a Norwegian Lutheran minister visits the settlement, Beret’s chest becomes his altar and communion table.

The Postwar Boom

The roaring 1920s, donned the Jazz Age by many, painted a picture of prosperity that largely danced around the upper-middle class. Fortunes appeared as if by magic in the stock market and amidst the whirl of real estate speculation, yet the average American saw little change in their financial landscape as the shadows of war receded. In Giants in the Earth, Rolvaag vividly captures the genesis of farming communities across the southeastern Dakota prairies of the 1870s. Over fifty years, these farms thrived, only to have their flourishing abruptly halted by the First World War. The 1920s witnessed an exodus of 4 million farmers from their lands. Despite this, the era was a golden period for business, buoyed by a succession of American presidents—from Warren G. Harding to Herbert Hoover—who envisioned business as the salvation from poverty. Sinclair Lewis embodied this faith in the all-healing power of commerce through the protagonist of his novel Babbitt (1922).

Postwar Isolationism and Social Change

The anticipated prosperity of the post-World War peace fell short, pushing Americans toward a path of isolation. They distanced themselves from foreign alliances, shunning the League of Nations and eyeing the Russian Revolution with distrust. During this era, idealism took a back seat to practicality. Although the U.S. welcomed around 60% of the world's immigrants between 1820 and 1930, the 1924 quota law sharply curtailed immigration, imposing strict national quotas that effectively barred most Asian arrivals.

The 1920s, however, unfolded as a decade of profound social transformations. Women, in particular, carved out significant victories, gaining broader access to education and experiencing a liberation in sexual mores. By 1928, women had secured equal voting rights. Breakthroughs in medicine, architecture, science, and social reform emerged, leaving a lasting legacy. Meanwhile, influential entrepreneurs like Walter P. Chrysler, Alfred P. Sloan, William C. Durant, and Henry Ford capitalized on a pro-business political climate, scaling their enterprises to new heights. For the fortunate few, these years brimmed with optimism, epitomized by Charles Lindbergh's audacious transatlantic flight in The Spirit of St. Louis and Ford's Model-T revolution, which brought automobiles within reach for many. Despite these advances, America remained a nation divided by segregation, with certain exceptions. During this time, Jewish innovators pioneered the movie industry, and the soulful rhythm of black jazz, championed by icons Louis Armstrong and Duke Ellington, left an indelible mark on global culture. Yet, the world of sports remained largely exclusive, and save for a few Harlem Renaissance writers and Jewish publishers, the publishing arena was predominantly white and Protestant.

Growing Urbanization

Within the pages of Giants in the Earth, settlers yearn for the arrival of the railroad to ease their journey to town for necessities. Yet, the 1920s ushered in even more electrifying strides in communication. By the decade's close, the U.S. buzzed with 18.5 million telephones and resonated with 10.2 million radios, while a network of paved roads seamlessly linked towns to bustling cities. By 1929, 20 million automobiles traversed these routes, knitting regions together but also spelling the decline of quaint small towns. In Rolvaag's narrative time, Spring Creek lacked a school, compelling two young settlers to educate their peers. In stark contrast, between 1919 and 1928, educational opportunities flourished across America, with college enrollment tripling and women comprising a third of the student body. The influence of collegiate life permeated cultural norms, marking the decade as one of genuine achievement, particularly in the arts and media. The wild speculative behaviors of the 1920s would eventually bear the brunt of blame for the subsequent Depression, casting the carefree lifestyle and ethos of the Jazz Age as superficial in hindsight.

Setting

Giants in the Earth unfolds amid the vast expanses of the east-river territory, now known as South Dakota, nestled alongside the majestic Big Sioux River near the Iowa border, southeast of Sioux Falls. This landscape is a captivating blend of breathtaking beauty and untamed wilderness. Here, nature's extremes reign supreme, deeply influencing the lives of the novel's characters. In winter, a bone-chilling cold grips the land, and snow piles so high that the deceased are stored respectfully in icy drifts, awaiting spring's thaw for their final rest. Summers, however, unleash storms with a ferocity that terrifies the heart. Life on the prairie is fraught with peril—madness lurks, diseases spread, storms rage, and wildfires threaten. Over endless weeks of winter, the settlers' resolve dwindles, their spirits wear thin. Yet, their relief at winter's end is fleeting; just as the wheat begins to rise, swarms of locusts descend, devastating the crops year after relentless year. The relentless trials of prairie living eventually fracture Beret’s mind. During this era, the railroad remains a distant dream for the settlement, making the journey for supplies a grueling, days-long ordeal. Syvert, in his efforts to entice new Norwegian settlers to Spring Creek, assures them, "the railroad had already reached Worthington—soon it would be at Sioux Falls! Then they would have only a twenty-five-mile journey to town—did they realize that?"

