Drammens galante Chevalier 1818–1823. Andreas Fayes dagbøker 1818–1832. Jan Faye Braadland (ed.). Bind 1. Novus forlag, Oslo 2024. 289 pp. Ill. ISBN 9788283901450.

■ Andreas Faye (1802–1869) has gained a noticeable renewed interest in Norwegian research. He was the first (1833) to publish a collection of Norwegian legends with an attempt at systematizing and interpreting them. In 2021 a monumental biography of Faye, written by Professor Ernst Håkon Jahr, was published. An Andreas Faye association based in Arendal has been established, and several articles and websites have in recent years been devoted to Faye’s efforts as clergyman, historian, museum founder and collector of folklore.

In short, there are several reasons for this renewed interest. One is that Andreas Faye left behind a great number of written sources, from sermons, letters, and diaries to travelogues, historical sources, and folklore records. The second reason is that Faye’s own descendants have engaged in the enterprise of understanding and interpreting him. The third and in this context perhaps the most important factor is that, especially within Norwegian folklore research, there has been an increased focus on how work with folk memories was designed in the time before Peter Christen Asbjørnsen (1812–1885) and Jørgen Moe (1813–1882) managed to secure near-hegemony as interpreters of Norwegian folk tradition.

Studying Andreas Faye provides an opportunity to see how, in the young state of Norway, representatives of the academic and social elite tried to define themselves as something other than part of the Kingdom of Denmark-Norway. Faye belonged to the first generation of theologians educated at the new university in Christiania, Norway’s capital. Faye read contemporary literature, he undertook a European educational trip, he met and corresponded with historians, poets, and politicians both in Norway and abroad. This combination of interests and expertise made Faye a prominent figure in the first generation of intellectuals and civil servants in the new state of Norway.

It is in this broad perspective that a publication of Faye’s diaries is significant. Jan Faye Braadland (1958–) has for many years worked with sources and publications that shed light on his great-great-grandfather. In this work, he has collaborated with specialists in many fields. He has recently started a project to publish Andreas Faye’s diaries from the period 1818 to 1832, and the first volume is now available.

Jan Faye Braadland’s introduction explains the source material and places it in a larger context. Then Andreas Faye himself takes the floor. In 1818 he was sixteen years old, and from then on, he kept diaries. The diaries include events large and small which in themselves may not be of great importance. But overall, the diaries are a source of how a Norwegian folklore collector, historian, and Lutheran pastor was shaped – in the tension between romantic ideology, familial connections and academic aspirations.

Arne Bugge Amundsens anmeldelse i Ethnologica Scandinavica. A Journal for Nordic Ethnology. Vol. 55, 2025, er gjengitt med tillatelse fra forfatteren og kan lastes ned i PDF her

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