1. The Master Builder: The title of the original is Bygmester Solness, literally ‘Master Builder Solness’. But The Master Builder became the preferred title from the time of the play’s first translation into English.
1. master builder: While the compound ‘bygmester’ of the original does mean ‘master builder’, the term is a set expression and simply refers to a builder who is in charge of a building firm, a building contractor. The term ‘master builder’ communicates a somewhat rarer and more mythical quality than does the original.
2. Mrs: The term is ‘fru’, indicating that the woman in question is married and has a relatively high social standing (belonging to the bourgeoisie or the higher levels of the rural community). The term ‘madam’ was at this time used for married women from lower social strata.
3. Knut: The ‘k’ in front of an ‘n’ should be pronounced in Dano-Norwegian (Danish was the shared written language of Denmark and Norway at this time, but Ibsen’s language is coloured by ‘Norwegianisms’).
4. Miss: The word ‘frøken’ in the original was used to describe girls who had been confirmed (normally at the age of fourteen to sixteen, at the latest at nineteen). In contrast, ‘jomfru’ – more quaint by this period – meant an unmarried, younger woman of higher social standing.
1. left wall: Ibsen always pictures the stage from the perspective of the audience.
2. master: In the original Brovik refers scathingly to Solness as ‘principalen’, which can also mean the director, head or leader.
3. villa: Villas for families of the bourgeoisie were at this time mostly built in rural surroundings on the periphery of the city.
4. dammit: The original’s ‘for fan’ literally means ‘for the devil’, a middling strong to strong swearword. Various forms of this expression have been rendered as ‘dammit’ or ‘dammit all’ throughout these translations. Ibsen’s Norwegian swearwords are typically of a religious rather than sexual kind.
5. Blonde ringlets: Ringlets were worn by Norwegian women around 1830 but represented a very dated look by the 1890s, when women’s hair was tied in a knot in the neck or up on the head.
6. clean-shaven: Fashion in the eighteenth century demanded beardlessness, but beards were popular in the nineteenth.
7. upon my soul: ‘Så min sæl’ og salighed’ is an expression used in eighteenth- and early nineteenth-century Danish literature. By the 1890s it had become a literary-sounding and antiquated phrase. It literally means ‘so my soul and salvation’.
8. baronial pile: ‘Røverborg’ literally means ‘robber’s fortress’, the fortress of a robber knight or robber baron; here an old, dilapidated house.
9. the turn: ‘Omslaget’ may mean a change or reversal of one sort or another, e.g. the turn of the tide, a turn in the weather, but also a reversal of fortune. The word designates a central concept in the play.
10. travelling costume: From the 1880s there were initiatives to make more easy and comfortable clothing for women’s outdoor activities, often a simple skirt and a separate top.
11. mountain lodges: Lodges and cabins provided by the state or the Norwegian Trekking Association (founded in 1868) as accommodation for travellers over mountain passes.
12. glorious: ‘Dejlig’ is a key word in the play. On the whole it is translated as ‘lovely’, but not when preceded by ‘utterly’ or ‘terribly’, in which cases ‘glorious’ or ‘splendid’ has been preferred for stylistic reasons.
13. woman: Before it became applied to female individuals, the word ‘Fruentimmer’ in the original meant ‘a woman’s room’. The word acquired a pejorative sense from the middle of the nineteenth century, generally referring to a woman of low standing or questionable behaviour.
14. When the tower was finished … celebration in the town: The owner traditionally gave a feast when the top of the construction was finished, and a wreath or small pine tree was placed on top.
15. harps playing: Probably an allusion to the notion of the music or harmony of the spheres, a divine music not audible to the human ear.
16. the real bit: ‘Det rigtige’. This is an instance of an adjective used with the definite article but no noun to follow, a stylistic possibility in Norwegian employed by Ibsen to denote a central idea, communicating a certain openness or enigmatic quality. Other instances of the same in this play include ‘det forfærdelige’ (literally: ‘the terrible [thing]’) and ‘det umulige’ (‘the impossible’). While the last example shows that this construction is not always untranslatable in English, in most cases a noun is required.
17. Orangia: ‘Appelsinia’. The orange (‘appelsin’) was a rare and exotic fruit in Norway at this time.
18. tied a knot in your handkerchief: A traditional way in which to signal that something must be remembered.
