Jump to content

Emil i Lönneberga: Difference between revisions

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Browse history interactively
← Previous editNext edit →
Content deleted Content added
VisualWikitext
Further elaborate on Halley's comet
No edit summary
Line 25: Line 25:
| followed by =
| followed by =
}}
}}
'''''Emil of Lönneberga''''' (from [[Swedish language|Swedish]]: '''''Emil i Lönneberga''''') is a series of children's novels by [[Astrid Lindgren]]. The twelve books were written between 1963 and 1997. Emil, the title character, is a [[prank]]ster who lives on a farm in the [[Lönneberga]] village of [[Småland]], [[Sweden]].
'''''Emil of Lönneberga''''' (from [[Swedish language|Swedish]]: '''''Emil i Lönneberga''''') is a series of children's novels, written by [[Astrid Lindgren]] in 1963, 1966 and 1970 respectively, about the [[prank]]ster Emil Svensson who lives on a farm in the [[Lönneberga]] village of [[Småland]], [[Sweden]].


The books have appeared in 44 languages (2014),<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.astridlindgren.se/varlden-runt/astrid-i-varlden |title=Astrid Lindgren och världen &#124; Astrid Lindgren |publisher=Astridlindgren.se |access-date=6 August 2014}}</ref> in most cases with the original Swedish [[illustration]]s by Björn Berg. There are five movie adaptations, with the three most famous ones being released between 1971-73.
In total twelve books were written between 1963 and 1997, which have appeared in 44 languages (2014),<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.astridlindgren.se/varlden-runt/astrid-i-varlden |title=Astrid Lindgren och världen &#124; Astrid Lindgren |publisher=Astridlindgren.se |access-date=6 August 2014}}</ref> in most cases with the original Swedish [[illustration]]s by Björn Berg. There are three Swedish movie adaptations, released in 1971–1973.


==Emil the character==
==Emil the character==
Emil Svensson lives on the farm Katthult ("Catholt"), set in the village of [[Lönneberga]] in [[Småland]] around the year 1900, with his younger sister Ida, mother Alma and father Anton, the farmhand Alfred who loves Emil and the farm maid Lina who, however, is unable to tolerate Emil's pranks (''"hyss"''). Sometimes Krösa-Maja ("Lingonberry-Maia") comes to Katthult to help with domestic work and tell Emil and Ida stories about "[[myling]]ar", ghosts, murders and similar nasties. Emil does more pranks ("hyss") than there are days of the year, which one day make the inhabitants of the village angry, so they collect money for Emil's mother to send Emil to America, but she gets angry and refuses, stating that ''"Emil is a nice little boy, we love him just the way he is."''. Alma writes down all Emil's pranks ("hyss") in blue notebooks, in order to let Emil remember what he has done as a child when being an adult and then chairman of the Lönneberga village council. Emil is very resourceful and handy with all types of farm animal.
Emil Svensson lives with his family on a farm called Katthult, set in the village of Lönneberga a few miles from the town of [[Vimmerby]]. His age ranges in the books from about five to eight. His fair hair and blue eyes make him look like an angel, but he is not. He has a prodigious knack for getting into trouble. Emil is not malicious, as many around him think; he simply fails to see the consequences of his actions. He even states at one point, "You don't make up pranks, they just happen."<ref>Swedish ''Hyss hittar man inte på, de bara blir''</ref> They consist of kindly actions gone wrong, childish games, curiosity, bad luck and plain thoughtlessness. For example, he gives away food meant for visiting relatives to the poor, who need it more. He manages to lock his father into the outhouse accidentally, while locking other doors. He hoists his willing little sister up a flagpole to see how far she could see from there. While playing "pretend" he makes everyone believe they have contracted [[typhus]].


In the three novels, written in 1963, 1966 and 1970 respectively, one may follow some of Emil's many praks ("hyss"), for example:
With most pranks, Emil escapes his father's wrath by running away and locking himself into a tool shed. Since the door can also be locked from the outside, his father locks him in there for a while as punishment. Emil is usually embarrassed by what he has done, but this is not a severe punishment for Emil, who likes sitting in the shed and takes to carving a wooden figure during each of his stays. He eventually accumulates 369 of them, except for the one that his mother buries because she claims it looks too much like the [[rural dean]]. Emil is clever and creative and tends to think in unconventional ways that adults are liable to misunderstand.


