Danish author, son of a pastor; born at Fredericia on the 24th of July 1857. He studied physics and mathematics at the university of Copenhagen, and when he was eighteen he travelled on foot through Germany and Switzerland. His novels show an intimate acquaintance with peasant life and character, the earlier ones showing clear evidence of the influence of Kjelland. An excellent example of his work is in the trilogy dealing with the history of Emanuel Hansted, a theorizing radical parson who marries a peasant wife. These three stories, Muld (“Soil,” 1891), Det Forjaettede Land (“The Promised Land,” 1892), and Dommens Dag (1895) are marked by fine discrimination and great narrative power. Among his other works are Fra Hytterne (1887), Folkelivsskildringer (2 parts, 1888–1890), and Skyer (1890). He began in 1898 a new series in Lykke Per, the story of a typical Jutlander. In 1917 he was awarded the Nobel prize.
See an article of Niels Möller in Dansk Biografisk Lexikon (vol. xiii., 1899).
