Like Pontoppidan, Karl Adolf Gjellerup was the son of a clergyman. He was born at Roholte in 1857. To please his father he studied for the ministry, and took examinations in theology, but he was not willing to accept any parish. He was deeply interested in “modernist doctrines” and became a disciple of Darwin, Georg Brandes, and Spencer. Later he recanted from some of these teachings and became less radical and more historical in his studies. He delighted in the Eddas and had a natural flair for literature even before he became a professional writer. He has lived much of his life in Dresden, where his popularity seems to be greater than in his home country. Said the commentator on Gjellerup, in the _American-Scandinavian Review_,[118] after the prize was divided between him and Pontoppidan in 1917, “his appointment has been received with marked coolness in Scandinavia.” As a writer, Gjellerup has traveled far afield for his subjects. He has written books on art and music; he is an ardent Wagnerian and has studied many aspects of this influence, as his writings testify. He has tried his hand at plays in which he sought to reconcile the modern spirit of Christianity with the Greek love of beauty. It is not a new theme--nor is there much distinction in his treatment. He has translated, in modern Danish language, several tales of the Eddas and old Norse sagas. By translation into English he is known especially by two stories, _The Pilgrim Kamanita_ and _Minna_; other novels, typical of his style are _An Idealist_ and _Pastor Mons_, with satirical and photographic passages. _The Pilgrim Kamanita_, translated by John E. Logie (London and New York, 1912), is subtitled _A Legendary Romance_. It is laid on the banks of the Gunga, when Lord Buddha visits the “City of Five Hills”; there is graphic description of locusts and coral trees and blossoms in the grove of Krishna. The text is from Byron’s _Don Juan_--“This narrative is not meant for narration”--an indication of its imaginative quality. The opening pages are brilliant with colorful passages, “billowy clouds of purest gold,” blossoming gardens and terraces and “a long line of rocky eminences, rivaling in colour the topaz, amethyst, and the opal, were resolved into an enamel of incomparable beauty at this City of the Five Hills.” Kamanita was the son of a merchant in the land of Avanti, among the mountains. He was rich, well educated, could sing and draw, could color crystals and “tell whence any jewel came.” At twenty he was sent on an embassy of business to King Udena in Kosambi. Here began his “Pilgrimage” in love and memories that form the trail of this story. Mysticism, and esoteric philosophy are _mixed_, rather than _blended_, with realism.