| Tomten | |
|---|---|
| by Viktor Rydberg | |
 Title illustration by
Jenny Nyström 1881 | |
| Country | Sweden |
| Language | Swedish |
| Publication date | 1881 |
"Tomten", also known as "Midvinternattens köld är hård", is a poem written by Viktor Rydberg, and originally published in Ny Illustrerad Tidning in 1881. While outwardly being an idyllic Christmas poem, the poem asks about the meaning of life.
A short film, Tomten, was recorded in 1941 by Gösta Roosling, where Hilda Borgström reads the entire poem. [1]
Lotta Engberg's 2009 Christmas album Jul hos mig closes with a final, hidden, bonus track with Sven Wollter reading the poem. [2]
The poem has also been recorded as an audio book, with Torgny Lindgren reading it. [3] [4]
In English
Rydberg's poem has been translated into English by Charles Wharton Stork, [5] Anna Krook, [6] Elias Gordon [7] and Judith Moffett. [8] In 1960 Astrid Lindgren published a prose version of the story with illustrations by Harald Wiberg. [9] [10] Both films based on her Tomten stories were made: Tomte Tummetott and the Fox in 2007, [11] and The Tomten and the Fox in 2019. [12]
Set to music
- Julens önskesångbok, 1997, under the lines "Traditionella julsånger", with music by Lyyli Wartiovaara-Kallioniemi.
See also
References
- ^ Hilda Borgström reads Tomten youtube.com Retrieved: December 29, 2013.
- ^ "Jul hos mig" (in Swedish). Svensk mediedatabas. 2009. Retrieved 12 December 2013.
- ^ Viktor Rydberg, Torgny Lindgren (2003). Tomten. Pan hörböcker.
- ^ Torgny Lindgren reads Tomten youtube.com Retrieved: December 29, 2013.
- ^ Anthology of Swedish lyrics by Charles Wharton Stork (New York: The American-Scandinavian Foundation, 1917).
- ^ Songs of the North by Anna Krook (Helsingfors, Söderström & Co., 1926).
- ^ Bards of the North by Elias Gordon (New York: American Cultural Federation Press, 1936).
- ^ The North! to the North! by Judith Moffett (Carbondale: Southern Illinois University Press, 2001).
- ^ The Tomten by Astrid Lindgren (New York: Coward-McCann, 1960).
- ^ Astrid Lindgren adaptation youtube.com Retrieved: December 31, 2013.
- ^ "Tomte Tummetott és a róka / Tomte Tummetott and the Fox".
- ^ "Reven og nissen".
External links
- Tomten: Swedish lyrics
- Tomten: English translation
- Anthology of Swedish Lyrics from 1750 to 1915 at the Internet Archive
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