Peer Gynt Gallery

The Ride on the Reindeer Buck

French title: La course au bouc de renne

This relief shows Peer Gynt, the main character of the play of the same name. The image describes his ability to tell stories. No matter how unbelievable his story is, he manages to make his mother believe it.

This is what happened: Peer Gynt comes home to his mother after a long spree, looking like a beggar - dreadful. He finds his mother desperate, demanding an explanation. The explanation she receives is fantastic, and for a while she believes him. Then suddenly she answers with a phrase that is now well known in the Norwegian language:

Peer, you are lying!

Yes, it was true. He did not see the difference between lying and the truth. His imagination was his gift, and he exploited it to lie, speak nonsense, and play tricks.

He also managed to make his mother believe this ride on the reindeer buck, but then suddenly she said:

You cursed little liar; may God save your soul, how you can lie! The story you told me, I now remember, was told to me when I was a girl of twenty. It was Gudbrand Glesne it happened to, not you!

The Wedding at Hægstad

French title: Le Mariage à Hægstad

Here begins a dramatic life for Peer Gynt. He meets Solveig for the first time; she has been invited to the wedding. A love develops between the two of them.

But then it was not Mads Moen whom the bride wanted; it was Peer Gynt. She has now barricaded herself inside the storehouse built on posts. In his misery, the bridegroom asks Peer Gynt for help in getting the bride to leave the storehouse. He knows that Peer Gynt dares to do what others do not dare.

It was not difficult for Peer to get the bride to leave the building; that was exactly what she wanted. Now he puts Ingrid on his back and runs into the mountains. Even with his burden, no one could keep up with Peer Gynt.

The powerful farmer at Hægstad now gathers the people of the village and has Peer Gynt declared outlawed for stealing the bride.

In this relief you see Solveig and Peer Gynt as the fifth and sixth figures from the left. Behind them is the furious blacksmith, and farther left are two women who illustrate the general reaction of the other guests to Peer Gynt's uninvited arrival: anger or mockery.

The first two figures on the right are, first, the bridegroom, who did not have the manliness to ask for his bride himself, and then his father, the powerful farmer of Hægstad.

The Woman in Green

French title: L'une en vert

Much has now changed for Peer Gynt after he met Solveig at the wedding. The bride, Ingrid, he abandoned with the words:

Have you modesty above your eye? Can you refuse me when I ask you? Will it be Sunday when I see you? Solveig had it, Solveig could, and with Solveig it would be.

He wanders across the heather moor without purpose or meaning. And now he meets the woman in green - the daughter of the Mountain King - a troll. The meeting is an erotic encounter, followed by lasting problems for Peer Gynt.

Finally she calls for her wedding horse, and it comes running. It is a large pig, and on the pig the two of them enter the Hall of the Mountain King.

The relief shows the beginning of the meeting between Peer Gynt and the woman in green.

In the Hall of the Mountain King

French title: Dans la halle du roi des montagnes

This relief shows Peer Gynt as the third figure from the left, now with the woman in green. The Mountain King wears his crown, and he is the fifth figure from the right. The inscription above the relief describes a short dialogue between Peer Gynt and the King:

The King: You penniless dreamer! Do you know who I am?

Peer Gynt: There is a lie in your mouth!

This is what happens here: Peer Gynt has seduced the King's daughter, and he must marry her. The King tests whether Peer Gynt is perceptive:

What is the difference between a troll and a man?

Peer says:

None that I can see. The great ones want to fry you, and the small ones want to scratch you with their claws. It is the same among us too, for those who only dared.

The artist's interpretation is that the writer Ibsen uses the Hall of the Mountain King as a reference to the present world. There are many such mountain kings in the world, both great and small.

It is easy to enter here, but returning through the same door is not possible!

Now the people of the village are searching for the outlawed Peer Gynt. They approach, and the church bells ring. This is heard inside the hall, as are their cries:

We have bells in the mountain; it is the hunt of the black robe.

All the creatures in the hall flee, screaming. The hall crumbles, Peer Gynt is free, but the Mountain King has lost his calling.

The Torment

French title: Le tourment

The relief shows Peer Gynt in a desperate situation, encountering the torment. He hears the beating wings of great birds, the sound of church bells, and the singing of psalms. The memory of Solveig appears very clearly before him. He sees no one; only memories and conscience accompany him.

