Resweded

Over the past couple of years, as reference 1 shows, Sweden has popped over the horizon at various times, but without the house getting to own a one volume history of the place, suitable for family reading.

And then last week, as reference 2 shows, I declined to spend £16 on a magnificent collection of Ironside DVD's.

But a few days after than I did fall for a magnificent collection of  Garbo DVD's for £10. Not exactly sure now why Garbo was in and Ironside was out, given that the cost per DVD for Garbo was considerably higher. Maybe £16 was just over some important threshold for charity shop purchases.

Last night we watched the first of them, 'Queen Christina', dating from 1933 when Garbo was 28. A film, set in her native Sweden, which wore its years very well. I am not usually very keen on old films, however buffish they may be, but this one was good. Not being very familiar with Garbo, I found her very striking but also very odd, not fitting in with modern taste in such matters very well at all. She also appeared to be wearing a lot of white makeup which did her, in so far as I was concerned, no favours at all.

The film also served to renew our acquaintance with Sweden, to remind us how little about the history of the place we knew. Not even that a girl child succeeded to the throne of the famous Gustavus Adolphus, killed at what should have been his moment of glory at the battle of Lützen (see reference 4), and went on to abdicate, twenty years later, for romantic reasons. She converted to Catholicism and went on to a long, fairly happy and well provided for retirement in Rome, dying eventually of complications of diabetes. An extraordinary career, an early example of someone stepping down from supreme power without getting hidden away in some far away fortress or executed. Sadly, she tarnished her declining years with a messy and unpleasant palace execution of her master of the horse. Also an early experiment in rule by a lady, fitting in well with my present bedtime reading, Massie on Catherine the Great.

I shall try again for the missing one volume history, that which I have got stopping at 1577. In the meantime, I have turned up Gardiner's atlas of English history, from which I learn that at some point not so far away from Christina, Sweden regained its southern tip from Denmark. I had forgotten, if I had ever known, that Denmark had expanded over the straits in that way.

With thanks to wikipedia for the picture of the death of Gustavus Adolphus.

Reference 1: http://psmv2.blogspot.co.uk/search?q=sweden&max-results=20&by-date=true.

Reference 2: http://www.psmv2.blogspot.co.uk/2015/06/luko.html.

Reference 3: http://www.gretagarbo.com/Offical_Website_of_Greta_Garbo/Home.html.

Reference 4: http://pumpkinstrokemarrow.blogspot.co.uk/search?q=L%C3%BCtzen.