1. Just as empty: Possibly an allusion to Genesis 1:2: ‘And the earth was without form, and void.’ In Ibsen’s original the words ‘tomt’ and ‘øde’ are identical with those used as equivalents of ‘without form’ and ‘void’ in his Danish Bible translation. These words more literally mean ‘empty’ and ‘deserted’.
2. no longer looped up: This signals that she is about to move indoors.
3. the big quarry: In the rocky terrain of Norway it is common for houses to be built on steep hillsides, with ledges or plateaux carved or blasted out of the rock to accommodate them.
4. Aline caught a fever. And that affected her milk: A theory not known in either popular medicine or contemporary science.
5. calling in life: The notion of a calling has biblical or Christian connotations. ‘Livskald’, literally ‘life calling’, is one of several key compounds involving ‘life’ in this play.
6. midday: ‘Middag’ literally means ‘midday’, but more narrowly refers to the midday meal.
7. sleigh: In the original a small sledge with room for only one person.
8. as cowardly: ‘Skrælinger’. An old expression with reference to Inuits, with the literal meaning ‘weaklings’.
1. my duty to bow to his wishes: Probably an allusion to St Paul’s notion of a woman’s place in relation to her husband, cf. e.g. Ephesians 5:22: ‘Wives, submit to your own husbands, as to the Lord.’
2. They’ve drained all the lifeblood out of her: Emptied her of her power. In Norwegian fairy tales trolls are often depicted as eating humans and drinking human blood.
3. dauntless Viking spirit: ‘Vikingtrods i livet’. The original compound is a set expression, literally ‘Viking defiance’, adding ‘in life’.
4. grist to his mill: The idiom ‘fik vand på sin mølle’ (literally ‘got water on his mill’) refers to someone who finds new arguments and becomes more eager and assertive.
5. it is finished: Christ’s last words on the cross; see John 19:30.
1. Miss: See note 4 to the List of Characters in The Master Builder above.
2. Borgheim: The spelling has been changed from ‘Borghejm’ to ‘Borgheim’ in order to facilitate pronunciation.
3. The Rat-Maid: The literal meaning of ‘Rottejomfruen’. Ibsen seems to have used the Grimm brothers’ fairy tale ‘The Pied Piper of Hamelin’ as a source for this character, but he claimed that she was based on a childhood memory of an insane woman who was known by this name in his hometown of Skien. ‘The Rat-Maid’ catches the fairy-tale quality better than the traditional English translation ‘Rat Wife’; used of an old crone, it also has an ironic dimension.
1. the background: In his stage directions, Ibsen employs terms such as ‘background’ and ‘foreground’ rather than ‘upstage’ and ‘downstage’. He always pictures the stage from the perspective of the audience.
2. all the nicer: ‘Dejligere’. The word ‘dejlig’ occurs often in the play, and the many different contexts make it impossible to remain consistent in translation. In certain cases it has been translated as ‘lovely’, in others as ‘marvellous’ or ‘sweet’, here as ‘nice’ and in one instance as ‘fine and good’.
3. How empty: See The Master Builder, Act Two, note 1, above.
4. gives scope: The word ‘romme’ literally means to contain or accommodate.
5. there’s someone coming after me: Allmers alludes to John the Baptist’s words about Christ; see Mark 1:7.
6. I’ll have to be a soldier: Compulsory military service for young men was introduced in Southern Norway in 1876 and in Northern Norway in 1897.
7. gnaws: Words associated with the Rat-Maiden, such as ‘nager’, ‘gnaver’, ‘lokke’ (gnaw, lure), recur throughout the play, and the translation has aimed for consistency in order to capture the importance of this set of metaphors.
8. beastie: ‘Skabilken’ refers to an ugly, unshapely creature.
9. Puggy-boy: ‘Mops’ refers to a small dog with a broad face and a short, blunt nose, a pug. The addition of ‘mann’ is in Norwegian common in nicknames for boys and pets.
10. Then I walk him round the house three times: A reference to traditional belief in the magic powers of circles and of the numeral three.
11. woman: See The Master Builder, Act One, note 13, above.
12. follow my calling: The notion of ‘a calling’ has biblical or Christian associations here.
13. inconceivable good fortune: ‘Ubegribelige lykke’. The word ‘lykke’ has a number of possible translations in English, including ‘happiness’ and ‘fortune’. Elsewhere in the play the word has been translated as ‘happiness’.
