obsolete spellings Rumanian, Roumanian; self-designation: română, limba română ("the Romanian language") or românește (lit. "in Romanian") is a Romance language spoken by around 24 to 28 million people, primarily in Romania and Moldova...
: Baltagul) is a 1930 crime novel novel written by Mihail Sadoveanu
Mihail Sadoveanu
Mihail Sadoveanu was a Romanian novelist, short story writer, journalist and political figure, who twice served as acting republican head of state under the communist regime . One of the most prolific Romanian-language writers, he is remembered mostly for his historical and adventure novels, as...
. The main character of the novel is the wife of a shepard living in the Moldavian village of Măgura Tarcăului, Vitoria Lipan, which has a premonitation that her husband, Nechifor, on a trip to buy a new flock in the town of Dorna, has died. Her premonitions are dismissed by the village's priest and by the prefect of the county, but for Vitoria the archaic symbols and superstitions of the paysant world are more trustworthy then the books of the priests or the science of the government's officials. She calls home her son Gheorghiţă, who was also on business in Jijia, a willage in Wallachia, where he waited for news from his father to pay some debts, and together they embark on a mythical journey at the end of which they find Nechifor's dead body and take their revange on the bandits who killed him. The determined and energetic Victoria Lipan is a unique female character in the Romanian traditionalist novel. The Hatchet is considered Sadoveanu's greatest work and a creative adaptation of many themes from a famous Romanian piece of folklore, the ballad Mioriţa.