Søren Kierkegaard, Frygt og baeven [Fear and Trembling]

William McDonald (University of New England)
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Fear and Trembling

[

Frygt og Bæven

] was published on 16 October 1843 - the same day as Kierkegaard published

Repetition

and

Three Edifying Discourses

. It is published under the pseudonym Johannes de Silentio (John of Silence) and has the subtitle “Dialectical Lyric”. The text bears the following epigraph from J.G. Hamann: “What Tarquinius Superbus said in the garden by means of the poppies, the son understood but the messenger did not”. Tarquinius had cut the heads off the tallest poppies with his cane, thereby communicating to his son that he was to kill the leading citizens of Gabii.

Fear and Trembling is an indirect communication, by an ironist using loquacious silence, to convey the ineffability of faith. It is a lyrical paean to faith and a dialectical movement towards

1883 words

Citation: McDonald, William. "Frygt og baeven". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 08 March 2005 [https://www.litencyc.com/php/sworks.php?rec=true&UID=5015, accessed 28 March 2024.]

5015 Frygt og baeven 3 Historical context notes are intended to give basic and preliminary information on a topic. In some cases they will be expanded into longer entries as the Literary Encyclopedia evolves.

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