Janus Djurhuus

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Janus Djurhuus on a stamp of the Faroe Islands issued in 1984
Janus Djurhuus (front row, left) in 1900 with (back row, left to right) Jákup Dahl, Magnus Dahl and Jógvan Waagstein; (front row) Petur Dahl and Oluf Skaalum

Jens Hendrik Oliver Djurhuus, called Janus Djurhuus, (26 February 1881,

Hans Andreas Djurhuus
, also a poet, are called the Áarstova brothers after the house where they grew up.

Life and work

Djurhuus's parents were Óla Jákup Djurhuus (1832–1909) and Else Marie née Poulsen, from Hósvík (1847–1897). He was a great-grandson of Jens Christian Djurhuus.

Djurhuus said that his "poetic baptism" came in school, when he heard

Bible translator and author of the first school grammar of the Faroese language) declaim Jóannes Patursson's Nú er tann stundin komin til handa (Now is the hour come for acting), the anthem of the Christmas Meeting of 1888 which began the rise of Faroese nationalism.[1]

Djurhuus trained as a lawyer. After passing the preliminary examinations in 1897, he went to Denmark for university preparation, first in

cand. jur. degree in 1911, and then practised in Copenhagen until the late 1930s, when he returned to the Faroes to practise there. However, he kept in touch with his homeland through students.[1]

His first published poem was "Blíð er summarnátt á Føroya landi", in 1901. In 1914 he published Yrkingar (Poems), the first collection of a single poet's work published in Faroese.[2][3] He published four further collections of poems.

Djurhuus had also studied

Dante, Heinrich Heine and Gustaf Fröding).[4] There is a story that on one occasion when a Greek steamer called at Tórshavn, he went on board and sent a cabin boy for the captain. On his arrival, he began to recite the Odyssey in Ancient Greek. The astonished captain joined in.[1]

His poetry combines Classical and Norse mythology.[5] The language of his poems draws on both modern Faroese and the language of the traditional ballads, as well as ancient and modern poetry in other Scandinavian languages; their rhythm is also influenced by ancient Greek and modern German poetry.[6]

Literary reputation

Djurhuus's poetry represented the breakthrough into modern literature in Faroese.[5][7] His poetry has been judged "among the best" of modern Scandinavian writing,[3][8] "splendid . . . of great vision and musicality" and some consider him the greatest Faroese poet,[5] "the first Faroese writer of genius",[1] "without a doubt a great poet".[9]

He was a national romantic,[10] but his works show what has been described as poetic idealisation and love of his homeland conflicting with "something of a revulsion from [its] reality"[4] and as "doubt and pessimism, a result of the clash between [his] powerful, pathetic dream of beauty and petty, miserable reality".[2] "Útlegd" (Exile—referring to his many years in Denmark) is an example of this pessimism.[9]

Selected works

Poetry

  • Yrkingar. Copenhagen: Hitt Føroyska Studentafelagið, 1914. Rev. ed. 1923.
    OCLC 41390587
  • Nyggjar Yrkingar. Copenhagen: Hitt Føroyska Studentafelagið, 1938.
    OCLC 465720164
  • Carmina. Tórshavn: H.N. Jacobsen, 1941.
    OCLC 729143860
  • Moriendo. Tórshavn: Norrøna forlagið, 1944.
    OCLC 19884120
  • Yrkingar 1898-1948. Ed. Christian Matras. Copenhagen: Mentunargrunnur Studentafelagsins, 1988.
    OCLC 25370149
    (Collected edition)

Translations

Honours

On 20 September 2004, the

Faroese post office honoured Djurhuus with a block of ten stamps, designed by Anker Eli Petersen, depicting ten of his poems.[11]
It was chosen as the popular favourite amongst their stamp issues for the year.

References

  1. ^
    ISBN 978-0-8397-2063-8, p. 235
    .
  2. ^
    ISBN 978-0-8166-0906-2
    , p. 222.
  3. ^
    ISBN 978-87-7415-115-9, p. 16
    (in Danish)
  4. ^ a b West, p. 236.
  5. ^
    ISBN 978-0-313-21450-9
    , pp. 159–61, p. 159.
  6. ^ West, pp. 235–36.
  7. OCLC 4393398, p. 125
    (in German)
  8. ^ Saga Book 13 (1949) p. 268.
  9. ^ a b Scripta Islandica 45–49 (1995) p. 58 (in Swedish)
  10. ISBN 978-3-7069-0183-3, p. 88
    .
  11. ^ "Janus Djurhuus—Yrkingar", FO 493–502, Faroese Stamps 1975 – 2006 Archived 2012-03-26 at the Wayback Machine, p. 27 (pdf)

Sources

External links

  • J.H.O. Djurhuus at Rithøvundafelag Føroya (Writers' Association of the Faroes), 7 March 2007.
  • Janus, Faroeartstamps, Faroepost, 21 November 2005: the 2004 stamp sheet, with translations of many of the poems
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