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The Brothers Lionheart is a novel written by Astrid Lindgren. It was published in the fall of 1973. Many of its story themes are unusually dark and heavy compared to childrens book genre in general. Disease, death, tyranny, betrayal and rebellion are some of the dark themes that permiates the story. The lighter themes of the book involve platonic love, loyalty, hope, courage and pacifism.

The brothers are the elder Jonatan and the younger Karl, whose lastname originally was Lion, but they are known as Lionheart. Karls nickname is Skorpan (Rusky) since Jonatan likes skorpor.

In Nangijala, a land in "the campfires and storytelling days", the brothers experience adventures. Together with a resistance group they lead the struggle against the evil Tengils oppresion who rules with the aid of the fearful dragon Katlas firebreath.

Story

10 year old Karl Lejon is chronically ill and found out he is going to die. His adored big brother, 13 year old Jonatan, calms him down and starts telling him about life after death. In the afterlife, all men will go to a land on the other side of the stars known as Nagijala, where it still is "the campfires and storytelling times". But Karl is not happy, it could still be over 90 years before Jonatan would come there. Jonatan assures Karl that time is different in Nagijala and that 90 years will only feel like a few days to Karl.

Some time later a fire spreads throughout their home. Jonatan attempts to rescue his little brother by carrying him on his back and jumps out the window. Jonatan is injured and dies by the fall. Right before he dies he tells his brother "Don't cry, I will see you in Nangijala". Karl is left alone, and starts to wonder if the story about Nangijala is really true. A white pigeon appears one night on his window sill and Karl interprets it as sa confirmation that it is.

Two months after his brother, Karl dies from his illness. Immediatly after his death he finds himself standing outside a small cottage. He is well and runs down to the river, where his brother is sitting and fishing. Jonatan tells him that they will be living at the Riders farm in the Cherryvalley. They each have a horse, Grim and Fjalar, and a short time of peace and joy eludes with fast riding and discovery expeditions.

Karl meets Sofia, whose rose garden Jonatan tends to. He is informed in small pieces that there are problems even in Nangijala. On the other side of the mountains lies Törnrosdalen (Thorne rose valley) which has been occupied by the evil Tengil, who has descended from the country of Karmanjaka with his men and built a wall around it. He has enslaved the original inhabitants. With the dragon Katla at his service, he appears unbeatable. Jonatan does not wish to tell Karl about Katla since it would frighten him.

The people of the Cherry valley, lead by Sofia, helps the resistance movement in the Thorne Rose valley but a traitor exists. Someone from the Cherry valley is helping Tengil as Sofias white doves, who flies with secret messages between the valleys, are being shot down with a bow and arrow.

One day Jonatan leaves for the Thorne Rose valley where the resistance leader Orvar has been arrested and sits in custody in the Katla cave. His sense of duty makes him go, igoring the dangers. Karl is left alone, and after a few days he attempts to follow his brother. One night he hides in a cove, two of Tengils men stand outside it to meet the traitor.

In the morning, Karl is discovered by the two soldier. They are suspicious and bring him to the Thorne ROse valley. Karl told them he lives with his grandfather and the soldiers demands that he shows them his house and his grandfather. Luckily an old man stands outside a small house with a white dove, and Karl throws himself into the old mans arms. The soldiers are satisfied. The old man, Mattias is also part of the resistance movement and inside his house Jonatan is asleep.

A happy reunion ensues when the two brothers meet. Mattias house lies right next to the high wall and there are constant guards from Tengil that snoops around to see if someone is doing something forbidden. Jonatan is digging an underground tunnel from Mattias house, under the high wall and ends in a forest on the inside.

When Tengil himself shows up to the Thorn Rose valley, everyone has gathered in the square. He is dressed in black, rides a black horse and look cruel. All men have to get in a line and Tengil picks out the ones who will be brought to Karmanjaka to carry rocks. In Karmanjaka Tengil is building an impenetrable fort so that he will never be conquered. A man who protests is quickly incapacitated by Tengils soldiers.

Jonatan has almost completed the underground tunnel. The brothers manage to escape the valley. As they stop to bathe in the river, they must hide from groups of soldiers. One of them rides out in the streaming river to show his bravery, but almost drowns. Jonatan shows empathy with the enemy soldier by saving him and his horse from drowning.

When they sit down to camp at the Karma falls, Karl gets to see Katla (the firebreathing dragon) for the first time that Tengil uses to terrorize the people. With the help of a horn Tengil controls Katla.

The next day the brothers cross the river using the suspension bridge that connects the Thorne Rose valley from Karmanjaka. The entrance to the Katla cave is guarded by Tengils soldier but Jonatan manages to find a second entrance. Deep in the mountain they arrive to the Katla cave where Orvar is kept. They manage to release Orvar from his wooden cage but the escape is soon discovered. They ride back as fast as they can towards the Karma fall and the bridge, but the pursuing soldiers edges closer to Karl and Jonatan, who are both riding on Grim. Karl throws himself of the horse and hides in a ditch so that Jonatan can escape.

