Transcribed from the 1913 Thomas J. Wise pamphlet by DavidPrice, . Many thanks to Norfolk andNorwich Millennium Library, UK, for kindly supplying the imagesfrom which this transcription was made.
translatedby
GEORGE BORROW
from the Danish of
ADAM GOTTLOB OEHLENSCHLÄGER
Edited
with an Introduction by
EDMUND GOSSE, C.B.
London:
printed for private circulation
1913
p. 4Copyright inthe United States of America
by Houghton, Mifflin & Co. for ClementShorter.
Early in the present year Mr. Thos. J. Wise discovered amongthe miscellaneous MSS. of Borrow a fragment which proved to bepart of a version of Oehlenschläger’s GoldHorns. His attention being drawn to the fact, hithertounknown, that Borrow had translated this famous poem, he soughtfor, and presently found, a complete MS. of the poem, and fromthis copy the present text has been printed. The paper onwhich it is written is watermarked 1824, and it is probable thatthe version was composed in 1826. The hand-writingcoincides with that of several of the pieces included in theRomantic Ballads of that year, and there can be littledoubt that Borrow intended The Gold Horns for that volume,and rejected it at last. He was conscious, perhaps, thathis hand had lacked the p. 6skill needful to reproduce a lyric themelody of which would have taxed the powers of Coleridge or ofShelley. Nevertheless, his attempt seems worthy ofpreservation.
The Gold Horns marks one of the most important stagesin the history of Scandinavian literature. It is theearliest, and the freshest, specimen of the Romantic Revival inits definite form. In this way, it takes in Danish poetry aplace analogous to that taken by The Ancient Mariner inEnglish poetry.
The story of the events which led to the composition of TheGold Horns is told independently, by Steffens and byOehlenschläger in their respective Memoirs, and the twoaccounts tally completely. Adam Gottlob Oehlenschläger(1779–1850), the greatest poet whom the North of Europe hasproduced, had already attracted considerable renown and evenprofit by his writings, which were in the classico-sentimentalmanner of the late 18th century, when, in the summer of 1802, theyoung Norwegian philosopher, Henrik Steffens, arrived inCopenhagen from Germany, where he had imbibed the new romanticideas. He began to give lectures on p.7æsthetics, and these awakened a turmoil ofopposition. Among those who heard him, no one was morescandalised than Oehlenschläger, then in his twenty-thirdyear. He was not acquainted with Steffens, but in thecourse of the autumn they happened to meet at a restaurant inCopenhagen, when they instantly experienced a violent mutualattraction. Steffens has described how deep an impressionwas made upon him by the handsome head, flashing eyes, andgraceful vivacity of the poet, while Oehlenschläger bearswitness to being no less fascinated by the gravity and enthusiasmof the philosopher. The new friends found it impossible topart, and sixteen hours had gone by, and 3 a.m. had struck,before Oehlenschläger could tear himself away from thecompany of Steffens.
He scarcely slept that night, and rose in a condition ofbewilderment a