Ingemann, Bernhard Severin

Ingemann, Bernhard Severin (1789–1862),
achieved popularity as a Danish Walter Scott, but in several stories he revealed a profound knowledge of the German Märchen, and it is obvious that E. T. A. Hoffmann was a notable inspiration to him. In some tales Ingemann lets harmony rule, but in others he uses the form of the tale to study a person who is at odds with himself. In ‘Sphinxen’ (‘The Sphinx’, 1816), a young man is caught between the ordinary world of everyday life and a fantastic world, and he cannot reconcile those two until he finally accepts life as a mystery.

Niels Ingwersen