#One day when meat soup is served at Katthult, Emil puts his head into the big soup bowl, which gets stuck over his head.
Emil is very resourceful. He is handy with any type of farm animal, especially horses. He is also brave, and saves the farmhand Alfred's life when he has [[Sepsis|blood poisoning]]. As Alfred is near death and the road to the doctor's covered with snow, Emil defies the bad weather and makes the trip by horse and sleigh to the doctor, so saving Alfred's life, a man he has always looked up to.
#A day in June, when a party is to be held at Katthult, Emil manages to raise up his little sister in the flagpole, and gets shut up by his father into the toolshed, as a punishment for his prank ("hyss"), where Emil always carves a wooden figure while waiting for being released. However, this time, Emil manages to espace on a plank he puts between the open windows in the toolshed and the food shed on the opposite side, and has his own party in the food shed with sausages, except the last sausage, with is served to Mrs Petrell who has traveled all the way from [[Vimmerby]] just to eat Alma's sausage.

#One day in July, Emil traps his father in a [[rat trap]], and later heaves both betters of [[palt]] and [[raggmunk]] on his father's face, and carves his 100th wooden figure.
In the end, Emil is said to grow up into a responsible and resourceful man, eventually becoming Chairman of the Village Council.
#On the last day of October, an autumn market is held in [[Vimmerby]] and a [[comet]] is excepted to hit the Earth.<ref>Most likely based on [[Halley's Comet]]</ref> In Vimmerby, Emil manages to scare Mrs Petrell as well as the mayor of Vimmerby and the inhabitants of the town overall - but also acquire the horse Lukas without charge.

#On the day after Christmas Day, Alfred's grandfather Stolle-Jocke comes to Katthult, along with Lill-Klossan, from the poorhouse, to tell that they haven't got any Christmas food ("julmat") to eat and Jocke hasn't got any [[snus]], even though Emil's mother sent Emil to the poorhouse with a big basket of Christmas food and a little box of [[snus]] for Jocke, because Kommandoran ("the commanderess (of the poorhouse)") destructed everything by taking all of the Christmas food (and Jocke's snus) for herself. Emil manages to invite everyone from the poorhouse except Kommandoran to Katthult for a Christmas party, later referred to as ''the Big Tabberas in Katthult'' ("Stora Tabberaset i Katthult"), with the Christmas food left in the food shed which, however, was for the next day when the relatives in [[Ingatorp]] are invited for Christmas party (but Emil thinks they are "fat enough" and the poorhouse people need the food better). When Kommandoran comes to Katthult, in order to force them home to the poorhouse, she accidentally gets captured in a [[wolf pit]] Emil managed to dig in order to capture an eventual wolf. Emil think it was a necessary punishment for Kommandoran, for her sins towards Stolle-Jocke and the other poor people. Finally, Emil forgives Kommandoran and tells Alfred to help her up from the wolf pit, upon which she escapes from Katthult forever.
==Other characters==
#In June the following summer, when the people of the Backhorva farm plan to [[Swedish emigration to the United States|emigrate to America]], they hold an auction in which Emil manages to make several ludicrous but eventually successful deals which, however, make his father angry. The next day, Emil pretends Ida having [[typhus]] by painting her face blue. One summer night, the pig sow Emil's father bought in the auction gives birth to eleven piglets, but bites ten of them to death before Emil luckily rescues the eleventh. A few days later, the sow dies of some strange illness. Emil desires to breed the little piglet, as he were its mother.
Anton Svensson, Emil's father, is often angry with his son, though it is often made clear that he likes him a lot between pranks. He is portrayed as a stereotypical inhabitant of Småland – for example, extremely tight with his money. On one occasion, he tells his wife that if she keeps wearing her shoes so often, they will have to be changed all the time – every other ten years! Alcohol and [[profanity|swearing]] are strictly forbidden in the Svenssons' house.
#One summer day, when Emil's mother brews cherry wine for Mrs Petrell, Emil and the piglet accidentally eat the brewed cherries which make them drunk so that they cause terrible problems. The next day, they have recovered, and are invited to Lönneberga Good Templar Association, to swear a promise to be sober forever, and thereafter keeps the whole Katthult in soberness, firstly by crushing the bottles with Mrs Petrell's cherry wine. In late August, it is time for Emil to start school, where he proves to be the best one in his class.

