PAN

"In recent days I have thought and thought about the eternal day of the Nordland summer. I sit here and think about it and about a cabin that I lived in and about the forest behind the cabin and I start writing something down to shorten the time and for my own pleasure."

1894

In Pan (1894), the young lieutenant Thomas Glahn tells of his experiences at the trading post of Sirilund in Nordland.

The year is 1855, and Glahn tries to make a living as a hunter and fisherman. He lives in a simple cabin and gives the impression of living isolated and in harmony with nature. At the same time, he associates with the local elite, and he begins a relationship with Edvarda Mack, the daughter of the trading post's merchant Mack.

The novel's epilogue tells how Thomas Glahn finally dies while hunting in India. Glahn's account is characterized by poetic and mythical descriptions of mood and nature.

While the novel was praised in its time for its beautiful depictions of nature, it has become common to be critical of Thomas Glahn's narrative voice and his poetic portrayal of reality.

"It was starting to be no night, the sun barely dipped its disk into the sea and then came up again, red, renewed, as if it had been down and drunk."

"Whether you believe it or not, I'm freezing here now; I get chills down my spine just by coming near you. It's from happiness."

"Every tree stood and thought."

"Summer nights and still waters and endlessly silent forests. No screams, no footsteps from the roads, my heart was full as of dark wine."