# Swedish: Björnar



## David Garamatz

“jag grälat så mycket som Björnar och Richardsöner. Korteligen, jag war i största willrådighet.”
“I complained as much as bears and Richard’s sons. In brief I was thoroughly irresolute.”
This is from an autobiography written in Norrköping by Stockholm-born Christopher Henric Braad (1728-81) in 1781. He was evidently in good health but died in October that year.
_Björnar _could signify what were called ‘bums’—sheriffs’ men or debt collectors—in England; or were they real bears, with teeth and claws? Who were _Richardsöner? _
            Braad owned a library of several thousand volumes that was catalogued by size after his death. I’ve converted the catalogue into alphabetical order of author (when given); in doing this I didn’t notice any work about _björnar _or any ‘Richardson’ but could easily check the re-arranged list should anyone hint at a possible author’s name.


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## BlueSuede

I'm not sure that this is the correct answer, but have you thought about...

The members of the family called Richardsson may very well be referred as the Richardsönerna (or Richard*ss*önerna).
The members of a family called Björn may very well be referred as the Björnarna.

Do you know if there were a family called Björn? In that case my answer might be right.

This is just a guessing, nothing more.


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## David Garamatz

Thanks for your answer, Blue Suede. If I knew where to look for the families you mention I'd feel fortunate! Braad had a host of friends and acquaintances and at the end of his life he had about one thousand letters from them; his letters to them are still uncatalogued and somewhere in them there may be the answer you suggest. One day I hope to have funds to look ...


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## utmarker

According to SAOB "Björn" could be used as a humerous paraphrase for creditor. The example is from the middle of the 18:th century.
Maybe the possible meaning is that some famous sons of Richard (Richardsson?) had economical problems?
Those references to for their time well known events almost always are very time-bound(is that the word?).


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## basslop

Hardly an option here, but nevertheless: "Bjørnar" is a common name in Norway, so maybe if the story has some link to Norway .....


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## David Garamatz

Thanks, Basslop, for your option but Norway is far off from Norrköping where all this was centred.


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## Ben Jamin

BlueSuede said:


> I'm not sure that this is the correct answer, but have you thought about...
> 
> The members of the family called Richardsson may very well be referred as the Richardsönerna (or Richard*ss*önerna).
> The members of a family called Björn may very well be referred as the Björnarna.
> 
> Do you know if there were a family called Björn? In that case my answer might be right.
> 
> This is just a guessing, nothing more.



Do you exclude the possibility that the author meant people named Björn as the first name?


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## BlueSuede

Actually I did. Two or more people named Björn as their first name at the same place are rare. But if the circumstances were such, the they could of course be referred as the Björnarna. Like Evorna in a school class, Mariorna, or Ulfarna.

However, I doubt that Björn is to be considered a first name, as another last name, Richardson (if I'm right in this), is mentionned in the same sentence. And, at the time of the time around 1780, first name is not so often referred to, relative to the last name.

The proper way to adress members of the same family in Swedish is to add an 's' after it, as it would be a genitive 's'. "Lisa, spring iväg till Johanssons och låna en kopp socker, är du snäll?" or "Nu är det bråk hos Bergströms igen, att dom aldrig lär sej." 

But there is another way too, not so proper, and that is to use the plural form, when possible. "Nu bråkas det hos Bergströmarna..." or "Frickarna ska åka till Thailand igen, har dom vunnit på lotto?" And this is why I think there is a possibility that the members of the Björn family can be called Björnarna.


In my Esselte 'Svensk Ordbok' I can read that sjöbjörn means sailor. A björn can also mean 'fordringsägare'. A person called björn might imply a clumsyness, or strength, sometimes combined, as in björnkram, and björntjänst etc. But in this case, together with the "Richardsöner", I think that "Björnarna" is just a collective form of the members of the Björn family (and Richardson family).

But this is nothing more than a mere guessing from my side. Any other explanation is as good as mine, perhaps better...


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## David Garamatz

My guess is that this refers to a book, or a story or whatever in a book; but which book???


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## AutumnOwl

Björn is a surname that's not too uncommon today in Norrköping (and Linköping), so it's likely that the "Björnar" means people with that surname.


