Professor Anderson has made himself the interpreter of the Norse genius to the nation which promised to become in some of its sections a western Norway. He has eminent qualifications for this great work in his vital as well as scholarly comprehension of a world of thought and feeling to which we are in a measure alien, and in his ready command of our own tongue. A genuine enthusiasm impels him to the discharge of a task among the most important that ever devolves upon the man of letters. Carlyle was the first to excite a popular interest in the great history of thought and action which have been the fertile soil of Norse legend and literature. Odin and Thor are familiar figures since his strong hand drew their massive features with a few bold, inspiring strokes. Professor Anderson laid the foundation of what, we hope, will be a comprehensive rendering of the Norse masterpieces into English by reducing the vast, chaotic Norse mythology into order, translating its noble conceptions, gods and men, into myths of such beauty that every English mind must recognize their natural majesty. A rich view of native poetry runs through Norse life, and makes even its severe simplicity fit material for the finest literary art. Björnson is the greatest mind which Norway has produced for centuries. He is a man of intense activity, the creative impulse impelling him to many forms of literary expression, and to the more aggressive work of religious and political reform. "Synnöve Solbakken" was his first novel; the work of his early manhood. It appeared in 1857, and was immediately recognized as the work of a master.It is a simple story of Norse life told with directness and simplicity which seems born of the very nature of the quiet, secluded existence which it portrays. Its almost meager outlines betray the touch of a bold, sure hand. and spring from no poverty of imaginative power or lack of descriptive faculty. Out of a few common elements the old story of human weakness built up into strength by the power of human love is told again, with a freshness that will be a new revolution to the novel reader weary of intense situations and exaggerated sentiment. As a picture of life in Norway it is eminently worthy of careful study. Prof. Anderson has apparently done his work as a translator with commendable repression of himself. The other stories in the series will be awaited with great interest.-New Outlook, Volume 24 [1881]