14. gold and green forests: Set expression, used in Norwegian fairy tales. The saying often refers to unrealistic promises.
15. the complete one: ‘Den fuldfærdige’ literally means ‘the fully finished one’. The same word is used twice in this line.
16. renunciation: A renunciation of the Devil was proclaimed before the Confession in connection with Lutheran christenings.
17. tickled pink: ‘Kisteglad’. Literally ‘asylum happy’, the happiness of someone who is insane. Overjoyed.
18. rouse the wickedness: ‘Det onde’. The adjective ‘ond’ (‘evil’ or ‘wicked’) and its noun and adverb forms are all key words in the play. The image of ‘onde øjne’ (‘evil eyes’, see below) is also central, but elsewhere, as in this context, translating ‘ond’ as ‘evil’ comes across as too metaphysical in English. ‘Ond’ is therefore most often translated as ‘wicked’.
19. left him neglected: ‘Gå for lud og kaldt vand’. Set expression. Literally to be cleansed with ‘lye and cold water’, i.e., in the most uncomfortable ways; to be neglected and badly treated.
20. The time had not yet come for me: See John 12:23: ‘The hour is come, that the Son of man should be glorified.’ Ibsen uses the archaic form ‘tiden er kommen’, which is identical with the translation of this verse in some Danish bibles.
21. Had let my hair down: The fashion for women was to have their hair pulled back and collected in a heavy knot at the neck or on the head. To have hair down loose was not acceptable except in private.
22. ‘You had champagne, but you touched it not’: An allusion to the last line in the Norwegian poet Johan Sebastian Welhaven’s anti-revolutionary poem ‘Republikanerne’ (‘The Republicans’, 1832): ‘They had champagne, but touched it not’.
23. evil eyes: It was believed that certain people with occult powers could harm both men and animals with their gaze. This is also a feature in Norwegian fairy tales.
24. Look – the crutch! It’s floating: ‘Krykken flyder’. This formulation ought to convey the sound of a tolling bell and provide an appropriately sing-song line for Rita in Act Three. The solution here is a slight expansion on the more compact formulation in the original.
1. joy and pride: The word ‘glæde’ (joy or happiness) is another central word in the play and closely related to ‘lykke’ (cf. above). While ‘lykke’ has generally been translated as ‘happiness’, ‘glæde’ has been translated as ‘joy’.
2. black crape: A ribbon around the hat or the arm in order to communicate grief.
3. vowels: The original literally means ‘light first letters in the names’, i.e. a light vowel, a vowel formed far to the front of the mouth.
4. the law of change: ‘Forvandlingens lov’. Cited initially by Allmers and referred to several times in the play. Probably referring to the general notion that all things in nature, including human abilities and relations, are subject to the law of change. ‘Forvandling’ literally means ‘transformation’.
5. complicity and penitence: Confession and repentance had a central place in Lutheran theology.
1. Mrs Allmers: ‘Fru Rita’. The address in the original, literally ‘Mrs Rita’, marks a gentleman’s polite acquaintance with a lady. It is close enough for him to use the first name, but not on its own or with the informal ‘du’ (you).
2. Miss Asta: ‘Frøken Asta’. See the note on Mrs Allmers above.
3. I had the sense that death and I … travelling companions: This motif is found in the Asbjørnsen and Moe fairy tale ‘Følgesvenden’ (‘The Companion’), in which a dead man joins a young boy and helps him.
4. Desolation and emptiness all around: Another reference to Genesis 1:2.
1. Mrs: See note 2 to the List of Characters in The Master Builder, above.
2. Miss: See note 4 to the List of Characters in The Master Builder, above.
3. Vilhelm Foldal: A character who seems first to have been conceived by Ibsen in connection with The Lady from the Sea (1888). In the notes for that play Ibsen sketched him as an old married clerk who wrote a play in his youth and who is perpetually polishing it, living in the hope that he will one day get it published and make a name for himself.
4. clerk: ‘Extraskriver’. Assistant in a government ministry, secretary or copyist.
5. maid: ‘Stuepige’. Maid with a particular responsibility for cleaning and keeping tidy the more private parts of the house, who would also help with receiving family guests and serving.
1. the background: Ibsen employs terms such as ‘background’ and ‘foreground’ rather than ‘upstage’ and ‘downstage’. He always pictures the stage from the perspective of the audience.