When the pursuing soldiers have gone away, Karl moves on to the place where they went swimming and hides in a tree. At dusk three familiar persons show up: Sofia, Hubert and the traitor Jossi. When Karl tells Sofia that Jossi is the traitor, she gets angry. Once Jossi's shirt is forced off, and everyone can see the Tengilsmark on his chest, Karl is believed. Jossi throws himself into a small boat, but the stream catches him and brings him to a certain deat in the waterfall.

Shortly thereafter the people rise up against Tengil and his men. Once Tengil shows up with Katla all seems lost, but Jonatan manages to pull the horn out of his hands and makes Katla attack Tengil and his men.

Once the fight is won, Orvar asks Jonatan to bring Katla back to the Katla cave. When Jonatan and Karl rides over the suspension bridge, their horse Grim gets frightened and Jonatan drops the horn down into the river. Katla then chases them up the mountain. They finally hide high up on a cliff where Jonatan pushes a big rock down on Katla. Katla falls backwards into the river where a fight ensues between Katla and the lindworm. The two beasts end up killing eachother.

Jonatan and Karl sets up camp and Jonatan explains that during the fight he was burned by Katlas fire, and that he now will become lame. Jonatan would rather die but tells what will happen when he does: about the land Nangilima where there are only happy adventures. Karl does not want to separate from his brother but carries him on his back out to a cliffdrop and jumps: "Oh Nangilima! Yes, Jonatan, yes - I see the light! I see the light!"

Places

Nangijala

The old village in Århus was used for the movie depicting the Thorne rose valley

To ease Karls death anxieties his brother tells him the story about life after death, where people end up in Nangijala at the other side of the stars. It is a pre-technology, or mideval society.

There are three areas mentioned of Nangijala: Cherry valley, Thorne rose valley and Karmanjaka.

Cherry valley is a paradise that has everything a 10 year old may wish for: Plenty of fish, rabbits and your very own horse. Here Karl can do everything he could not do on earth - run, swim and gallopp. The people of the Cherry valley live in a trade economy where everything is free and everyone helps each other: Jonatan is a gardener for Sofia who in turn gives the boys food. Karls initiation into this society is symbolized by his change of clothes, to a more mideval cut, else the rest will think he is strange.

On the other side of the hills is Thorne rose valley, occupied by Tengil and his men. The inhabitants of the valley were forced to build a high wall all around the valley. The wall has only two gates, one towards the mountains and one towards the river. Violence rules here and the inhabitants are made to work like slaves. Noone gets in our out without knowing the password which is "All power to Tengil, our liberator".

From the Thorne rose valley, the Ancient Rivers river flows towards the Ancient Mountains mountain where the dark and dreary Karmanjaka lies, and where Tengil has his castle. In Karmanjaka lives the dragon Katla.

Nangilima

Nangilima is the land beyond Nangijala. This is where you go if you die in Nangijala.

Characters

Karl

Karl, or "Skorpan" is 8 years old. He lives with his older brother Jonatan and his mother Sigrid on the second story of a house in a small city. When the book begins Karl has barely gone to school for 6 months. He has fallen ill with a deadly disease.

The character Tengil makes Karl scared, but is inspired by his brother to overcome the fear. The first time when he leaves the Cherry valley, the second time when he jumps off the horse when him and Jonatan is being chased and the third time when he jumps with his brother of the cliff to go to Nangilima. The last death jump shows that he repeats Jonatans heroic acts in the beginning of the book and finally became a Lionheart.

The character Karl is played by Lars Söderdahl in the movie.

Jonatan

13 year old Jonatan looks like a fairy tale prince and performs heroic acts starting with the first chapter; saving his younger brother but ends up dying because of it. Jonatan comforts and cares. In Nangijala he takes care of Karl, his sense of duty forces him to leave his brother and he explains to Karl that sometimes there are things that people just have to do.

Jonatan is a hero but not a rebel fighter, since he is a pacificst. On the journey towards Karmanjaka he rescues one of Tengils soldiers from being swept away by the hard currents, even though he is risking arrest doing so. The day before the big uproar he explains to Orvar that he can not kill, not even to save his own life.

Jonatan is played by Staffan Götestam in the movie.

Sofia

Sofia lives on the Tulipafarm close to the high mountains. There she hosts a dove coop with lots of white doves, her bees and her goats. She has a large flower garden that Jonatan works in. With the help of her doves she can send and receive messages from Thorne rose valley. Tengil knows what she is up to and has set a reward of 15 white horses to whomever can deliver her.

In the movie Sofia is played by Gunn Wållgren.

