The Wonderful Adventures of Nils and The Further Adventures of Nils by Selma Lagerlöf
"The Wonderful Adventures of Nils" and its sequel "The Further Adventures of Nils" by Selma Lagerlöf are children's novels originally commissioned by the Swedish National Teachers' Society to help schoolchildren learn about Sweden's geography through engaging storytelling. The narrative follows Nils, a disobedient fourteen-year-old boy who, after refusing to go to church, is magically transformed into a tiny imp. His adventures begin when he befriends a flock of wild geese, leading him on a journey across Sweden and into Lapland. Throughout his travels, Nils learns about local customs and the values of courage, loyalty, and compassion through various encounters, including a reflective confrontation with a predatory fox named Smirre.
The story is rich with didactic elements, showcasing Nils’s transformation from a selfish boy to a more compassionate individual as he witnesses the struggles of two children, Osa and Mats, searching for their father. Ultimately, he is granted a second chance to return to his human form, having gained wisdom from his experiences. Despite some criticism from educators regarding its unconventional approach, the book became a beloved classic, translated into forty languages and marking a significant impact on children’s literature. In recognition of Lagerlöf's contributions, a Swedish children's literature award was named the Nils Holgersson Award.
The Wonderful Adventures of Nils and The Further Adventures of Nils by Selma Lagerlöf
Excerpted from an article in Magill’s Survey of World Literature, Revised Edition
First published:Nils Holgerssons underbara resa genom Sverige, 1906-1907 (English translation, 1907, 1911)
Type of work: Children’s literature
The Work
Selma Lagerlöf’s two-volume story for children, translated as The Wonderful Adventures of Nils and The Further Adventures of Nils, was originally written for use in schools. The Swedish National Teachers’ Society commissioned the work, with the idea that Swedish schoolchildren could more easily learn about the geography of their country by reading stories set in various regions. It was Lagerlöf who decided to place the information she collected within a unified framework, and her suspenseful story about a boy who flew over Sweden with a flock of geese became one of her most popular works, not only in her own country but throughout the world as well.
Lagerlöf’s protagonist is a fourteen-year-old boy, an only child, who is lazy, nasty, and disobedient. When he is left home alone after refusing to go to church with his parents, he is magically transformed into a tiny imp and sent to live with the animals. Befriended by a flock of wild geese, he flies on gooseback over Sweden, into Lapland, and finally back home. He does not see his country only from the air. When the geese land to eat and to sleep, Nils visits nearby places of interest and learns about local customs. Lagerlöf thereby is able to include a great deal of factual material in her account.
There is also a strong didactic element in Lagerlöf’s story. From an eagle, a raven, a stork, and a moose, as well as from the geese, Nils learns such values as courage, loyalty, compassion, and self-sacrifice. In Smirre, the wily and predatory fox, Nils sees an uncomfortable reflection of the selfish boy he had been, and by opposing Smirre, in order to protect the geese, Nils clearly forswears his old self. Nils also learns an important lesson from two children he encounters during his travels. Motherless, defenseless, and half-starved, Osa and Mats are wandering in search of their father, never complaining, never losing hope. Observing them, Nils cannot help contrasting their behavior with his own ingratitude when he was a pampered human child, and if he ever returns to his family, he promises to do better.
Like Gösta Berling, Nils does get a second chance. He is finally adjudged worthy to resume his human form, and he goes back home, a wiser and a better person.
Ironically, some educators found fault with Lagerlöf’s book, essentially because of her highly original approach. Fortunately, the final judgement did not rest with the pedagogues. Translated into forty languages, the story of Nils was read by children and adults throughout the world. The book was so highly regarded in Lagerlöf’s own country that in 1950, when an annual award to a Swedish children’s author was established, it was named the Nils Holgersson Award, in honor of the author and of her bad-boy-turned-hero.
Bibliography
Berendsohn, Walter A. Selma Lagerlöf: Her Life and Work. Translated by George F. Timpson. London: Nicholson & Watson, 1931.
Danielson, Larry W. “The Uses of Demonic Folk Tradition in Selma Lagerlöf’s Gösta Berlings Saga.” Western Folklore 34, no. 3 (July, 1975): 187-199.
Edström, Vivi. Selma Lagerlöf. Translated by Barbara Lide. Boston: Twayne, 1984.
Gustafson, Alrik. Six Scandinavian Novelists: Lie, Jacobsen, Heidenstam, Selma Lagerlöf, Hamsun, [and] Sigrid Undset. Princeton, N.J.: Princeton University Press, 1940.
Marx, Jennifer. Swedish Novelist Selma Lagerlöf, 1858-1940, and Germany at the Turn of the Century: O du Stern ob meinem Garten. Lewiston, N.Y.: Edwin Mellen Press, 2004.
Nordlund, Anna. “Corpses, Curses, and Cannibalism.” Scandinavian Studies 76, no. 2 (Summer, 2004): 181-204.
Olson-Buckner, Elsa. The Epic Tradition in Gösta Berlings Saga. Brooklyn, N.Y.: T. Gaus, 1978.
Wagner, Elin. Selma Lagerlöf. 2 vols. Stockholm: A. Bonnier, 1954.