2. horsehair sofa: A ‘kanapé’ was an upholstered bench or sofa shaped as two or three connected chairs, here with horsehair, which was commonly used both to stuff and upholster Empire-style furniture (see also Act Two, note 1, below).
3. our student: The use of academic and professional titles was common in Norway in the nineteenth century, in both direct address and description. Erhart Borkman is frequently referred to as ‘Student Borkman’. The translation has kept such references to a minimum, preferring instead the designation ‘young Mr Borkman’.
4. They always called him by his first name: The use of first name signals a close and personal relationship, in which the person spoken of is included in a fellowship of people below him or her in social rank.
5. The whole lot: ‘Hele herligheden’ literally means ‘all of the glory’, and the original phrase may have religious connotations.
6. restitution: ‘Oprejsning’. This central word may have religious connotations, signalling the raising up of a fallen humankind through Christ, but Mrs Borkman’s focus here is on the social and material aspects of life.
7. One who will wash everything clean: This is a slightly archaic, biblical-sounding phrase in the original. It may allude to being cleansed in the blood of the Lamb; see Revelations 7:14.
8. that can be restored: ‘Som kan oprejses’. The translation here renders ‘oprejse’ with the verb ‘restore’, since maintaining the key word ‘restitution’ was not syntactically possible.
9. gallery: ‘Storsalen’. A large room in manor houses used for displaying portraits and occasionally for social functions such as balls.
10. wolf: ‘Ulv’. Grey wolf (Canis lupus). As late as at the end of the nineteenth century, the wolf was quite common in Norway. This has also been seen as an allusion to Richard Wagner’s Der Ring des Nibelungen (1848–74): the conflict between Borkman and Hinkel seems similar to that between Wotan (meaning ‘wolf’) and Alberich.
11. she’s divorced from her husband: There were fewer than 100 divorces per year in Norway at the end of the nineteenth century; separation and divorce were socially stigmatizing.
12. And you still believe that you profited from that victory: See Luke 9:25: ‘For what does it profit a man if he gains the whole world and loses or forfeits himself?’ Ella alludes to the biblical distinction between material and spiritual gain.
13. the poorhouse: The Norwegian Poor Law of 1863 stressed the family’s responsibility. The so-called ‘deserving poor’ included orphans, the handicapped, the elderly and the ill, but generally poverty was primarily seen as a moral problem and blamed on the individual. The official task of helping the poor was left to the municipalities in this period.
14. who has not had time to announce her: Visitors were expected to be announced in bourgeois households, either by a card or by the maid.
15. cast a spell: Literally ‘throw runes’. Runes can denote magical signs or magical potion. In Norse poetry and in ballads an initiate can use runes in order to win another person’s love or seduce someone. The person in question throws runes at the chosen one or puts them in his or her bed.
16. Danse macabre: Symphonical poem from 1874 by French composer Camille Saint-Saëns. Franz Liszt arranged a popular piano version. The composition alludes to the late medieval allegory of the dance of death, in which a personified Death leads people in a procession towards the grave.
1. Empire style: French-influenced style which was popular in Norway between 1814 and 1840, associated with the class of civil servants. A form of neoclassicism.
2. miner’s son: ‘Bergmand’. The compound literally means ‘mountain man’. Unlike the English, the Norwegian word had Romantic connotations. See also Ibsen’s 1871 poem ‘Bergmanden’ (‘The Mountain Miner’).
3. his right hand thrust inside his jacket: A similar gesture to Napoleon Bonaparte’s in a number of portraits.
4. the tram: Kristiania (now Oslo) had its first tram line, the trams pulled by horses, in 1875. It became powered by electricity in 1894.
5. we, the elect: Both biblical (see Matthew 22:14: ‘For many are called, but few are chosen’) and perhaps related to Friedrich Nietzsche’s aristocratic political ideas.
6. kiss the rod: ‘Kryber til korset’. A Norwegian idiom literally meaning ‘creeping to the cross’, as a sign of remorse and repentance.
7. waterfalls: As the use of electricity gradually became more common in the 1880s, many entrepreneurs and speculators saw a potential in Norwegian waterfalls.
8. great wounded game fowl: ‘Storfugl’, literally ‘large bird’. A designation for both capercaillie and black grouse.
