The Story of Gösta Berling · Chapter
VII: Midsummer explained
On a beautiful Midsummer day, the wicked ironmaster Sintram, enraged by the joy and beauty of the season, dresses in his wolfskin coat and drives a sleigh to church, terrifying the congregation.
What happens
On a beautiful Midsummer day, the wicked ironmaster Sintram, enraged by the joy and beauty of the season, dresses in his wolfskin coat and drives a sleigh to church, terrifying the congregation. He disrupts the service, and afterward, he clenches his fist and shakes it over the peaceful landscape. Later, a strange note is found in the church keyhole, purportedly a letter to the devil in which Sintram vows to lay waste to the land as far as the Bro church tower is visible, wishing to bring ruin and wilderness to the valley.
Themes in this chapter
Duality of Human Nature
Sintram embodies the dark, destructive side of human nature, standing in stark contrast to the joy and peace of the Midsummer festival and the congregation's devotion.
Nature and the Supernatural
The beauty of Midsummer nature is juxtaposed with Sintram's supernatural malevolence; his letter to the devil and the superstitious fear of the people highlight the supernatural elements.
Social Class and Power
Sintram's wealth and feared status allow him to disrupt the church service and intimidate the congregation, demonstrating the power of the ironmaster class over the local community.
Characters to notice
- Sintram
The wicked ironmaster who, enraged by the Midsummer joy, drives to church in a sleigh dressed in wolfskin, disrupts the service, and later shakes his fist at the landscape, vowing to bring ruin to the land.
Key passages
“He resented the sun’s triumphal march through the hours of the day, and the overthrow of darkness.”
He hated the sun's dominance over the long daylight hours and the defeat of darkness.
Shows Sintram's opposition to the natural order and his love of darkness.
“He put on his wolfskin coat and shaggy fur gloves. He had the red horse harnessed in a sledge, and fastened bells to the shining horse-collar. Equipped as if it were thirty degrees below zero, he drove to church.”
Dressed in heavy winter clothing, he had his red horse hitched to a sleigh and drove to church as if it were deep winter.
Highlights Sintram's defiance of the summer heat and his perverse nature.
“The churchgoers shuddered and thought they had seen the evil one himself.”
The people trembled, believing they had witnessed the devil in person.
Emphasizes the supernatural fear Sintram inspires.
“He wished to see the forest grow up about the church. He wished to see bear and fox living in men’s dwellings. The fields should lie uncultivated, and neither dog nor cock should be heard in the neighborhood.”
He wanted the forest to reclaim the church, wild animals to inhabit homes, fields to go untilled, and all signs of domestic life to vanish.
Reveals Sintram's desire to destroy civilization and return the land to wilderness.