Lars Lönnroth

Lars Lönnroth (born 4 June 1935) is a Swedish literary scholar.

He was born in Gothenburg to Erik Lönnroth and Ebba Lagercrantz.

His academic career includes professorships at the University of California Berkeley, University of Aalborg and the University of Gothenburg.

Career

Lönnroth gained his first degree at Uppsala University in 1961, and his PhD at Stockholm University in 1965. He became associate professor in Scandinavian Studies at University of California, Berkeley in 1965, and professor in literature and text science at Aalborg University in 1974. From 1982 to 2000, he was professor in literary studies at the University of Gothenburg, with a short break when he was Svenska Dagbladets cultural director from 1991 to 1993. He was chairman of Statens konstnärsnämnd from 1995 to 2001, and chairman of Sällskapet Gnistan from 1999 to 2013.

Lönnroth's research has to a large extent dealt with the Icelandic medieval saga literature. Together with Sven Delblanc, he was editor of the seven-volume work "Swedish Literature" (1987–90). He has written numerous other books including the 2005 Ljuva karneval! on Sweden's 18th century bard, Carl Michael Bellman. He has published his memoirs and a personal book about his family heritage from the nationalist poet, historian and composer Erik Gustav Geijer onwards, a legacy marked by the "poetry and madness" of the book's subtitle.

Lönnroth was installed in 1993 as an honorary member of the Södermanlands-Nerikes nation in Uppsala. He is an honorary member of the Society of Swedish Literature in Finland, Ulf Malm described Lönnroth as "the energetically combative and polemically gifted literature professor from Gothenburg".

Ljuva karneval!

Works

In English

1965 – European Sources of Icelandic Saga-Writing 1976 – Njáls saga: A Critical Introduction 1977 – The Riddles of the Rök-Stone: A Structural Approach 2011 – The Academy of Odin: Selected Papers on Old Norse Literature

In Swedish

1961 – Litteraturforskningens dilemma 1978 – Den dubbla scenen 1983 – Faust i Göteborg 1996 – Skaldemjödet i berget 2001 – Tegnér och det nordiskt sublima 2005 – Ljuva Karneval! Om Carl Michael Bellmans diktning 2006 – Njals saga (translation, introduction) 2009 – Dörrar till främmande rum. Minnesfragment 2017 – Det germanska spåret. En västerländsk litteraturtradition från Tacitus till Tolkien 2019 – Geijerarvet. En släkthistoria om dikt och galenskap

Translations

1995 – Isländska mytsagor (with commentary) 2014 – Laxdalingarnas saga 2016 – Den poetiska Eddan (with introduction and commentary)

Awards and distinctions

1971 – Guggenheim Fellow 1986 – Schück prize from the Swedish Academy 1995 – Rettig prize 2000 – 2005 – Dobloug prize 2005 – John Landquist prize 2021 - Honorary doctorate at Háskóli Íslands (Iceland's University)