9. the morality of an übervillain: ‘Overskurkens moral’. Ibsen’s coinage ‘overskurken’ literally means ‘supervillain’. Ibsen’s early translator William Archer suspected this was a deliberate ironic play on the Nietzschean ‘Übermensch’ (‘overmenneske’ in Norwegian) or ‘superman’ and asked Ibsen to confirm it, but the playwright was characteristically elusive.
10. full restitution: ‘Oprejsning’. Foldal here uses this word in a legal sense – the restitution of civil rights.
11. my examination: Since Foldal refers to legal precedent below, he is probably referring to the final exams for the professional degree in law.
12. exceptional people: ‘Undtagelsesmennesker’. A compound and more of a set expression in Dano-Norwegian. People who because of their exceptional gifts stand out and who therefore should not be treated according to ordinary moral and legal standards.
13. There – on the sofa: Borkman asks Ella to sit on the sofa, indicating that he considers her to be of equal social standing, whereas he offers Foldal a chair.
14. hot-air balloon: The air balloon was invented in 1782, and a number of ambitious scientific air journeys were undertaken in the latter part of the nineteenth century.
15. the crime for which there is no forgiveness: Often referred to as the somewhat mysterious ‘sin against the Holy Ghost’ (cf., e.g., Matthew 12:31).
16. the vital capacity for love: ‘Kærlighedslivet’. The compound literally means ‘love-life’.
17. slumbering spirits of gold: Perhaps a jocular allusion to alchemy’s notions of the spiritual qualities of gold.
1. stove: The Scandinavian ‘kakkelovn’ is a stove which has sides and a top of square tiles.
2. In the name of Jesus: ‘I Jøssu’ navn.’ The meaning is the same, but the expression in the original is marked as belonging to a lower sociolect.
3. The eye, reborn: Literally ‘the born-again eye’, a religious allusion suggesting a new vision resulting from being born again.
4. for whom restitution and redemption are impossible: In the original, the phrase is contained by the adjective ‘uoprejselig’. Here, redemption has here been added to the sense of restitution (‘oprejsning’) already established in the text. Borkman’s language now also suggests a spiritual dimension.
5. monument of infamy: ‘Skamstøtten’ literally means a ‘statue of shame’. A statue with an inscription condemning a crime, most often erected when the criminal had escaped punishment.
6. your buried life: Ibsen’s compound ‘gravliv’ is more succinct (literally ‘grave-life’), and a number of these compounds were his own coinages. It is in line with the ‘pit-life’ (‘grubeliv’) that follows in Mrs Borkman’s next speech.
7. has his hat on: A gentleman always took his hat off indoors.
8. stuffy air inside this drawing room: The more pithy compound ‘stueluften’ is used four times in the third act. It literally means ‘drawing-room air’ and refers to closed-in, unhealthy air, here used in contrast to life abroad, life outdoors and the life of the imagination.
9. What do you mean, Father: The original uses the most polite form of address (in the third person, with the use of title).
10. redemption and restitution: In the original this is still the key word ‘oprejsning’. As Borkman here uses the word in the context of a ‘fallen man’, ‘redemption’ has been placed before ‘restitution’.
11. I’ll raise myself up: Here the verb form of ‘restitution’ (‘oprejsning’) is used, in the phrase ‘oprejse mig selv’.
12. sleigh-carriage: More specifically a (galla) carriage where the wheels could be replaced with runners for use in winter.
1. old-fashioned cloak: ‘Gammeldags slængkappe’. Broad, armless cloak thrown over the shoulders.
2. connecting lives all over the world: The original simply has the compound ‘forbundsliv’, literally ‘fellowship life’ or ‘association life’. Life and work based on a shared understanding of needs and interests, of connections between people.
3. the outworks: ‘Udenværkerne’ refers to the outer walls of defence in an older fortress or similar buildings.
4. The treasure sank back into the depths: A common motif in songs and fairy tales about treasure hunting. If the treasure hunter does not pass the test, the treasure sinks into the ground and is for ever lost.
5. For the kingdom – and the power – and the glory: From the Lord’s Prayer: ‘For the kingdom, the power and the glory are yours, now and for ever.’ See Matthew 6:9–13.
