f Ibsen alone, and even then in but a single aspect. It is only as
dramatists that suspense of judgment between the two men is for a moment
admissible; as a poet the superiority of Bjoernson is unquestionable,
while his rank as the greatest of Norwegian novelists is altogether
beyond dispute.

[Illustration: BJOeRNSON]

The chief facts of Bjoernson's life may be briefly set forth. The son of
a parish priest, he was born December 8th, 1832, at Kvikne. When the boy
was six years of age, his family removed to the Romsdal, and a few years
later Bjoernstjerne was sent to school at Molde. His childhood was thus
passed in the midst of the noblest scenery of Norway, and in regions of
the richest legendary association. The austere sublimity of the
Joetunheim--the home of the frost-giants--first impressed his childish
sensibilities, but was soon exchanged for the more varied and
picturesque but hardly less magnificent scenery of the western fjords.
At the age of seventeen the boy was sent to school in Christiania, and
in 1852 entered the University. Instead of devoting himself to his
studies, he wrote a play called 'Valborg,' which was actually accepted
by the management of the Christiania Theatre. The piece was, however,
never printed or even performed; for the author became so conscious of
its imperfections that he withdrew it from rehearsal. But it gave him
the _entree_ of the playhouse, a fact which did much to determine the
direction of his literary activities. He left the University with his
course uncompleted, and for two or three years thereafter supported
himself by journalism. In 1857, at the age of twenty-four, his serious
literary career began with the publication of 'Synnoeve Solbakken,' his
first novel, and 'Mellern Slagene' (Between the Battles), his first
printed dramatic work. In this year also, upon the invitation of Ole
Bull, he went to Bergen, where he remained for two years as director of
the theatre. In 1860 he secured from the government a traveling stipend,
and spent the greater part of the next two years abroad, mostly in Rome,
busily writing all the time. Returning to Norway, he has since remained
there for the most part, although his winters have frequently been spent
in other countries. For a long time he lived regularly in Paris several
months of each year; one winter (1879-80) he was the guest of the Grand
Duke of Meiningen; the following (1880-81) he spent in the United
States, lecturing in many ci