The Bride of Roervig: a Novel. By W. Bergsoe. Translated
from the Danish by Nina Francis. (Samuel Tinsley.) Roervig is a small and nearly uninhabited fishing village on the coast of Zealand, the Bride whose story we have here is Marie Hansen, only child of a well- to-do fisherman, of that.place. Her father desires that she shall marry one Niels Ilde, a wealthy suitor, who proves to be the villain of the story, whereas she has set her heart on Halvor Johnsen, who is both good and handsome. Niels Ilde endeavours to murder his rival, but the latter miraculously escapes, is mourned for as dead, of course turns up again in time to discomfit his enemies, witness the agonising death of Ilde, and marry the lady. Soon afterwards Mario dies, the husband goes to sea again, and the father is sold-up,—a most unsatis- factory and uncalled-for conclusion. In all this there is nothing exciting or unusual, but the author has given a weird and fantastic air to the story, by making his heroine a sort of hull-crazy, mysterious being, having strange relations with the unseen world, endowed with second- sight, the victim of dreams, visions, and exceedingly odd fits, altogether a very uncanny person. There is a good deal, too, about magic rings, phantom ships, invisible companions, and the like, so that we often fancy we are reading a fairy-tale or the fable of a romantic opera. The Bride of Roervig may indeed bo recommended to cantata-writers in search of a libretto. It smacks throughout of the foot-lights, and offers many opportunities for scenic and orchestral effects,—may, in fact, be said to require thorn. The translator seems to have done her work well, and we wish her a more intelligible and forcible story next time.
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