Swedish Nobel Prize winner Selma Lagerlöf is one of the most famous children's authors in the world. Her classic book "The Wonderful Adventures of Nils Holgersson", published in 1906, has been translated into more than 30 languages and is an all-time favourite in the Nordic countries

Life and Works of Selma Lagerlöf

Young girl Selma Ottilia Lovisa Lagerlöf grew up in her beloved family estate of Mårbacka, in Sunne, South-East Sweden, and she soon showed an interest in poetry and writing. She decided to go to Stockholm to train as a teacher at the age of 23 and moved to Landskrona in 1885 to teach at the local girl's secondary school.

Selma Lagerlöf achieved her first writing success in 1891 when she won a literary contest with her famous novel Gösta Berlings Saga, the story of 12 cavaliers led by renegade priest Gösta Berling. The innovative story-telling style of the Saga received wide critical acclaim and Selma's first novel became a key work of the Swedish Romanticism.

After the success of the Gösta Berlings Saga, Selma Lagerlöf obtained a scholarship from the Swedish Academy in 1895 and left her teaching job to fully dedicate herself to writing. She traveled in Italy and published Antikrists Mirakler (The Miracles of Antichrist, 1897), a social novel about Sicily, and the two volumes of Jerusalem (translated into English as The Holy City, 1901-1902), a novel about Swedish peasants who emigrated to the Holy Land.

By 1902 Selma was a well-known novelist in Sweden and in Europe, and The Swedish National Association of Teachers proposed her to write a book for the state elementary schools. Selma Lagerlöf devoted three years of work to study geography, animal life and Swedish folklore, and the result of her research was published in 1906 in a book for children called Nils Holgerssons underbara resa genom Sverige (The Wonderful Adventures of Nils Holgersson).


The Wonderful Adventures of Nils Holgersson

Nils Holgersson is a Swedish boy who likes to play tricks on the animals of the farm. But one day, a little elf punishes young Nils and turns him into a lilliput who can talk with animals. Nils desperatly seeks help from the animals of the barnyard, but he has been so mean to all of them that nobody wants to speak to him. The only friends that he has left are a farm goose called Martin and Nils' little pet hamster.

Martin had always been dreaming of being a wild goose and one day when he sees a flock of wild geese flying over the farmhouse on their migration to Lapland, Martin decides to join them -Nils and his hamster have just the time to jump on Martin's wings and fly away with him.

As the three friends travel all over Sweden, they discover fascinating places, learn many interesting things about the world, and enjoy many happy adventures together. Slowly, Nils starts learning to be kind to everyone and realises that perhaps one day someone may help him to return to his normal size.


Nils Holgersson, the most popular children's book in Scandinavia

When Nils Holgersson's book was published in 1906, it quickly became the most popular book of the year in Scandinavia. Selma Lagerlöf was acclaimed then as the greatest story-teller in Scandinavian literature since Hans Christian Andersen.

Today, almost a century after its publishing, Nordic children are still growing with The Wonderful Adventures of Nils Holgersson. The story is also well-known in countries outside the Scandinavia and the book has been translated so far into more than 30 languages.

Nils Holgersson is a truly Scandinavian story, which reflects many of the traditional values of Scandinavian culture, such us love for nature, tolerance and playful learning. As a geography reader for elementary schools, Nils Holgersson's adventures transmit information to the children through interest, imagination and humour. As Nils travels over Sweden, children became familiar with the nature, climate, geography and culture, learning at the same time the importance of friendship, tolerance, and the belief in a good world.


First Swedish writer to win the Nobel Prize for Literature

Nils Holgersson gave Selma Lagerlöf worldwide recognition as a gifted children's author. In Sweden, she received many tribute of respect, such us the gold medal of the Swedish Academy in 1904 and the title of Honorary Doctor at the University of Upsala in 1907. In 1909, she became the first Swedish writer and the first woman to be awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature, and in 1914 she was elected a member of the Swedish Academy.

Selma Lagerlöf wrote very little during the years of and following World War 1. Although Sweden was not directly involved in the war, she was deeply saddened by the massacre of hundreds of thousands of lives on the fields of Europe. After the War she published, among others, Mårbacka (1922), the Värmland historical trilogy of Löwensköldska Ringen (The Ring of the Lowenskolds, 1925), Charlotte Löwensköld (1927), Anna Svärd (1928), Ett barns memoarer (Memories of my childhood, 1930), and Dagbok för Selma Lagerlöf (The Diary of Selma Lagerlöf, 1932).

Selma Ottilia Lovisa Lagerlöf died in 1940, one year after the beginning of World War 2, in her beloved family estate of Mårbacka.