Janus Djurhuus

Jens Hendrik Oliver Djurhuus,calledJanus Djurhuus,(26 February 1881,Tórshavn– 1 September 1948, Tórshavn) was the first modernFaroesepoet. He and his younger brotherHans Andreas Djurhuus,also a poet, are called theÁarstovabrothers after the house where they grew up.

Life and work

Djurhuus's parents were Óla Jákup Djurhuus (1832–1909) and Else MarienéePoulsen, fromHósvík(1847–1897). He was a great-grandson ofJens Christian Djurhuus.

Djurhuus said that his "poetic baptism" came in school, when he heardJákup Dahl(later aprovostandBible translatorand author of the first school grammar of the Faroese language) declaimJóannes Patursson'sNú er tann stundin komin til handa(Now is the hour come for acting), the anthem of theChristmas Meeting of 1888which 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 inCopenhagenand then inBornholm.He passed the qualifying examinations in 1900, graduated with thecand. 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 publishedYrkingar(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 studiedclassical philology,and also published accomplished Faroese translations of Ancient Greek and Latin works, including some ofPlato's Dialogues and poetry bySappho,and (posthumously) a poetic translation of theIliad.(He also published translations of poetic works byGoethe,Dante,Heinrich HeineandGustaf 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 theOdysseyin Ancient Greek. The astonished captain joined in.^[1]

His poetry combines Classical andNorse mythology.^[5]The language of his poems draws on both modern Faroese and the language ofthe 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

Plato.Symposion—Gorgias.Copenhagen: Føroyingafelag, 1938.OCLC 44024260
Homer.Ilionskvæði.Tórshavn, 1967.OCLC 559676478

Honours

On 20 September 2004, theFaroese post officehonoured Djurhuus with a block of ten stamps, designed byAnker Eli Petersen,depicting ten of his poems.^[11]It was chosen as the popular favourite amongst their stamp issues for the year.

"Atlantis"
"Grímur Kamban"
"Gandkvæði Tróndar" (Curse ofTróndur í Gøtu)
"Til Føroya I–III" (To the Faroes I–III)
"Mín Sorg" (My Sorrow)
"Loki"
"I búri" and "Slatur" ( "Songbird" and "Gossip" )
"Heimferð Nólsoyar Páls" ( "Return ofNólsoyar Páll")
"Móses á Sinai fjalli" (MosesonMount Sinai")
"Cello"

References

^^a ^b ^c ^dJohn Frederick West,Faroe: The Emergence of a Nation,London: Hurst, 1972,ISBN 978-0-8397-2063-8,p. 235.
^^a ^bSven H. Rossel, tr. Anne C. Ulmer,A History of Scandinavian Literature, 1870–1930,Nordic series 5, Minneapolis: University of Minnesota, 1982,ISBN 978-0-8166-0906-2,p. 222.
^^a ^bMartin Næs,Færøsk Litteratur: Udvikling og Vilkår,Studier fra Danmarks Biblioteksskole 42, Copenhagen: Danmarks Biblioteksskole, 1981,ISBN 978-87-7415-115-9,p. 16(in Danish)
^^a ^bWest, p. 236.
^^a ^b ^cW. Glyn Jones, "Faroese Literature",Dictionary of Scandinavian Literature,ed. Virpi Zuck, Niels Ingwersen and Harald S. Naess, New York: Greenwood, 1990,ISBN 978-0-313-21450-9,pp. 159–61, p. 159.
^West, pp. 235–36.
^Ernst Krenn,Die Entwicklung der foeroyischen Literatur,Illinois studies in languages and literature, Urbana: University of Illinois, 1940,OCLC 4393398,p. 125(in German)
^Saga Book13 (1949)p. 268.
^^a ^bScripta Islandica45–49 (1995)p. 58(in Swedish)
^"essentially a late Romantic poet", Robert Nedoma and Nina von Zimmermann, eds.,Einheit und Vielfalt der nordischen Literatur(en): Festschrift für Sven Hakon Rossel zum 60. Geburtstag,Wiener Studien zur Skandinavistik 8, Vienna: Edition Praesens, 2003,ISBN 978-3-7069-0183-3,p. 88.
^"Janus Djurhuus—Yrkingar", FO 493–502,Faroese Stamps 1975 – 2006 Archived2012-03-26 at theWayback Machine,p. 27 (pdf)

Sources

Chr. Holm Isaksen.Føroyskur skaldskapur í 19. øld: Páll Nólsoy; Jóannes Paturrson; J. H. O. Djurhuus.Bókmentagreinir 1. Tórshavn: Fannir, 1981.OCLC 472830743(in Faroese)
Hanus Andreassen.J.H.O. Djurhuus: ein bókmentalig ævisøga.Volume 11881 – 1904,Volume 21904 – 1929,Volume 31929 – 1948.Tórshavn: Mentunargrunnur Studentafelagsins, 1994–97.ISBN 978-99918-43-02-5(in Faroese)
Hanus Kamban,tr. Kirsten Brix.J. H. O. Djurhuus: en litterær biografiVolume 11881 – 1922,Volume 21922 – 1948.Odense University studies in Scandinavian languages and literatures 46. Odense: Odense University, 2001, 2002.ISBN 978-87-7838-604-5(in Danish)(translation of above)

External links

J.H.O. Djurhuusat 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

[West235-1] John Frederick West,Faroe: The Emergence of a Nation,London: Hurst, 1972,ISBN 978-0-8397-2063-8,p. 235.

[Rossel-2] Sven H. Rossel, tr. Anne C. Ulmer,A History of Scandinavian Literature, 1870–1930,Nordic series 5, Minneapolis: University of Minnesota, 1982,ISBN 978-0-8166-0906-2,p. 222.

[Naes-3] Martin Næs,Færøsk Litteratur: Udvikling og Vilkår,Studier fra Danmarks Biblioteksskole 42, Copenhagen: Danmarks Biblioteksskole, 1981,ISBN 978-87-7415-115-9,p. 16(in Danish)

[West236-4] West, p. 236.

[Jones-5] W. Glyn Jones, "Faroese Literature",Dictionary of Scandinavian Literature,ed. Virpi Zuck, Niels Ingwersen and Harald S. Naess, New York: Greenwood, 1990,ISBN 978-0-313-21450-9,pp. 159–61, p. 159.

[6] West, pp. 235–36.

[7] Ernst Krenn,Die Entwicklung der foeroyischen Literatur,Illinois studies in languages and literature, Urbana: University of Illinois, 1940,OCLC 4393398,p. 125(in German)

[8] Saga Book13 (1949)p. 268.

[Scripta58-9] Scripta Islandica45–49 (1995)p. 58(in Swedish)

[10] "essentially a late Romantic poet", Robert Nedoma and Nina von Zimmermann, eds.,Einheit und Vielfalt der nordischen Literatur(en): Festschrift für Sven Hakon Rossel zum 60. Geburtstag,Wiener Studien zur Skandinavistik 8, Vienna: Edition Praesens, 2003,ISBN 978-3-7069-0183-3,p. 88.

[11] "Janus Djurhuus—Yrkingar", FO 493–502,Faroese Stamps 1975 – 2006 Archived2012-03-26 at theWayback Machine,p. 27 (pdf)

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