Structure

Giants in the Earth artfully unfolds in two segments, each culminating in moments of death or near-death. The narrative stands out for its intense focus on psychological intricacies and character evolvement, rather than on mere events or incidents. Patrick D. Morrow, among numerous critics, views the tale as a tragedy, describing its composition as "ten chapters of five well-defined acts, adhering to the tragic rhythm of exposition, conflict, crisis, and catastrophe." Integral components affirming its tragic nature include the emphasis on free will, individual accountability, a sequence of events leading to disaster (the demise of Per Hansa), and its inherent tragic rhythm. Yet, the novel's architecture invites alternative interpretations. Critic Steve Hahn points to the "tense dichotomy of structure: the physical world of the Great Plains, and a reality which is envisioned in terms of Norwegian religious and cultural structures." Paul A. Olson draws parallels between the book's formation and "early Germanic epics," where the hero initially triumphs over physical dangers but ultimately succumbs to spiritual challenges. Some scholars see deliberate ties between Book I of the novel, "The Land-Taking," and the traditional saga of Norse settlement in Iceland.

Imagery

The imagery within Giants in the Earth is both vivid and multifaceted. Per Hansa, once a fisherman before embarking for America, is surrounded by nautical symbolism. The notion of "prairie schooners"—the wagons traversing the plains—enhances this maritime motif. As Beret's mental state deteriorates, Per finds himself "like a good boat in a heavy sea." On the afternoon when locusts invade, his sod cabin appears "like a quay thrust out into a turbulent current."

Nature often adopts a nightmarish quality, as seen through Beret's eyes when she becomes fixated on a cloud that morphs into a "giantlike face, dreadful in mien and enormous in proportions." Initially, Per perceives the locust onslaught as the handiwork of a giant, "shaking an immense tablecloth of iridescent colours." On the night of discovering Beret and the young children hiding within the large chest, "the Great Prairie stretched herself voluptuously; giantlike." The use of light imagery varies greatly; for instance, the morning after Peder Victorious's birth, "The sun shone brightly through the window, spreading a golden lustre over the white walls." However, after the harsh winter months, daylight filtering into the Hansas' dwelling casts a "pale, sickly gleam."

O. E. Rolvaag's masterful novel, Giants in the Earth, delves deep into the enduring themes of immigration, the gnawing dread of isolation, the haunting specter of loneliness, and the intricate tapestry woven from myth and religious belief.

Immigrant Narratives

1. Connect Giants in the Earth with other tales of immigrant journeys. What unique elements of the story paint a vivid picture of the Norwegian settler experience? Which trials and triumphs resonate universally among pioneering families, no matter their homeland?

The Legacy of Spring Creek

2. Envision the present-day landscape. What stories linger in the transformed Spring Creek Settlement, and what legacy have the descendants of those Norwegian settlers woven into the fabric of today?

Women's Struggles and Roles

3. Reflect on the unique challenges that women faced in Giants in the Earth. How do the diverse roles of the novel's female characters illuminate their struggles and contributions?

The "Giant" Symbolism

4. Dive into the rich symbolism of the "giant" within the novel. What deeper meanings does this figure embody?

Nature's Dual Nature

5. Consider the portrayal of nature as an ever-present character in the narrative. Does nature offer kindness and mercy at any point in Giants in the Earth?

Giants in the Earth, the magnum opus of O. E. Rolvaag, stands as a testament to pioneering spirit and tenacity. The novel vividly captures the odyssey of Norwegian settlers who journey from their coastal village across the Canadian expanse to Spring Creek, within the vast Dakota Territory. While this westward migration promises newfound prospects, the settlers must grapple with the suffocating solitude and unyielding monotony of the prairie lands. They face rudimentary shelter, endure bone-chilling winters, and battle relentless summer infestations that threaten their crops. Though such hardships test even the most stalwart souls yearning for a fresh start, they prove nearly insurmountable for those of more fragile disposition, like Per Hansa’s wife, Beret, for whom the prairie becomes a prison of despair. Giants in the Earth delves deeply into universal themes of immigration, fear, solitude, mythology, and faith. Despite its somber conclusion, the novel is an epic, sprawling narrative, lauded for its unflinching portrayal of both the spiritual and physical trials faced by its characters.

