To Tegner, in his prime, life was a brisk
and exhilarating sail, with a fresh breeze, over sunny waters; and he
had no patience with those who described it as a painful and troublous
groping through the valley of the shadow of death. There was, in other
words, a certain charming juvenility in his attitude toward existence,
which presented to him no riddles that a man with a strong arm and an
honest heart might not solve with comparative ease. All problems were to
him soluble with the sword; and Alexander, when he cut the Gordian knot,
must have appeared to him wiser, as he was surely more admirable, than
either Plato or Socrates. This scorn of all metaphysical subtleties, and
reliance upon strength and Swedish manhood, are, perhaps (from an
advanced European point of view), indicative of a little intellectual
immaturity; but they are thoroughly characteristic of the Scandinavian
nationalities. The love of brave words and brave deeds, the exaltation
of the man of action above the man of thought, the pleasure in reckless
gallantry and foolhardy adventure, are, however, not confined to Swedes
and Norwegians, but are characteristic of the boyhood of every nation.
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