1. Mrs: See note 2 to the List of Characters in The Master Builder, above.
2. Squire Ulfheim: ‘Godsejer’ literally means landowner or landed proprietor. There is no exact equivalent in English, but Ulfheim shares characteristics with literary squires of the Victorian age. The spelling has been changed from ‘Ulfhejm’ to ‘Ulfheim’ in order to facilitate pronunciation. Lars, Ulfheim’s servant, does not appear in the list of characters.
3. A travelling lady: Initially designated in the stage directions as ‘a slender lady’, then as ‘the strange lady’ and then given the speech label ‘the lady’ until Rubek uses her name for the second time. Thereafter she becomes ‘Irene’.
4. A Sister of Mercy: ‘Diakonisse’. More particularly a woman in charge of the social work of a Lutheran parish. In a Norwegian context, the title was relatively new at this time, with the first institution for the training of ‘diakonisser’ established in Kristiania (later Oslo) in 1868.
5. sanatorium … in the mountains: ‘Højfjeldssanatorium’. Literally ‘high mountain sanatorium’. A hotel in healthy surroundings built on high ground. Many sanatoriums were built in Europe in the latter half of the nineteenth century, particularly for patients suffering from tuberculosis.
1. to the right: Ibsen always pictures the stage from the perspective of the audience.
2. Maja: In Ibsen’s text this character is referred to with the more formal ‘Fru Maja’, literally ‘Mrs Maja’.
3. champagne and seltzers: The champagne was probably used in order to give taste to the seltzer, which was drunk as health-inducing mineral water.
4. older gentleman: People above the age of fifty were considered elderly at this time.
5. mein Kind: German for ‘my child’, perhaps signalling Rubek’s long exile in Germany.
6. silence: Ibsen here in fact uses ‘lydløsheten’(‘the soundlessness’) rather than ‘stillheten’ (‘the silence’).
7. Frau Professor: ‘Frau’ is German for ‘Mrs’. Maja’s formal title in German as the wife of a professor.
8. Taunitzer See: A fictional lake.
9. right up north: Tourism to the far north of Norway had grown considerably in the 1880s: 1,000 tourists visited the North Cape in the summer of 1887.
10. Resurrection Day: An expression, not found in the Bible, with positive, religious connotations.
11. all the best-loved farmyard animals, then: This idea of resemblances between men and animals in terms of character and moral habitus is indebted to Physiognomica (from around 100 BC), and more generally to the popular pseudoscience of physiognomy.
12. Now drink, and be merry: See Ecclesiastes 8:15: ‘A man hath no better thing under the sun, than to eat, and to drink, and to be merry.’
13. take me with you up on to a high mountain and show me all the glory of the world: This is an allusion to the Devil tempting Christ during his forty days in the wilderness: see Matthew 4:8–9: ‘Again, the devil took him to a very high mountain and showed him all the kingdoms of the world and their glory. And he said to him, “All these I will give you, if you will fall down and worship me.” ’
14. Frau Professor: There is no English equivalent for the feminine ‘Professorinden’ or ‘fru Professorinden’, ‘Professor’s wife’. Address by way of title was considered the utmost expression of politeness. The level of formality is here captured through the German form, already used by Rubek.
15. northern: ‘Nordlandsk’ means from Northern Norway, normally considered to consist of today’s three counties of Nordland, Troms and Finnmark.
16. famous sculptor: ‘Billedmester’. Literally ‘picture master’.
17. lord and master: Christ’s words to his disciples in John 13:14: ‘If I then, your Lord and Master, have washed your feet; ye also ought to wash one another’s feet.’
18. milk and water: ‘Mælkeblande’. Literally ‘milk mix’. Milk diluted with water, used as soft drink.
19. The Lady: Even though she has been recognized by Rubek, Ibsen continues to label Irene ‘The Lady’ for a few more lines.
20. In honour and glory: Associated with Christ ‘crowned with glory and honour’; see Hebrews 2:9.
21. Crushed it to dust: Possibly an allusion to Moses destroying the golden calf, grinding it into dust; see Exodus 32:20.
22. transfigured: An allusion to Christ’s appearance when he showed himself to his disciples after his resurrection; see Matthew 17:1–2.
23. tableaux vivants: ‘Levende billeder’, literally ‘living pictures’. Depictions of paintings, or historical or poetical topics, by living people in the shape of tableaux, a popular form of entertainment in the nineteenth century.
