O. E. Rolvaag House at 311 Manitou in Northfield, MN
Ole Edvart Rølvaag (Urban East Norwegian:[ˈûːləˈɛ̀dːvɑʈˈrø̂ːlvoːɡ]; Rølvåg in modern Norwegian, Rolvaag in English orthography) (April 22, 1876 – November 5, 1931) was a Norwegian-American novelist and professor who became well known for his writings regarding the Norwegian American immigrant experience. Ole Rolvaag is most cited for Giants in the Earth, his award-winning, epic novel of Norwegian immigrant homesteaders in Dakota Territory.[1]
Biography
Rølvåg was born in the family's cottage in a small fishing village on the island of Dønna, in Nordland county, Norway. Dønna, one of the largest islands on the northern coast of Norway, is situated about five miles from the Arctic Circle. He was born with the name Ole Edvart Pedersen, one of seven children of Peder Benjamin Jakobsen and Ellerine Pedersdatter Vaag. The settlement where he was born had no official name, but was referred to as Rølvaag, the name of a narrow bay on the northwestern point of the island where the fishermen kept their boats. At 14 years of age Rølvaag joined his father and brothers in the Lofoten fishing grounds. Rølvaag lived there until he was 20 years of age, and the impressions he received during the days of his childhood and his young manhood endured with him throughout his life.[2][3]
In 1906, Rølvaag was recruited as a professor by St. Olaf College president John N. Kildahl. Rølvaag was made head of the Norwegian Department at St. Olaf in 1916. In 1925, he became the first secretary and archivist of Norwegian-American Historical Association and held both positions for the rest of his life.
Personal life
In 1908, Rølvaag became a United States citizen and married Jennie Marie Berdahl, the daughter of Andrew James Berdahl and Karen Oline Otterness. They had four children: Olaf, Ella, Karl and Paul. Their son, Karl Fritjof Rolvaag, served as the 31st Governor of Minnesota.[5]
Ole Rolvaag died November 5, 1931, in Northfield, Minnesota.[6]
Literary style and themes
Ole Rølvaag wrote in the Norwegian language, but his novels have a distinct American flavor and themes. He was deeply influenced by earlier American writers who, writing in Norwegian, had faithfully portrayed the experiences of many Norwegian immigrant pioneers. In particular, he was influenced by Hans Andersen Foss and Peer Stromme, both of whom had written novels that described realistic aspects of the homesteader's experience. Rølvaag in turn provided an equally strong influence on future Scandinavian writers. He attracted a number of gifted young Norwegian-Americans to St. Olaf College, among them Einar Haugen. Written decades later, Vilhelm Moberg's novels depicted the experience of Swedish-American immigrants.[7][8]
Giants in the Earth
Rølvaag's authorship and scholarship focused on the pioneer experience on the Dakota plains in the 1870s. His most famous book was Giants in the Earth, part of a trilogy. It is the story of a Norwegian pioneer family's struggles with the land of the Dakota Territory as they try to make a new life in America. It was based partly upon Rolvaag's experiences as a settler and as well of the experiences of his wife's family who had been immigrant homesteaders. The novel realistically treats the lives and trials of Norwegian pioneers in the Midwest, emphasizing their battles with the elements. The book also portrays the trials of loneliness, separation from family, longing for the old country, and the difficulty of fitting into a new culture.[9]
The book was written in Norwegian and then translated into English. It reads as an American novel but stems from an Old World literary tradition. It provides dramatic contrast between Per Hansa and his wife, Beret. Per is a natural pioneer who sees promise flooding the windswept plains. Beret hungers for the ways of her homeland, and in her heart, loneliness gathers and penetrates the deeper reality of life lived on the American frontier.
Rølvaag was appointed Knight of the Order of St Olav by King Haakon VII in 1926.[11][12] Also, St. Olaf College has created a literary award named for Rolvaag, the Ole E. Rolvaag Award for Fiction, the "award honors the memory of St. Olaf’s greatest writer, Ole Rolvaag".[13]
Memorials
Berdahl–Rølvaag House in Sioux Falls, South Dakota
^Haugen, Einar I. "E. Rølvaag: Norwegian-American". Norwegian-American Historical Association. p. 53. Archived from the original on 2014-03-06. Retrieved 2009-03-04.
Jorgenson, Theodore and Solum, Nora O. Ole Edvart Rölvaag: A Biography (Harper and Brothers, 1939)
Reigstad, Paul. Rolvaag: His Life and Art (University of Nebraska Press, 1972)
Thorson, Gerald. Ole Rolvaag, Artist and Cultural Leader (St. Olaf College Press, 1975)
Simonson, Harold P. Prairies Within: The Tragic Trilogy of Ole Rolvaag (University of Washington Press, 1987)
Moseley, Ann. Ole Edvart Rolvaag (Boise State University Bookstore, 1987)
Eckstein, Neil Truman. Marginal Man As Novelist: The Norwegian-American Writers H.H Boyesen and O.E. Rolvaag (Taylor & Francis, 1990)
Haugen, Einar Ingvald Ole Edvart Rölvaag (Boston: Twayne Publishers,1983)
Moose, Nancy Gwen, Religion, Women and Culture in the Works of Ole E. Rølvaag. (1989). Electronic Theses and Dissertations. South Dakota State University. https://openprairie.sdstate.edu/etd/4610
Zempel, Solveig. 1999. Ole Edvart Rolvaag: Novelist. St. Olaf and the Vocation of a Church College, Pamela Schwandt, Gary De Krey, and L. DeAne Lagerquist, eds. pp. 89-96. Northfield, MN: St. Olaf College.
