WIVALLIUS, LARS

born 1605, Wivalla, Sweden died April 6, 1669, Stockholm Swedish poet and adventurer, whose lyrics show a feeling for the beauties of nature new to Swedish poetry in his time. Wivallius studied at Uppsala and in 1625 left Sweden to travel in Germany, France, Italy, and England. Frequently posing as a nobleman, he swindled his way across Europe and was imprisoned for a time in Nrnberg. Back in Sweden (1629), he succeeded in marrying the daughter of a nobleman by false pretenses but was found out and again imprisoned. In 1634 he was deported to Kajaneborg, northern Finland, where he spent seven years of severe hardship. Subsequently he became an advocate in Stockholm. Though unscrupulous and antisocial, Wivallius was full of gaiety in his youth. Of his many ballads, written mainly in prison, the best are those inspired by longing for freedom (for example, Ack libertas, an ode to liberty) and love of nature.