Goldschmidt, Meïr Aron

Goldschmidt, Meïr Aron (1819–87)
grew up in a liberal Jewish community in Copenhagen. He may be best known for his novels, but some of his short stories rely heavily on folk beliefs. One such story is ‘Bjergtagen’ (‘Bewitched’, 1868), which stems from the belief that supernatural beings may ‘take you into the mountain’, to the world of ‘the others’. This particular story uses folk belief in a most romantic way, for it demonstrates that a young woman who cannot be satisfied with her mundane life must strive to transcend it and find her soulmate in that other world.

Niels Ingwersen