# Valdemar Atterdag explained — Short Fiction

> Chapter companion for Short Fiction by Selma Lagerlöf.

## What happens

The narrator describes viewing Hellqvist's painting 'Valdemar Atterdag Levies a Contribution on Visby' and becomes immersed in the scene of King Valdemar's brutal extortion of the town. The focus shifts to a woman, Ung-Hanse's daughter, who betrayed Visby by opening the gate for her lover, the king, and now faces the town's vengeance as she is walled alive. The figure of Violence, a steel-clad shield-bearer, dominates the scene, embodying the cruelty and suffering that pervade the picture.

## Themes in this chapter

### Deception and Truth

Ung-Hanse's daughter is deceived by King Valdemar, who disguised himself as a goldsmith's apprentice to win her trust and gain entry to the town.

### Suffering and Redemption

The woman's suffering is depicted as she is walled alive, with no redemption in sight, while the king is haunted by her image in his old age.

### Violence and Rapacity

The figure of Violence personifies the cruelty and greed that drive the sack of Visby, with the king and soldiers as its servants.

## Character check-ins

### Ung-Hanse

Father of the woman who betrayed Visby; his house is spared from plunder.

### King Valdemar

King of Denmark who levies a contribution on Visby and deceived Ung-Hanse's daughter.

## Key lines

> I am Violence; I am Rapacity. It is I who am levying contribution on Visby. I am not a human being; I am merely steel and iron. My pleasure is in suffering and evil.

The steel-clad shield-bearer declares that he embodies violence and greed, taking pleasure in the suffering he causes.

_This personification of Violence underscores the theme of cruelty in the chapter._

> Oh king, if you cannot see what is passing in Visby, may you yet hear and know what is happening there. You are not of steel and iron, like Violence at your side.

The narrator warns King Valdemar that, unlike the inhuman Violence, he will be haunted by the memory of Ung-Hanse's daughter in his old age.

_This foreshadows the king's future guilt and suffering._

## Links

- HTML: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/short_fiction_50_se/chapters/valdemar-atterdag
- Book: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/short_fiction_50_se
- All chapters: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/short_fiction_50_se/chapters