The Author and His Source
Meet author Rasmus Daugbjerg in conversation with senior researcher Peter Zeeberg and author Harald Voetmann about his new book, Rasmus Nielsøn, and discover the Renaissance poem that inspired it.
In the winter of 1576, the mermaid Ibrant emerges from the water off Besser Rev to deliver a prophecy. The prophecy concerns Christian IV, who will be born the following year – but does the birth of the king's son herald happiness and greatness or death and destruction? And is the mermaida heavenly messenger or a servant of the Devil? Or perhaps a being, with its own inner life and thoughts?
The story of Ibrant originates from Erasmus Lætus' poem from 1577 about the birth and baptism of Christian IV, which has only been preserved in a single draft. On November 12, you can get close to the original manuscript and experience Rasmus Daugbjerg and Peter Zeeberg for a conversation about Ibrant, Erasmus and the mysterious and magical world of the Renaissance - based on Daubjerg's critically acclaimed revival of the old legend. The event takes place in Royal Danish Library's atmospheric The Old Reading Room. The conversation is moderated by Harald Voetmann and is presented in collaboration between the library and The Danish Academy.
Participants
Rasmus Daugbjerg
Rasmus Daugbjerg (b. 1993) is the author of three grim and imaginative novels rooted in folk beliefs and fairy tales. His writing casts a particularly tender new light on the monstrous. He has received the Michael Strunge Prize, Weekendavisen’s Maj Prize and the Danish Arts Foundation’s three-year working grant.
Peter Zeeberg
Peter Zeeberg (b. 1957) holds a PhD from the University of Copenhagen and is a senior editor at the Society for Danish Language and Literature. He has published and translated numerous works from the Danish Middle Ages and Renaissance, including Erasmus Lætus’s account of the birth and baptism of Christian IV, published in 1992 in collaboration with Karen Skovgaard-Petersen.
Harald Voetmann
Harald Voetmann (b. 1978) is a fiction writer, a translator from Latin and a member of the Danish Academy. His works include Alt under månen, set in the time of Erasmus Lætus on the island of Hven, where Tycho Brahe lived.