#A Sunday in November, a "[[husförhör]]" (a "house interview" in which the priest examines the household's knowledge of the [[Bible]] and [[Luther's Small Catechism]]) is held at Katthult, during which Emil's mother feels angry for Lina, who just gives wrong answers to the priest's questions mainly about [[Adam and Eve]]. After the end of "husförhöret", it is a great dinner with [[ostkaka]] ("cheesecake") as dessert. After eating ostkaka, Emil's mother tells Emil to go out and lock the hen shed, but Emil also manages to lock the [[outhouse]], without any awareness that there is someone inside, and then shuts up his own father, who gets furious and attempts to get out through the window above the door, but gets stuck and can't get away before Alfred finally comes with a [[hand saw]] and cuts him free.
Alma Svensson, Emil's mother, adores her boy and tends to say that "Emil is a nice little boy, and we love him just the way he is." She also writes down every bad thing Emil does in a blue book, although it soon expands to several books.
#In the final chapter of the book series, Alfred cuts himself in the left thumb when carving ''räfsepinnar'' ("rake sticks") along with Emil, and becomes seriously ill in what is believed to be [[sepsis]] shortly before Christmas, when Småland is hit by a heavy [[snow storm]]. Despite the storm, and his parents' word that it's impossible to go to doctor, Emil desires one early morning, before anyone has woken up, to take Alfred on a sleigh to the doctor in [[Mariannelund]], where Emil and the horse Lukas finally arrive after a tough struggle through the heavy snow and finally thanks to help from a [[snowplow]]. The day before Christmas Eve, Alfred may travel back home, still with bandage over his thumb, and everyone in Lönneberga feels happy over Emil for his heroic act.

Ida Svensson, Emil's little sister, is a well-behaved child, unlike him. She tries to pull pranks like her brother, as she wants to go to the shed, which she thinks will be cozy, but she fails.

Alfred the farmhand, and Lina the farm maid also live on the farm. Alfred, who is very fond of children, is Emil's best friend, but Lina dislikes him. She is in love with Alfred and pesters him to marry her, a subject that Alfred tends to avoid. Krösa-Maja, an elderly woman living in a cabin nearby, often visits the farm to help with the domestic work or watching the children, telling them ghost-stories and other claimed-to-be-true legends.

== Historical setting ==
While there are no specific dates mentioned, the adventures of Emil take place in Sweden vaguely around the years of 1899-1911. Several references are made to swedish cultural, social and military phenomena that ended in the early 1900s. A comet is mentioned, most likely [[Halley's Comet]] which passed Earth in 1910. Furthermore, the same story is accompanied by a song that mentions events that happened in May, and the panic that ensued around the comet, which further makes it likely that they refer to before 19th of May 1910, when Earth passed through the comet's tail. There is also a mention of a great earthquake in America, an obvious reference to the [[1906 San Francisco earthquake|San Francisco earthquake]] of 1906.


==In other languages==
==In other languages==
In [[Germany]], Emil is known as '''''Michel aus Lönneberga''''', for marketing reasons, as there was also another Emil established on the children's book market in West Germany in the 1960s: the boy Emil Tischbein in [[Erich Kästner|Erich Kästner's]] ''[[Emil und die Detektive]]'' from the 1920s.
In [[Germany]], Emil is known as '''''Michel aus Lönneberga''''', for marketing reasons, as there was also another Emil established on the children's book market in West Germany in the 1960s: the boy Emil Tischbein in [[Erich Kästner]]'s ''[[Emil und die Detektive]]'' from the 1920s.


In [[Iceland]], the books are known as '''''Emil í Kattholti''''' and have gained considerable success.
In [[Iceland]], the books are known as '''''Emil í Kattholti''''' and have gained considerable success.
Line 61: Line 55:
In [[France]], Emil was rechristened '''''Zozo la Tornade''''' ("Zozo Tornado").
In [[France]], Emil was rechristened '''''Zozo la Tornade''''' ("Zozo Tornado").


In [[Finland]], Emil is known as '''''Vaahteramäen Eemeli''''', "Eemeli of Vaahteramäki". Vaahteramäki is a direct translation of Lönneberga, "Maple Hill".
In [[Finland]], Emil is known as '''''Vaahteramäen Eemeli''''', "Eemeli of Vaahteramäki". Vaahteramäki is a direct translation of Lönneberga ("Maple Hill").