The stark existence of these settlers offers a poignant contrast to the exuberant lives led by readers in the Roaring Twenties. Yet, the much-heralded economic boom of this Jazz Age was largely a mirage for many, confined to the upper echelons of society. Though fortunes were swiftly amassed through stock market surges and real estate gambits, the average American saw little improvement in their economic stature after World War I. Within Giants in the Earth, Rolvaag paints a vivid picture of farm settlement development on the fertile Dakota prairies of the late 1870s, a period when many farms flourished over the following fifty years. However, the shadow of the First World War cast a long and ruinous pall, permanently altering the farmers' fortunes. The 1920s saw four million farmers abandoning their lands, and African Americans found no betterment in their circumstances. Despite this, the era was marked by significant business growth, fueled by a succession of presidents—from Warren G. Harding to Herbert Hoover—who naively believed that commerce could exorcise poverty from the nation. Sinclair Lewis captured this misplaced faith in his character Babbitt, from the eponymous 1922 novel.

Giants in the Earth reflects the settlers' hopeful anticipation of the railroad, which they dreamed would shorten their arduous trips for vital supplies. Yet, the advancements in communication during the 1920s eclipsed this hope. By the decade's end, the United States boasted 18.5 million telephone connections and 10.2 million radios, knitting a tapestry of connectivity across the nation. An expansive network of paved roads linked towns to bustling metropolises, and by 1929, 20 million automobiles sped along these routes. While these changes blurred regional distinctions, they also signaled the decline of small-town life. In Rolvaag's time, Spring Creek lacked even a basic school, compelling young settlers to step into teaching roles. In contrast, the period from 1919 to 1928 saw a surge in educational access across America, with college enrollments tripling and women comprising a third of students. The collegiate lifestyle permeated cultural norms. This decade shone brightly with accomplishments in the arts and media, although its speculative excesses were later blamed for the onset of the Depression. In the years that followed, the carefree ethos and values of the Jazz Age were dismissed as trivial.

Rolvaag's sweeping narrative of South Dakota's settlement by courageous Norwegian immigrants captivated readers and was met with immediate success, selling over 80,000 copies within its first year. Critics applauded its authentic portrayal of character emotions and Rolvaag's evocative descriptions of the natural world surrounding them.

1870s: In the years leading up to the 1880s, a significant wave of new arrivals to the United States hailed predominantly from the British Isles and the northwestern corner of Europe.

1927: The immigration act of 1924 imposed strict national quotas, favoring Europeans and almost completely shutting the door on Asian immigrants.

Today: Since the pivotal year of 1965, national quotas have given way to restrictions based on hemispheres, allowing for a more inclusive policy that considers political refugees. The United States continues to wrestle with the complex challenges of illegal immigration, particularly from Latin America, and its multifaceted impacts on society, the economy, and politics.

1870s: The enactment of the Indian Removal Act in 1830, coupled with the westward surge of settlers following the 1848 gold rush in California, heralded the onset of fierce territorial conflicts between European settlers and Native American tribes.

1927: By the close of the 19th century, most Native Americans had been relegated to reservations, enduring a cycle of poverty, substandard education, and joblessness that would linger for generations.

Today: Legal victories and the restoration of treaty lands have expanded Native American territories within the United States to 53 million acres, offering both breathtaking natural landscapes and rich mineral deposits. Native communities are now navigating the pathways to harness the economic and political promise of these lands.

1870s: Railroads experienced explosive growth post-1830, culminating in the historic meeting of eastern and western tracks of the first transcontinental railroad at Promontory Point, Utah, on May 10, 1869.

1927: By 1916, a staggering 77% of intercity freight was ferried by railroads. However, the 1920s saw them battling rising competition from automobiles, buses, long-haul trucking, oil pipelines, and aircraft.

Today: The railroads’ share of freight transport diminished to 33% by 1990, stabilizing thereafter. Passenger rail service, however, has never bounced back save for a brief wartime resurgence during the Second World War; today, intercity trains continue to run but often struggle to break even.

1870s: Between 1878 and 1886, South Dakota experienced a dramatic surge in land development, initially sparked by the allure of gold in the Black Hills and later driven by cattle ranching and railroad expansion.

1927: The late 1920s brought devastation with droughts and the Great Depression, slashing South Dakota's population by 50,000 over the next decade.

Today: Post-World War II, advances in agricultural techniques boosted South Dakota's farming and livestock yields but led to the merging of small farms into larger entities, displacing many small-scale farmers. Since 1981, however, a pivot toward service, finance, and trade industries has fueled robust economic growth in the state.

