Carit Etlar

Born Johan Carl Christian Brosbøll in Fredericia on August 7, 1816, he wrote under the pen name Carit Etlar. He first trained as an artist and studied at the Royal Danish Academy of Fine Arts in Copenhagen before turning fully to writing.

He became especially famous for the 1853 novel Gjøngehøvdingen, a historical adventure about Svend Poulsen Gønge. Drawing on Danish history, folklore, and the natural world he had loved since childhood, he wrote energetic stories that were widely read and remembered for their action and atmosphere.

Carit Etlar died on May 9, 1900, in Gentofte. Today he is still regarded as an important Danish popular writer whose historical fiction helped shape the adventurous side of Danish literature.