The two female characters, the foster sisters Hiordis and Dagny,
of the projected tragedy, became the sisters Margit and Signe of
the completed lyric drama. The derivation of the latter pair from
the two women of the Saga at once becomes apparent when attention
is drawn to it. The relationship is unmistakable. The tragic
hero, so far only vaguely outlined, Sigurd, the far-travelled Viking,
the welcome guest at the courts of kings, became the knight and
minstrel, Gudmund Alfson, who has likewise been long absent in
foreign lands, and has lived in the king's household. His attitude
towards the two sisters was changed, to bring it into accordance
with the change in time and circumstances; but the position of
both sisters to him remained practically the same as that in the
projected and afterwards completed tragedy. The fateful banquet,
the presentation of which had seemed to me of the first importance
in my original plan, became in the drama the scene upon which its
personages made their appearance; it became the background against
which the action stood out, and communicated to the picture as a
whole the general tone at which I aimed. The ending of the play
was, undoubtedly, softened and subdued into harmony with its
character as drama, not tragedy; but orthodox aestheticians may
still, perhaps, find it indisputable whether, in this ending, a
touch of pure tragedy has not been left behind, to testify to the
origin of the drama.

Upon this subject, however, I shall not enter at present. My
object has simply been to maintain and prove that the play under
consideration, like all my other dramatic works, is an inevitable
outcome of the tenor of my life at a certain period. It had its
origin within, and was not the result of any outward impression