24. Tied my arms behind my back: A reference to the use of straitjackets in the treatment of psychiatric patients.
25. I raised three fingers in the air: A sign that one is swearing an oath.
26. Fell at your feet: Possibly an allusion to Martha anointing the feet of Christ; see Matthew 26:6–13.
27. came with me: ‘Fulgte med mig’ literally means ‘followed me’. This has connotations of Jesus calling his disciples: see Matthew 4:19.
28. in your image: Connotations of God making mankind in his own image; see Genesis 1:27.
1. flytrap: Literally ‘the fly cupboard’. A cupboard for storing food with a mesh door to prevent flies from getting in. Here a reference to the sanatorium. See Ulfheim’s words about the dining room of the spa (‘half-dead flies and people’).
2. visitors’ list: Newspapers carried notices of ships’ schedules and lists of passenger names.
3. divorce: There were fewer than 100 divorces per year in Norway at the end of the nineteenth century.
4. waif and stray: ‘Nødskilling’. The word refers more particularly to money put aside for a rainy day, also money put to charitable use, and may generally refer to an inferior substitute for something.
5. So what did you add: ‘Digte til’. The word for ‘add’ is here the same as for ‘write’ or ‘compose’ poetry or fiction, which is how Rubek uses it in the preceding speech. The noun, ‘digter’, means a poet, which Irene goes on to call Rubek.
6. the joy of light: ‘Lysglæden’. A poetic expression of the joy created by light, the compound is literally translated ‘light joy’.
7. mountain rose: A seemingly generic and poetic name (the literal translation of ‘fjeldrose’ is ‘mountain rose’), but probably a Lapland rosebay (Rhododendron lapponicum), the only wild rhododendron species in the Norwegian flora.
8. hunters: ‘Fangstmænd’. This word was normally used exclusively with reference to whalers and seal hunters.
9. water-lilies: Associated in folk culture with water spirits, and with temptation and danger, especially of an erotic kind. Ibsen also uses water-lilies elsewhere, in his poem ‘Med en vandlilje’ (‘With a water-lily’, 1871) and in Little Eyolf.
10. Lohengrin’s boat: A motif known from medieval German poetry and used by Richard Wagner in the opera Lohengrin (1848). Lohengrin was the son of Parzival, a knight of the Holy Grail who is sent in a boat drawn by swans to rescue a maiden who can never ask his name. See the reference to swans above.
11. mumbo jumbo: ‘Troldmandsønskerne’ literally means ‘sorcerer’s wishes’. According to folk tradition, one was never to wish luck to someone going hunting or fishing, as it was seen as a jinx.
12. worst of luck: Literally ‘all the unhappiness in the entire country’. A traditional wish; the meaning is, however, positive.
1. wolverine: ‘Jærv’. A versatile and powerful predator and scavenger, the largest of the weasel family, of disproportionate viciousness and strength.
2. sport: The word was first used in Danish from the middle of the nineteenth century.
3. satyr: In Greek mythology, satyrs were the male companions of Pan and Dionysos. They had goat-like features including tail, ears and sometimes a goat-like phallus. In Roman mythology, the equivalent is the faun, who was half-man, half-goat and looked after the woods, cattle and fields. Ibsen uses ‘faun’, but ‘satyr’ is preferred here as in English it more clearly communicates Ulfheim’s dangerous eroticism.
4. horns: A symbol of a deceived husband, a cuckold.
5. shape of a bear: A common fairy-tale motif. A man is changed into a bear or wolf by a troll woman but is made into a man again through the love of a devoted woman.
6. so her feet would never get hurt on any stones: Refers to Christ’s temptation in the wilderness; see Matthew 4:5–6: ‘ “If you are the Son of God, throw yourself down, for it is written, ‘He will command his angels concerning you,’ and ‘On their hands they will bear you up, lest you strike your foot against a stone.’ ” ’
7. the highest mountain: Again a reference to Christ’s temptation: see Act One, note 13, above.
8. trying his hand at patchwork: ‘Lappeskrædder’ literally means ‘rags tailor’, a tailor who only repairs clothes.
9. leave: ‘Udgangslov’. Permission (particularly for a servant) to go out.
10. Pax vobiscum: Christ’s words of farewell to his disciples after the resurrection, meaning ‘Peace [be] with you.’ In the (Catholic) Latin mass the words ‘Dominus vobiscum’ (‘The Lord [be] with you’) normally ended the liturgical act.