Set of two Gabrisnotes Terje Vigen in the folder

‘Terje Vigen’ is an epic poem written by Henrik Ibsen in 1861. The poem is based on stories from the Sørland coast dating from the period of the Napoleonic Wars and the grain blockade of 1808–1811.

During this period, Denmark-Norway was at war with, amongst others, England, which imposed a trade blockade and severed all contact between Norway and Denmark. This led to a famine in Norway.

The poem’s protagonist, Terje Vigen, was captured by a British warship and taken to a prisoner-of-war camp in Great Britain. Terje was a fisherman living near Grimstad. There has been speculation as to whether the story of Terje Vigen is based on a real person and real events. Ibsen knew several people in southern Norway who were sailors, and he may have heard stories about people who sailed the seas and were captured by the English.