The epic tradition in "Gösta Berling's Saga".
             Having been born and bred in Värmland, Selma Lagerlöf is conversant with the peasant culture and its folklore. In "Gösta Berling's Saga", she is primary occupied with a provincial type and investigates deeply into the spirit of the folk-life of Värmland. It took her ten years before her work was achieved. There were circumstances, which motivated its conception; the sale of her childhood's home " Mårbacka" emphasized her will to preserve the tales she was told about the Värmland. Using the cavaliers' story at Ekeby, she underlines the importance of work, love and morality. Because of its style, its relationship to the Icelandic saga, its proximity to the primitive oral tradition, its affinity to nature and its romance Gösta berling 's Saga discloses all the features of the epic tale.
             The Epic genre could be defined as a long narrative poem recounting actions, travels, adventures, and heroic episodes and written in a high style (with ennobled diction, for example). It may be written in hexameter verse, especially dactylic hexameter. Although her rhythm is prose, her diction is poetic. For instance in the chapter "Gösta Berling Poet" Gösta is asked how does he like the promise land and here is his answer: "It flows with milk and honey ... we empty the mountains of their iron and fill our cellar with wine. The fields bear gold with which we gild life's misery, and we fell our forests to build pavilions and skittle alleys". The recurrent comparisons and metaphors render the poetic style as well as all the romances that we witnessed.
             The narrator's voice is almost Omni-present thanks to the style of the author. She renders entirely the impression of oral tale. The reader can imagine himself sitting around a fire listening to he...