Jossi

Jossi is the inn-keeper at Guldtuppen (Goldrooster) in the Cherry valley. When Karl meets him for the first time, Jossi lifts him up on a table and explains that the two of them will be best friends. The next time they meet Jossi gives him cookies for comfort when Jonatan is gone. Karl is shocked when he finds out that Jossi is the traitor who was hoping that Tengil would make him the leader of the Cherry valley once it was occupied.

In the movie Jossi is played by Folke Hjort.

Katla

Katla is a dragon from the beginning of all times, whose fire kills or lames whoever it hits. For thousands of years she has slept in the Katlacave but awoke and attacked Tengils castle. Her attack was disrupted when Tengil blew in a horn and now Katla obeys whoever has the horn.Tengil keeps her chained up in a cave near the Karma fall. There she keeps an eye out for the Lindorm which she hates.

For the recording of the movie in 1977 a model of Katla was manufactured at Pinewood studios outside of London. Inside the model which was 4 meters high and 8 meters long, there was room for three people; One at each frontleg and a person at a small control table. The model could blink, breathe fire and whip its tail. The model cost 100 000 SEK. The director Olle Hellbom thought that it was not scary enough but made it look more dirtier on the surface.

The movie was the only appearance of the mechanical monster. As of 2004 the model is stored at the film company Dekor in "Trollywood".

Tengil

Tengil carries the title "Knight of Karmanjaka, Lord of Thorne rose valley". He has conquered Thorne rose valley and enslaved its inhabitants.

Tengil is met for the first time when he sits atop a black horse in the square of Thorne rose valley. He is dressed in a black hood and has a chestplate with a red burning flame on it. He wears a black helmet with a purple plume. Tengil power is enforced by his soldiers and by his control of the dragon Katla.

At the end of the story, in the fight between Tengils soldiers and the people of Thorne rose valley, Tengils powers appear to be defeated. Suddently Katla shows up and the situation is turned to Tengils advantage. Jonatan engaged Tengil in a holmgang and Jonatan is victorious.

In the movie Tengil was played by Georg Årlin.

Background

In 1946 Astrid Lindgren released the novel Mästerdetektiven Blomkvist where the knight games between the Red and the White rose is an important element. Mio, min Mio, published in 1954 is another story from Astrid that takes place in a far away mideval land.

The origins of the book has been described by Lindgren several times. A train trip along the lake Fryken, south of Torsby, a winderday in 1972, displayed a fantastic dawnlight which gave her the impulse to write of a land far away. "It was one of those fantastic mornings with pink light over the lake - yes, it was something of unearthly beauty, and I suddenly got a strong experience, a sort of vision of the dawns light of humanity and I felt something lit inside. This may turn into something, I thought".

During a visit at a cemetary in Vimmerby, Lindgren was caught by an iron cross with the text Here rests the fragile brother Johan Magnus and Achates Phalen, dead 1860.It gave her the inspiration to write a story with two unga brothers and death: "Then I know suddenly that my next book would be about death and about these two small brothers."

Another inspiration was when during a press conference for the movie of Emil i Lönneberga in 1971. She saw how the young lead character actor Jan Ohlsson got in the lap of his older brother Dick.

Criticism

The book did recieve some criticism when it was published. In particular the issue of death and suicide.

There is only one way to become free from the illness and that is for younger brother Skorpan (Karl) to take Jonatan on his back and jump down a cliff to die. In the death land of Nangilima eternal happyness reigns. [...] Ofcourse it would be strange for me to point a finger at her (Astrid Lindgren) imagination, but I can not help wondering about how a handicapped child may experience Jonatan Lionhearts deathwishes. Perhaps a sense of apathy would grow like a fire around the childrens heart. Pondering on life-entitlement and lifequality. Gunnel Enby in Aftonbladet December 16th, 1973. (Originally in Swedish)

But the subjectively emotional, often ecstatic tone of Karl's firstperson narrative may make young readers uneasy; the book's preoccupation with death and its hints about transmigration of souls may be confusing; and the final, cool acceptance of suicide, too shocking. Ethel L. Heins in Horn's Book Magazine, Boston, december 1975, p. 594-595.

Other critics believed that Lindgren painted the tale in a very black and white world:

Would this world view, with its romantic-deterministic dream fitted better in the cold war era? Is not this beautiful tale about the fair freedomfighter against an unexplained metaphysical evil an insult to liberation movements around the world? Kerstin Stjärne in the paper Arbetet 26 oktober 1973 (Originally in Swedish)

On the other hand readers reacted largely positive: "It is clear that children had a great wish for tales and preferably these kind of exciting tales. Right now I am swamped with letters from children - from several countries - that loves the Brother Lionhearts. Never before have I received such a strong and spontaneus reaction on any book" - Letter written by Lindgren in 1975.

Adaptations

The book was adapted by Lindgren herself into a 1977 motion picture, directed by Olle Hellbom (see The Brothers Lionheart (film)).