In Willa Cather's poignant novel My Antonia (1918), a resilient Bohemian family grapples with the formidable challenges of pioneer life. They face a harsh landscape marked by poverty and despair on the vast Nebraska plains.

The Last of the Mohicans (1826), penned by James Fenimore Cooper, unfolds as a riveting saga of heroism and wilderness survival amidst the tumult of the French and Indian War.

Henrik Ibsen's A Doll's House (1879) stands as a groundbreaking work of realism, where Nora Helmer bravely severs the bonds of an oppressive eight-year marriage to embark on a quest for autonomy.

With a sharp wit and keen observation, Mark Twain vividly recounts his misadventures during a rollicking stagecoach journey across the American Midwest in Roughing It (1872).

Kristin Lavransdatter (1920-22), a masterpiece by Nobel laureate Sigrid Undset, weaves an intricate tapestry of passion and faith against the backdrop of medieval Norway.

In 1912, Rolvaag unveiled his debut fictional narrative, Amerikabreve (Letters from America), penned under the enigmatic pseudonym Paal Morck. This work unfolds in an epistolary style, weaving together a tapestry of letters that chronicle the uncertain journey of a young immigrant. Torn between the treacherous seas of a fisherman's life in Norway and the arduous toils of a farmhand's existence in America, the protagonist grapples with his fateful choice.

Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee, penned by Dee Brown in 1970, stands as a powerful and critically lauded chronicle. It unflinchingly details the systematic decimation of Native American tribes at the hands of white settlers during the tumultuous nineteenth century.

Sources

Joseph E. Baker, "Western Man against Nature: Giants in the Earth," in College English, Vol. 4, No. 1, October, 1941, pp. 19-26.

Charles Boewe, "Rolvaag's America: An Immigrant Novelist's Views," in Western Humanities Review, Vol. 11, No. 1, Winter, 1957, pp. 3-12.

Percy H. Boynton, "0. E. Rolvaag and the Conquest of the Pioneer," in English Journal, Vol. 18, No. 7, September, 1929, pp. 535-42.

Lincoln Colcord, in an introduction to Giants in the Earth: A Saga of the Prairie by O. E. Rolvaag, translated by Lincoln Colcord and O. E. Rolvaag, Harper and Row, 1927, pp. xi-xxii.

Henry Commager, "The Literature of the Pioneer West," in Minnesota History, Vol. 8, No. 4, December, 1927, pp. 319-28.

Clifton P. Fadiman, "Diminished Giants," in Forum, Vol. 81, No. 3, March, 1929, pp. xx, xxii.

Steve Hahn, "Vision and Reality in 'Giants in the Earth'," in The South Dakota Review, Vol. 17, No. 1, Spring, 1979, pp. 85-100.

Emar Haugen, in Ole Edvart Rolvaag, Twayne, 1983, pp. 80-1.

Theodore Jorgenson and Nora 0. Solum, Ole Edvart Rolvaag: A Biography, Harper and Brothers, 1939, pp. 344-46.

Patrick D. Morrow, "Rolvaag's Giants in the Earth as Tragedy," in North Dakota Quarterly, Vol. 48, No. 4, Autumn, 1980, pp. 83-90.

Julius E. Olsen, "Rolvaag's Novels of Norwegian Pioneer Life in the Dakotas," in Scandinavian Studies and Notes, Vol. 9, No. 3, August, 1926, pp. 45-55.

Paul A. Olson, "The Epic and Great Plains Literature: Rolvaag, Cather, and Neidhardt," in Prairie Schooner, Vol. 55, No. 182, Spring-Summer, 1981, pp. 263-85.

Kristoffer Paulson, "What Was Lost: Ole Rolvaag's 'The Boat of Longing,'" in MELUS, Vol. 7, No. 1, Spring, 1980, pp. 51-60.

Carl Sandburg, "Review of Giants in the Earth, by Ole Rolvaag," in The Chicago Daily News, February 11, 1928, p. 9.

Harold P. Simonson, "Rolvaag and Kierkegaard," in Scandinavian Studies, Vol. 49, No. 1, Winter, 1977, pp. 67-80.

Walter Vogdes, "Hamsun's Rival," in The Nation, Vol. 125, No. 3236, July 13, 1927, pp. 41-2.

George Leroy White, Jr., "The Scandinavian Settlement in American Fiction," in Scandinavian Themes in American Fiction, University of Pennsylvania Press, 1937, pp. 69-108.