Not dead. Not alive. Slimy, misty. No form either! It is like going mad in a herd of growling, half-awake bears!

The torment disappears into nothing and says in one breath:

He was too strong; there were women behind him.

The Citizen of the World

French title: Le citoyen du monde

Peer is now an older man. We meet him on the western coast of Morocco. In the bay lies his yacht with an American flag. He presides as host for the gentlemen Master Cotton, Monsieur Ballon, Eberkopf, and Trumpeterstråle.

But his associates are no blessing for Peer Gynt. They find an opportunity to buy the crew of the great yacht, and they steal it from him. Peer Gynt remains completely alone, betrayed by everyone.

He cries out to God:

Hear me, leave the affairs of others for a moment! The world will surely save itself in the meantime! I have rid myself of the Negro plantation! I have sent missionaries to Asia! One helping hand deserves another! Oh, God! Help me to the boat!

But at that moment Peer sees a raging fire developing on the boat. A column of dense smoke escapes from it. Then the boat sinks with everyone on board.

By chance? No, more than that. I was to be saved, and they were to perish!

In this relief Peer Gynt is the third figure from the left, and his guests surround him. On the right we also see Peer Gynt's reaction to the theft of his boat, next to the prayer and the sinking of the boat.

Anitra's Dance

French title: La danse d'Anitra

Peer Gynt wanders by chance in the desert in Morocco, and in a strange way he has taken possession of the Emperor's horse and robe. He comes to a palm grove where the Bedouin chief has made camp. He is received as a prophet, and he meets the daughter of the Bedouin chief, the beautiful Anitra. Evidently, he is pleased.

The relief shows Peer Gynt in Anitra's tent, where she dances for him. She admires his costly ring, and Peer admires her.

She is truly beautiful, this hen. She has some forms... extra... vagant - not exactly in accordance with today's standards, but what is beauty, after all? Only a decision - a value, valid in time and place.

The Desert Scene

French title: La scène du désert

It is a moonlit night. Peer has fled with Anitra and lured her to his castle, which does not exist. Once they are in the desert, Peer gives Anitra the ring with the precious opal, and then she steals his money as well, and his horse, when she leaves him to go home.

Once again, Peer finds himself completely alone. The desert surrounds him; everyone has deceived him. He is desperate.

The present is worth the sole of a shoe; faithless and without courage is the journey of men; their spirits are without wings, their actions are without weight - and women - they are a weak kind!

No, I have locked the door to my paradise, and I have thrown away the key.

The relief shows Anitra after she has robbed Peer Gynt, with the horse ready to return home. Peer Gynt rests in the sand, helpless. Also interesting in this relief is the way the artist has illustrated the desert. The inscription at the bottom says:

Anitra obeys the prophet! Farewell!

The Storm

French title: L'Orage

Peer Gynt is on his way to the Norwegian coast. A storm develops, and the boat is broken against reefs and in the breakers. During the storm, a lifeboat is put out to sea with two men on board. A breaker fills it, and a cry is heard. Soon after, the keel appears, and Peer Gynt clings to it. The young captain appears on the other side of the boat.

The captain cries:

Oh, my God - for my children, have pity on me, let me reach land!

He clings to the keel. And Peer Gynt says:

I will strike you with my hands and feet! Let go of the keel! It will not carry two!

This relief shows the fury of Peer Gynt as he fights for his life, even at the cost of another person's life. Interesting in this relief is the third person taking part: the priest of Hellesylt. The inscription at the bottom contains Peer Gynt's final words in the scene:

I do not want to die! I must get to land!

The Third Crossroad

French title: Le troisième chemin de traverse

After a long time, Peer Gynt is again in the valley of his childhood. He meets the Button-Moulder, who rebukes Peer Gynt for his way of living and wants to melt him into a better man.

At the third crossroad, but then!

Never before had Peer Gynt seen his life in such a way, because his road had brought him to the place where he had wasted the riches of his life.

Again he stands at Solveig's door. Now she comes out, dressed in church clothes and with the psalm book in her hand. It is the morning of Pentecost Day. Peer cries out to her:

Do you have judgment for a sinner? Say it!

Solveig says in a gentle voice:

It is he! Here he is! All praise be to God!

Peer Gynt receives absolution, and he experiences a peace that he probably had never had earlier in his life. And this is how the drama between Solveig and Peer Gynt ends.