In The [[Netherlands]], Emil is known as '''''Michiel van de Hazelhoeve'''''.<ref>[[:nl:Michiel van de Hazelhoeve]]</ref>{{Circular reference|date=January 2020}}
In The [[Netherlands]], Emil is known as '''''Michiel van de Hazelhoeve'''''.<ref>[[:nl:Michiel van de Hazelhoeve]]</ref>{{Circular reference|date=January 2020}}
Line 69: Line 63:
*''[[Nya hyss av Emil i Lönneberga]]'' (1972)
*''[[Nya hyss av Emil i Lönneberga]]'' (1972)
*''[[Emil och griseknoen]]'' (1973)
*''[[Emil och griseknoen]]'' (1973)
* ''[[Michel aus Lönneberga (TV series)|Michel aus Lönneberga]]'', German-Swedish TV series.
*''[[Michel aus Lönneberga]]'', a German-Swedish TV series based on the three films.
*''[[Emīla nedarbi]]'' (1985), [[Latvia]]n TV film
*''[[Emīla nedarbi]]'' (1985), [[Latvia]]n TV film
*''[[That Boy Emil]]'' (2013)
*''[[That Boy Emil]]'' (2013)

Revision as of 15:53, 12 August 2022

Emil of Lönneberga
First book, first edition
AuthorAstrid Lindgren
IllustratorBjörn Berg
CountrySweden
LanguageSwedish
Genrechildren
PublisherRabén & Sjögren
Published1963-1997

Emil of Lönneberga (from Swedish: Emil i Lönneberga) is a series of children's novels, written by Astrid Lindgren in 1963, 1966 and 1970 respectively, about the prankster Emil Svensson who lives on a farm in the Lönneberga village of Småland, Sweden.

In total twelve books were written between 1963 and 1997, which have appeared in 44 languages (2014),[1] in most cases with the original Swedish illustrations by Björn Berg. There are three Swedish movie adaptations, released in 1971–1973.

Emil the character

Emil Svensson lives on the farm Katthult ("Catholt"), set in the village of Lönneberga in Småland around the year 1900, with his younger sister Ida, mother Alma and father Anton, the farmhand Alfred who loves Emil and the farm maid Lina who, however, is unable to tolerate Emil's pranks ("hyss"). Sometimes Krösa-Maja ("Lingonberry-Maia") comes to Katthult to help with domestic work and tell Emil and Ida stories about "mylingar", ghosts, murders and similar nasties. Emil does more pranks ("hyss") than there are days of the year, which one day make the inhabitants of the village angry, so they collect money for Emil's mother to send Emil to America, but she gets angry and refuses, stating that "Emil is a nice little boy, we love him just the way he is.". Alma writes down all Emil's pranks ("hyss") in blue notebooks, in order to let Emil remember what he has done as a child when being an adult and then chairman of the Lönneberga village council. Emil is very resourceful and handy with all types of farm animal.

In the three novels, written in 1963, 1966 and 1970 respectively, one may follow some of Emil's many praks ("hyss"), for example:

