Schwedisches, Finnisches und Polnisches in Mika Waltaris historischem Roman 'Karin, Magnustochter'

Abstract

The article is an attempt at analysing the Swedish, Finnish and Polish elements in Mika Waltari’s first historical novel, Karin Månsdotter (1942), which is based on an earlier movie script (1941). The novel describes historical events at the time when Sweden was ruled by King Erik XIV. The story of the king’s life, his efforts aimed at strengthening his position in the country and Sweden’s position in the Baltic Sea region in the 16^th century, as well as the connected historical events, are presented with the king’s private life in the background, including his love for a common woman whom he married and made queen of Sweden. The author points out that the novel in question seems to portray historical events somewhat freely. In creating the stories of the main characters, Waltari used unverified sources, such as motives that had been told and retold by common people and some historiographers. This is not the case in his later novels, which are based on verified historical sources. Waltari created a very conventional, highly contrasted image of his female characters: Karin has only positive features, while Catherine the Jagiellonian and her husband John III (the Prince of Finland and later on the King of Sweden) have utterly negative ones.