Early Modern Nordic Women Writers

Abstract

In the early modern period, only a few Nordic women had books printed and published, and only a few adorned themselves with the name of author or poet. But there were women in the Nordic countries who were preoccupied with writing autobiographies and occasional poems, compiling prayer books, translating classics, and collecting ballads, and who thus contributed to the literary culture of their time. The writing women were often royal, like the Swedish Queen Christina; belonged to the nobility, like the Danish Anne Krabbe; or were part of parsonage culture, like the Norwegian Dorothe Engelbretsdatter. They did not study at universities, but were educated by private tutors. Some mastered Latin and Greek and were celebrated as learned women. Others were widows or daughters of clergy who wrote hymns in their mother tongue. A few women were able to establish a reputation as Nordic authors.