"Om det nationella lifvet i Wales"

Name of traveller

Otto Gallander

Reason for travel

• holidaying and general interest in Wales

Date of travel

undated, ca. 1900

Förhållandena i Wales visa, dels att ett folk under århundraden kan vara förenadt med en mäktigare nation utan att förlora sina nationella egendomligheter, och dels att en verklig union är möjlig och till ömsesidig båtnad för två folk med mångfaldigt större olikheter än brödrafolken på ömse sidor om Kölen. (Gallander 245)

Content

• art: contains a number of photographs
• customs:
  • importance of religion, particularly Methodism, on Welsh life with preponderance of places of worship
  • attends a Sunday school meeting and evaluates them as the most interesting aspect of religious life in Wales
  • National Eisteddfod as most visible sign of Welsh national identity
• history:
  • brief overview of history since Roman period
  • Tudor period singled out as less restrictive for English legislation limiting the use of Welsh language
• language:
  • brief description of properties of Welsh language, influences by other languages and its relation to Irish and Breton
  • importance of Bible translations during Elizabethan era
  • importance of Sunday schools for Welsh literacy
• literature:
  • long tradition and flourishing of Welsh poetry
  • tradition of collecting old legends
  • importance of Arthurian tales and preponderance of folk tales about towns and places
  • important collections of Welsh literature in Cardiff library
• people: a "Mr J." from the university in Cardiff acting as personal guide and informant on Welsh life
• politics: contemporary attempts to create Welsh institutions such as a national library and national museum

Nationality of traveller

Swedish

Language of publication

Swedish

Gender of traveller

Male

Type of publication

illustrated essay; travelogue

Citation

Gallander, Otto. "Om det nationella lifvet i Wales." Nordisk tidskrift för vetenskap, konst och industri (1904): 233-45. Print.