For Further Study

American Prefaces, Vol. 1, No. 7, April, 1936, pp. 98-112. An issue devoted to Rolvaag that includes a commemorative poem written by Paul Engle, an excerpt of Rolvaag's unfinished autobiography, and recollections by his daughter.

Joseph E. Baker, "Western Man Against Nature: Giants in the Earth," in College English Vol. 4, No. 1, October, 1942, pp. 19-26. Baker views Per Hansa as a typically rational, independent Western man concerned with achievement, contrasting him with a more Eastern, submissive, and romantic figure one would find in the work of Ralph Waldo Emerson.

Charles Boewe, "Rolvaag's America: An Immigrant Novelist's Views," in Western Humanities Review, Vol. 11, No. 1, Winter, 1957, pp. 3-12. Boewe discusses Rolvaag's focus on the Norwegian-American immigrant experience and his philosophy of culture.

Lincoln Colcord, "Rolvaag the Fisherman Shook His Fist at Fate," in The American Magazine, Vol. 105, No. 3, March, 1928, pp. 36-7, 188-9, 192. Conversations between Rolvaag and his translator, Colcord, about emigrating to America and the writing of Giants in the Earth.

Henry Commager, "The Literature of the Pioneer West," in Minnesota History, Vol. 8, No. 4, December, 1927, pp. 319-28. Commager connects Rolvaag's exploration of the suffering and futility of plains settlement with similar strains in historical studies. He discusses Rolvaag's contrast between the romantic ideal of the West and the harsh reality of pioneer life.

Sylvia Grider, "Madness and Personification in Giants in the Earth," in Women, Women Writers, and the West, edited by L. L. Lee and Merrill Lewis, Whitson, 1979, pp. 111-17. A study of Beret Hansa's struggles with the forces of nature on the prairie, her mental breakdown, and her recovery.

Steve Hahn, "Vision and Reality in Giants in the Earth," in South Dakota Review, Vol. 17, No. 1, Spring, 1979, pp. 85-100. Hahn explores the impact of Norwegian heritage on Rolvaag's characters and their search for self-hood. He contends that Norse, folk, and especially Christian traditions dominate the narrative.

Theodore Jorgenson and Nora O. Solum, in Ole Edvart Rolvaag: A Biography, Harper, 1939. In the first extensive English biography of Rolvaag, Jorgenson and Solum analyze the influence of Henrik Ibsen and Norwegian saga and folk tale culture on Rolvaag's prairie novels.

Barbara Howard Meldrum, "Agrarian versus Frontiersman in Midwestern Fiction," in Vision and Refuge Essays on the Literature of the Great Plains, edited by Virginia Faulkner and Frederick C. Luebke, University of Nebraska Press, 1982, pp. 44-63. In one section of her essay, Meldrum explores Per Hansa's dual nature as a frontiersman and an agrarian. She also discusses Beret's role as a truth-teller in the book.

Patrick D. Morrow, "Rolvaag's Giants in the Earth as Tragedy," in North Dakota Quarterly, Vol. 48, No. 4, Autumn, 1980, pp. 83-90. Though he recognizes Rolvaag's use of saga and epic, Morrow contends that tragic conventions define the progress of Rolvaag's narrative and characters, placing the novel firmly in the tradition of American tragic realism.

Paul A. Olson, "The Epic and Great Plains Literature: Rolvaag, Cather, and Neidhardt," in Prairie Schooner, Vol. 55, No. 182, Spring-Summer, 1981, pp. 263-85. Olson asserts that Beret is Rolvaag's true hero because of her God-centered heroic vision, while Per Hansa is a failed epic hero because of his disconnection to his community and God.

Paul Reigstad, "Mythical Aspects of Giants in the Earth," in Vision and Refuge: Essays on the Literature of the Great Plains, edited by Virginia Faulkner and Frederick C. Luebke, University of Nebraska Press, 1982, pp. 64-70. Reigstad briefly examines Per Hansa's connections with Faust, the multiple connotations of the book's title, and Rolvaag's use of trolls in the novel.

Paul Reigstad, in Rolvaag: His Life and Art, University of Nebraska Press, 1972. Reigstad explores the development of Rolvaag's art and, in the chapter on Giants in the Earth, cites Rolvaag's letters to recount the composition history of the novel.

Harold P. Simonson, "Rolvaag and Kierkegaard," in Scandinavian Studies, Vol. 49, No. 1, Winter, 1977, pp. 67-80. Simonson examines Kierkegaard's influence on Rolvaag's prairie novels and their characters' religious sensibilities. From this perspective, Beret becomes the true hero of the novels.