In Friesland, as elsewhere, historical literature flourished in the first half of the 19th century, although no extensive works were written. In that respect, Willem van Haren’s Friso (1741) remains a singular exception. More than mere belles-lettres, this epic of the Frisians’ ancient and mythical history was also a work of political propaganda aimed at strengthening the stadtholder’s position in the province. In the 19th century, Frisian historical themes acquired literary popularity and moved into the prose genre, although drama remained an available genre for epic historicism.
Frisian-language prose and drama had tended to take its inspiration from popular life; a Frisian-language readership was insignificantly small. However, Paulus Scheltema did publish historical stories in the 1820s; these were not intended to be read as fiction, but as a true portrayal of early Frisian popular life. After 1850 some historical novels in Frisian did appear in print, but these were mostly comedies of manners – this time from a recent past, though. A well-known example is De silveren rinkelbel by Waling Dykstra (1856).
By contrast, Friesland had served as a popular backdrop for historical novels in Dutch-language literature since the early 19th century. The authors from Holland, in particular, were inspired by medieval Friesland. For them and their audience, Friesland related to Holland as Scotland did to England – rough-hewn, ancient, freedom-loving, and with a strongly demarcated character. In fact, while the first translation of Walter Scott in the Netherlands dates from 1824, the Leeuwarden-based Jan Willem Jacobus Steenbergen van Goor, a friend of Arent van Halmael, had in 1823 already translated a novel by Scott’s son-in-law John Gibson Lockhart, under the mistaken impression that it was by Scott himself. He was to publish three of Scott’s novels between 1825 and 1827, which proved popular in the reading clubs.
Jacob van Lennep, one of the major Dutch historical novelists, used Frisian settings in his collection Onze voorouders (1826-44) and his novel De roos van Dekama (1836). But as early as 1817 he had entered a historical tragedy – Bato, stamvader der Friezen – set in Friesland for a competition held by the Royal Institute. Other authors (Margaretha Jacoba de Neufville, Jan Ernst Schut, Hubertus Nicolaas Sieburgh, and Anne Diederik van Buren Schele) published historical novels with Frisian topics from 1829 onwards for a couple of years. They found the subject matter for their work in the historical chronicles that were being edited in Friesland at that time.
In Friesland itself, the Frisian Middle Ages and the 16th century became popular among Dutch-language authors, particularly in drama. The most significant of these was Arent van Halmael. Van Halmael, a citizen of Amsterdam by birth, who chose to become Frisian with the Frisians, often adapted Frisian historical topics, with which he was thoroughly familiar, in his national tragedies, poems, and sketches. He also composed poetry on historical topics such as the tragedies about Reinier and Willem van Oldenbarnevelt, Peter the Great, and Struensee. The most common theme in his work is the national struggle for freedom, with women often playing an important role. His Frisian tragedies are Ats Bonninga (1830), Adel en Ida, of de bevrijding van Friesland (“Adel and Ida, or the liberation of Friesland”, 1831), Radboud de tweede, koning van Friesland (“Redbod the Second, King of Friesland”, 1839), and the somewhat freer historical piece De Schieringers en de Vetkoopers, romantisch-dramatische tafereelen uit de geschiedenis van Friesland, in de XVe eeuw (“The Schieringer and Vetkoper factions: Romantic-dramatic scenes from the 15th-century history of Friesland”, 1841). High praise was won for Adel en Ida, about the revolt of the Frisians against the Romans, and allegorizing French hegemonic rule from 1795 to 1813. Van Halmael’s nationalism thus transcends the Frisian ambit and applies to the Netherlands at large.
After 1850 things changed rapidly. Writers in Friesland were almost exclusively Frisian-language authors for a growing Frisian-language readership, while Dutch-language authors lived outside the province in the west of the country (although they, as well as translated foreign authors, retained a significant audience in Friesland). Popular life remained the topic of choice. The brothers Eeltsje and Joast Halbertsma had smoothed the path for a viable Frisian literature. The second edition of their highly acclaimed Lapekoer (“Rag-basket”, 1822) had created a breakthrough on its publication in 1829. Prose was given a large place, which was further extended in the 1830s by the publication of Noarcher ruen and De treemter. Halbertsma’s Eölusbrieven (“Letters from Æolus”) from that same period are more in the sublime-heroic register. Other stories were to follow, until their collected works Rimen en teltjes (“Rhymes and tales”) appeared in 1872.
Extensive historical fictions did as yet not materialize. In his contribution to a tribute to Harmen Sytstra in 1918, Geert Aeilco Wumkes looked forward to a historical epic on Great-Friesland; Sytstra himself, a language activist, had long wanted to write such an epic. In the event, shortly after 1918 a Frisian-language play Kening Aldgillis (1920), about an early-medieval Frisian king, appeared, written by Douwe Kalma, later followed by another, Redbad (1951).
After 1850, the versatile Waling Dykstra became the central figure of Frisian-language literature; he was even able to earn a living from his Frisian writing. Editor of a great many Frisian journals, and author of a substantial body of songs, stories, children’s pieces, plays, novels, and non-fiction works, he enjoyed great popularity from his very first publications in the 1840s on. He took (either directly or through intermediary Dutch translations) a lot of material from then-current German popular literature, e.g. journals like Die Spinnstube, and from other, unknown originals. The roman-feuilleton De roovers in ’t woud van Czernahora (“The brigands in the Czernahora Forest”, 1853) was from an unspecified “High German” source.
Most of this work was published in the many annuals and journals. Some appeared with commercial publishers, others with associations like the Selskip foar Fryske taal en Skriftekennisse, founded in 1844. Besides Dykstra, a well-liked and productive author was Tsjibbe Gearts van der Meulen. Dykstra and Van der Meulen staged performed recitals of their work in 1860 at the so-called Winterjounenocht, evening entertainments held in various villages.