  1. One day when meat soup is served at Katthult, Emil puts his head into the big soup bowl, which gets stuck over his head.
  2. A day in June, when a party is to be held at Katthult, Emil manages to raise up his little sister in the flagpole, and gets shut up by his father into the toolshed, as a punishment for his prank ("hyss"), where Emil always carves a wooden figure while waiting for being released. However, this time, Emil manages to espace on a plank he puts between the open windows in the toolshed and the food shed on the opposite side, and has his own party in the food shed with sausages, except the last sausage, with is served to Mrs Petrell who has traveled all the way from Vimmerby just to eat Alma's sausage.
  3. One day in July, Emil traps his father in a rat trap, and later heaves both betters of palt and raggmunk on his father's face, and carves his 100th wooden figure.
  4. On the last day of October, an autumn market is held in Vimmerby and a comet is excepted to hit the Earth.[2] In Vimmerby, Emil manages to scare Mrs Petrell as well as the mayor of Vimmerby and the inhabitants of the town overall - but also acquire the horse Lukas without charge.
  5. On the day after Christmas Day, Alfred's grandfather Stolle-Jocke comes to Katthult, along with Lill-Klossan, from the poorhouse, to tell that they haven't got any Christmas food ("julmat") to eat and Jocke hasn't got any snus, even though Emil's mother sent Emil to the poorhouse with a big basket of Christmas food and a little box of snus for Jocke, because Kommandoran ("the commanderess (of the poorhouse)") destructed everything by taking all of the Christmas food (and Jocke's snus) for herself. Emil manages to invite everyone from the poorhouse except Kommandoran to Katthult for a Christmas party, later referred to as the Big Tabberas in Katthult ("Stora Tabberaset i Katthult"), with the Christmas food left in the food shed which, however, was for the next day when the relatives in Ingatorp are invited for Christmas party (but Emil thinks they are "fat enough" and the poorhouse people need the food better). When Kommandoran comes to Katthult, in order to force them home to the poorhouse, she accidentally gets captured in a wolf pit Emil managed to dig in order to capture an eventual wolf. Emil think it was a necessary punishment for Kommandoran, for her sins towards Stolle-Jocke and the other poor people. Finally, Emil forgives Kommandoran and tells Alfred to help her up from the wolf pit, upon which she escapes from Katthult forever.
  6. In June the following summer, when the people of the Backhorva farm plan to emigrate to America, they hold an auction in which Emil manages to make several ludicrous but eventually successful deals which, however, make his father angry. The next day, Emil pretends Ida having typhus by painting her face blue. One summer night, the pig sow Emil's father bought in the auction gives birth to eleven piglets, but bites ten of them to death before Emil luckily rescues the eleventh. A few days later, the sow dies of some strange illness. Emil desires to breed the little piglet, as he were its mother.
  7. One summer day, when Emil's mother brews cherry wine for Mrs Petrell, Emil and the piglet accidentally eat the brewed cherries which make them drunk so that they cause terrible problems. The next day, they have recovered, and are invited to Lönneberga Good Templar Association, to swear a promise to be sober forever, and thereafter keeps the whole Katthult in soberness, firstly by crushing the bottles with Mrs Petrell's cherry wine. In late August, it is time for Emil to start school, where he proves to be the best one in his class.
  8. A Sunday in November, a "husförhör" (a "house interview" in which the priest examines the household's knowledge of the Bible and Luther's Small Catechism) is held at Katthult, during which Emil's mother feels angry for Lina, who just gives wrong answers to the priest's questions mainly about Adam and Eve. After the end of "husförhöret", it is a great dinner with ostkaka ("cheesecake") as dessert. After eating ostkaka, Emil's mother tells Emil to go out and lock the hen shed, but Emil also manages to lock the outhouse, without any awareness that there is someone inside, and then shuts up his own father, who gets furious and attempts to get out through the window above the door, but gets stuck and can't get away before Alfred finally comes with a hand saw and cuts him free.
  9. In the final chapter of the book series, Alfred cuts himself in the left thumb when carving räfsepinnar ("rake sticks") along with Emil, and becomes seriously ill in what is believed to be sepsis shortly before Christmas, when Småland is hit by a heavy snow storm. Despite the storm, and his parents' word that it's impossible to go to doctor, Emil desires one early morning, before anyone has woken up, to take Alfred on a sleigh to the doctor in Mariannelund, where Emil and the horse Lukas finally arrive after a tough struggle through the heavy snow and finally thanks to help from a snowplow. The day before Christmas Eve, Alfred may travel back home, still with bandage over his thumb, and everyone in Lönneberga feels happy over Emil for his heroic act.

In other languages

In Germany, Emil is known as Michel aus Lönneberga, for marketing reasons, as there was also another Emil established on the children's book market in West Germany in the 1960s: the boy Emil Tischbein in Erich Kästner's Emil und die Detektive from the 1920s.

In Iceland, the books are known as Emil í Kattholti and have gained considerable success.

In Italy, Emil is known as Emil, and his Swedish movies were shown on RAI TV in 1974.

In Poland, the books are known as Emil ze Smalandii.

In France, Emil was rechristened Zozo la Tornade ("Zozo Tornado").

In Finland, Emil is known as Vaahteramäen Eemeli, "Eemeli of Vaahteramäki". Vaahteramäki is a direct translation of Lönneberga ("Maple Hill").

In The Netherlands, Emil is known as Michiel van de Hazelhoeve.[3][circular reference]

Film adaptations

Notes

  1. ^ "Astrid Lindgren och världen | Astrid Lindgren". Astridlindgren.se. Retrieved 6 August 2014.
  2. ^ Most likely based on Halley's Comet
  3. ^ nl:Michiel van de Hazelhoeve
Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Emil_i_Lönneberga&oldid=1104090737"