Background
Nils Nilsen Rønning was born at Bø in Telemark, Norway.
(This historic book may have numerous typos and missing te...)
This historic book may have numerous typos and missing text. Purchasers can usually download a free scanned copy of the original book (without typos) from the publisher. Not indexed. Not illustrated. 1903 edition. Excerpt: ...evening a great multitude of people assembled at the foot of the mountain; willing hands seized the rope and rang so the tones rolled across the valley and woke the echo in far-off mountains. And the people who had remained at home heard the wild clamor of the bell and understood what it meant, and a great awe crept into all hearts. But from the inside of the mountain came strange sounds. The trolls moaned and wailed on account of the ringing of the bell as it thundered like a judgment day through the mountain fastness. Suddenly the mountain opened and out stepped Helga Tvedt. Her face was as ghastly white as a sheet. On her head she wore a beautiful bridal crown which glistened with gold and precious jewels. She looked neither to right nor left, but started to run across the highland and down the slope toward her home. Her mother stood outside the door to receive her. Helga entered the "Sval" or hall and stretched her hand toward the latch when, at the same moment, the rope by which the bell was tied, suddenly snapped, and the bell crashed into the stone-pile below and broke into many pieces. Helga suddenly disappeared, but those who stood at the mountain side heard a cry so full of despair that it could have moved a stone to tears. Eilef Braaten was his full name. We called him Eilef-; no more and no less. Everybody knew who Eilef was. Many others had the same name; but after all there was only one Eilef. He lived in a very small hut in a dent on the mountain side; that is when he wasn't down in the valley making wooden shoes and spoons, soldering old black coffee pots, and telling stories to children of all ages. Up in his cabin he had it very cozy. Right behind it was a steep mountain side which gave fine shelter...
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Nils Nilsen Rønning was born at Bø in Telemark, Norway.
After he emigrated to America in 1887, he attended Faribault public schools. He graduated from the University of Minnesota at 1892-1896 (Bachelor, Master of Arts).
Ronning was a journalist and publisher who was associated with several newspapers and magazines published in Minneapolis. He later published Christian literature for Lutherans and Scandinavian-American. Ungdommens Ven was a religious magazine for young people published from 1890-1916 by the K. C. Holter Publishing Company with Bernt B. Haugan and Nils Nielsen Rønning serving as editors.
Ronning was also associated with Familiens Magasin from 1916-1917 and The North Star from 1917-1922.
In 1923, Ronning started to publish The Friend. Unlike the Norwegian language magazines he had initiated earlier, The Friend was published in the English language and proved a success.
The magazine featured mainstream popular religious fiction and progressive themes. As an author, Ronning was a prolific writer whose writings appeared in both the Norwegian and English languages.
Among the writings of Ronning are several books and a group of short stories.
He also completed a number of popular travel narratives and popular religious literature. His most noteworthy work was the book Gutten fra Norge first published in 1924. This work was subsequently translated and issued in English as Lars Lee, The Boy From Norway during 1928.
The book provided a portrayal of the religious life of rural Norway in the 1860s.
Skårdal, Dorothy Burton (1974) The Divided Heart: Scandinavian immigrant Experience through Literary Sources (University of Nebraska Press)
Øverland, Orm (1996) The Western Home: A Literary History of Norwegian America (University of Illinois Press).
(This historic book may have numerous typos and missing te...)