Pontoppidan, Henrik, born 1857: “for his profuse descriptions of Danish life of today.”[114] The Swedish Academy had sprung several surprises in the awards of the first fifteen years but they surpassed all previous records, in 1917, when the honor was divided between Henrik Pontoppidan and Karl Gjellerup of Denmark. Danish writers, in general, were less known by translation in France, Italy, England, and America than their neighbors of Sweden and Norway. Outstanding exceptions are Hans Christian Andersen and Georg Brandes. The Danish Royal Theatre was recognized in contemporary life as an educational force; such playwrights of earlier and later days as Holberg, Oehlenschlager, and Edward Brandes had been studied by dramatic scholars in many countries. Bergström’s play, _Karen Borneman_, translated by Edwin Björkman, is discussed by Barrett H. Clark in _A Study of the Modern Drama_.[115] Another play by Bergström, _Thora van Deken_ (1915) was a dramatization of a novel by Pontoppidan. An interesting note, regarding the reaction to this joint award of 1917, is found in the _American-Scandinavian Review_.[116] The first comment is upon the ages of the recipients--both were past sixty--“another veteran medal” for writers whose productivity is past. In addition, says the editorial writer, “Neither has mastering genius that would entitle him to the prize.” Pontoppidan is the better known; he stands for progress that will not forget tradition. Vilhelm Anderson, literary historian, has said of Pontoppidan’s writings, “Modern Denmark could be reconstructed entire from his books.” The family had scholars, among them a bishop, Eric Pontoppidan, of the seventeenth century, who published the oldest Danish grammar in Latin. Henrik Pontoppidan was born at Frederica in Jutland, in 1857. His grandfather and father had been clergymen. While he was a schoolboy the family moved to Randers where he remained until he went to Copenhagen, to the Polytechnic Institute, to study engineering. He made a visit to Switzerland where he had his first love affair and wrote his early sketches. In 1881, in Denmark, appeared _Clipped Wings_, a collection of stories of which “The Church Ship” excels in imagination and dramatic concentration, the mystical mingling with the realistic. In 1891 he lived for a time at Ostby but a few years later, after his second marriage, he moved to Copenhagen where he has been a noted leader in educational and literary life, a friend of Brandes and an adviser of the younger dramatists and novelists. He has been called an imitator of Ibsen; an echo of some of the melancholic effects of _Brand_ and _Ghosts_ may be seen in Pontoppidan’s tales but he is distinctive in his methods of portrayal. He is criticized sometimes as narrow and localized, without spiritual vision.