The Wonderful Adventures of Nils
core novel 1906 The Wonderful Adventures of Nils
Record
| Original title | Nils Holgerssons underbara resa genom Sverige |
|---|---|
| First published | 1906 |
| Original language |  SV |
| First English translation | 1907 |
| Translator | Velma Swanston Howard |
| Work type | novel |
| Canon status | core |
| Reader rating | 4.03 (12,615 ratings, collected 2026-09-27) |
| First-edition ISBN | 9780486286112 |
Synopsis
Nils Holgersson is a boy on a farm in the south of Sweden, idle and cruel to the animals in his care. Left alone one Sunday while his parents are at church, he catches a tomte, one of the small household spirits of Swedish folklore, and mistreats it; in punishment he is shrunk to the size of a thumb and finds he can understand the speech of birds and beasts. When the farm's white gander (Martin in the English translation) is tempted to join a flock of wild geese passing overhead, Nils clings to him and is carried into the sky. Under the leadership of the old goose Akka of Kebnekaise, the flock flies the length of Sweden through spring and summer, and Nils, riding on the gander's back, sees the whole country beneath him while he tries to earn his way back to his own shape.
Where it sits
- Universe: The Wonderful Adventures of Nils
- Series: not part of a registered series (standalone work within its universe)
- Author: Selma Lagerlöf
Notes
- Published in two volumes (1906, 1907) as one work; the English translation appeared as The Wonderful Adventures of Nils (1907) and The Further Adventures of Nils (1911). Written as a geography reader for Swedish schools at the request of the National Teachers' Association.
Sources
- Wikipedia
- University of Pennsylvania Digital Library
- https://www.britannica.com/topic/Wonderful-Adventures-of-Nils
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