Selma Lagerlöf poetically recorded old Norse fairytales and profoundly influenced Swedish identity. Her work was so brilliant, she was the first woman to win the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1909. In old age, she turned her poetic pen to her own life, recalling winters in the 1860s at her beloved Varmland farmhouse, Mårbaka.
For our annual Christmas Special, we bring her poignant memoirs to life, accompanied by an audio feast of traditional Swedish music. God Jul!
Music featured in this episode was generously shared by Blås, Balg & Tagel, Haga Vokalensemble, MrsBean 1987, Kevin MacLeod, Aaron Kenny, DJ Williams, The Westerlies, and Wayne Jones.
You can find a digital copy of Mårbaka and all Selma Lagerlöf's books at Gutenberg Project.
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THE VIKING Coppergate Woman
THE MOTHER Olympias
THE SORCERER Gunnhild
THE FREE WOMAN Harriet Jacobs
THE ROPEMAKER Mary Pattison Irwin
WHITE HOUSE HOLIDAY Mary Donelson Wilcox: 2019 Christmas Special
THE WOMAN IN THE CHALK Cranborne Woman
THE ACCIDENTAL ACTIVIST Sybil Stockdale
THE WITCH Mother Shipton
THE PHARAOH Tawosret
THE PAPER DAUGHTER How Jiu
THE EMPEROR Wu Zhao (Wu Zetian)
THE ADMIRAL Bouboulina
THE FARMER Cherokee America Rogers
THE ORACLE Pythia
THE PSYCHOANALYST Sabina Spielrein
THE POET Hester Pulter
THE GIRL OF IRON Mary Peterson Ipsen
THE TRANSLATOR Malintzin
THE WHITE ROSE Sophie Scholl
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