Le Nord : revue internationale des Pays de Nord - 01.06.1943, Side 31

THE ROYAL GUSTAVUS ADOLPHUS ACADEMY 25
That I chose the study of folk culture as the sphere of
the proposed Academy was partly due to a personal interest in
this subject, which dated back to my boyhood, and which had
been stimulated by the writings of such excellent scholars as
Gabriel Djurklou and Herman Hofberg, and partly to the fact
that the tercentenary of the death of Gustavus Adolphus, which
was to be celebrated on Nov. 6, 1932, seemed to make it appro-
priate to commemorate the great Swedish King by the establish-
ment of an institute whose work would be entirely in his spirit.
For on May 20, 1630, shortly before he set out to take part
in the wars in Germany, Gustavus Adolphus set his name to a
remarkable memorandum, in which principles for the guidance
of the office of persevation of Swedish antiquities are laid down
for the first time.
This document enjoins on the antiquaries and historiographers
of the Realm to put on record, during their travels through the
various parts of Sweden, practically everything that comes to
their knowledge which may have a bearing on the spiritual and
material culture of the country: economics, the distribution of
land, archaeology, history, the maintenance of archives, and the
study of folk culture. The programme drawn up for the
latter subject is, to say the least of it, amazing in its variety and
in the foresight it displays. It shows, among other things, a
thorough comprehension of the value of oral traditions. Among
the folkloristic subjects to be studied, it mentions ancient stories
and poems about dragons, dwarfs, and giants; legends about
famous persons, ancient monasteries, castles and royal palaces;
and folk-ballads with their tunes. Inquiries are to be instituted
into the agricultural methods of the peasants, their animal hus-
bandry, and their hunting and fishing methods, folk medicine,
local names of herbs and trees, and the signs by which the weather
is foretold. Furthermore, notes are to be taken about clothing,
weapons, drinking vessels, and other domestic utensils.
Nor is the study of dialects and place names forgotten. All
names of tools are to be recorded, as well as all names of districts,
parishes, villages, woods, rivers and streams, lakes, mountains,
islands and islets, promontories, and reefs. Enquiries are also to
be made into the origin of the names in question.
The memorandum was almost certainly drawn up by Johan-
nes Bureus, but there can be no doubt that it reflects the wishes
of the King himself.