Bjørnstjerne Bjørnson

　　Bjørnstjerne Martinius Bjørnson (1832 - 1910) was a Norwegian poet, novelist, playwright, and lyricist. He was awarded the 1903 Nobel Prize in Literature: "as a tribute to his noble, magnificent and versatile poetry, which has always been distinguished by both the freshness of its inspiration and the rare purity of its spirit."

　　Along with Henrik Ibsen, Jonas Lie, and Alexander Kielland, Bjørnson is considered one of the De Fire Store or "The Four Greats" of Norwegian Literature. Despite his global recognition with the Nobel Prize, Bjørnson remains largely unknown to English readers. We feature him in our small but growing collection of Scandinavian authors, which includes folktale author, Peter Christen Asbjornsen.