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'Arnulf Øverland' (April 27 1889 - March 25 1968) was a Norwegian author born in Kristiansund and raised in Bergen. His works include ''Berget det blå'' (1927) and ''Hustavler'' (1929).
Øverland was a communist from the early 1920s, but changed his stand in 1937 partly as a reaction to the Moscow Trials. He was an avid opposer to nazism and in 1936 he wrote the poem "Du må ikke sove!" ("You must not sleep") printed in the journal ''Samtiden''. It ends with "Jeg tenkte: Nu er det noget som hender. Vår tid er forbi - Europa brenner" ("I thought: Now something is happening - Our time is past - Europe is in flames"). The probably most famous line of the poem is "Du må ikke tåle så inderlig vel den urett som ikke rammer deg selv!" ("You must not endure so terribly well the unfairness that upon you never fell!")
In 1933 Øverland was tried for blasphemy after giving a speech named ''Kristendommen - den tiende landeplage'' ("Christianity - the tenth plague"), but was acquitted.
After the German occupation of Norway in 1940 in World War II, he wrote a series of poems which were clandestinely distributed, leading to his arrest. He was held first in the prison camp at Grini before being transferred to Sachsenhausen concentration camp in Germany. The poems were later collected in ''Vi overlever alt'' (1945)
After the war, Øverland became a noted supporter for the conservative written form of Norwegian called ''Riksmål'', he was president of ''Riksmålsforbundet'' (an organization in support of Riksmål) from 1947-1956, playing an important role in the Norwegian language struggle in the post-war era.
In addition, Øverland adhered to the traditionalist style of writing, criticising modernist poetry on several occasions.

Contents

Works

External links

Works

(not a complete list)

★ ''Vi overlever alt'' (1945)

★ ''Sverdet bak døren'' (1956)

★ ''Livets minutter'' (1965)

External links

★ "Du må ikke sove!"

★ translation of "Du må ikke sove" by Lars-Toralf Storstrand: [1]

★ Kristendommen, den tiende landeplage. (Norwegian).