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## Wilma_Sweden

David Garamatz said:


> “jag grälat så mycket som Björnar och Richardsöner. Korteligen, jag war i största willrådighet.”
> “I complained as much as bears and Richard’s sons. In brief I was thoroughly irresolute.”


The first part of the quote doesn't make much sense on its own, *you should include at least the complete sentence for proper context.*  18th century grammar and spelling are quite different from modern  Swedish, and forum rules insist on proper context, so please expand on  that. 

Having said that, we normally capitalise names, be it  first or family names, therefore my first impression is also that they are  referring to people having those family names as BlueSuede and others  have explained, this makes the most sense.


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## LilianaB

I think Björnar and Richardsöner are last names, most likely of writers, literary or historical characters. Since  Christopher Braad mentions complaining like Björnar and Richardsöner, I think he might have had in mind Samuel Richardson, an 18th century painter and writer famous for his emotional novels _Pamela_ and _Clarissa_. He is also know for writing his novels in an epistolistic style, as letters, so perhaps this is of some significance. As for Björnar, he could  be referring to a saga, to a king perhaps, because Bjorn was really a royal name in the old times. I think there was  a grave, or a mound rather, discovered in the 18th century of a 9th century King Bjorn Barrow, Bjorn the Second who was a son of Eric Bjornsson, so Eric was probably a son of Bjorn. Bjorn II started a new dynasty and he was portrayed in the Herverar saga. Perhaps this may have some significancs. Otherwise Richardsönar could mean sons of Richard, perhaps from Shakespeare's plays, the English dynasty.


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## David Garamatz

Thanks, Wilma, for your comment. Here's the phrase in its complete context:
Kanske om jag fåt följa min böyelse, at komma in i Cancelist e[ller] Antiquitoti archiv:torde det gåt lättare, fast wid närmare påseende, jag äfven där märkte föga liknelse til fortkomst, anskönt jag grälat så mycket som Björnar och Richardsöner. Korteligen, jag war i största willrådighet. Det föll mig väl in, at jag som någre andre skrifware kunde få et rum bland de Officerare, som då antogs för Fransk räkning, men som man ej gärna får föra biblithequer med sig i fält, och pen-
ningar til equipering, resa, etc felade, förföll snart den idén.
    Braad had a German edition (1742) of Samuel Richardson's Pamela (1740) in his library in 1781 but I'd guess this has nothing to do with the _Richardsöner_ in the quotation.

Thanks for your comment, LilianaB. Braad's library in 1781 contained twenty-two volumes of sagas but none of Herverar saga, so the Björn in the quotation is most probably someone else; but who? Braad also owned a German edition (1742) of Richardson's Pamela (1740) but if there's a connection it isn't apparent. Samuel Loembom's _Kort inledning till Swenska historien _(1768) mentions three kings of Sweden, Björn I, Björn II and Björn III (respectively the 42nd, 45th and 47th in a list that has Gustaf II Adolph as the 95th) but this looks to me as indistinct as everything else that's wrapped in the mists of history.


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## LilianaB

He could just have used stereotypical names for some officers then, such as tax collectors. I was just wondering whether Richardson was a common name in Sweden at that time? Björn could either be a first or a last name, whereas Richardson is not a common name in Sweden these days.


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## BlueSuede

Richardson is a patronymicon. Meaning that it says that Richard was his father. Patronymicons were very common in those days. I don't think that even Richard was rare.
Björn means 'Bear' and signifies that the bearer is a strong man. Very common for soldiers whose common patronymicons was changed to something that signifies their character. As Björn also is a first name, it feels good for the tounge.

No, I don't think that neither Björn nor Richardson is very surprising for a man to be called. Certainly not at that times around 1781.

“jag grälat så mycket som Björnar och Richardsöner.” where Richardsöner and Björnar are in plural, I would translate it to the Björn brothers, and Richardson brothers. That makes sense.

...and this is my final posting in this subject.


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## Wilma_Sweden

David Garamatz said:


> Thanks, Wilma, for your comment. Here's the phrase in its complete context:
> Kanske om jag fåt följa min böyelse, at komma in i Cancelist e[ller] Antiquitoti archiv:torde det gåt lättare, fast wid närmare påseende, jag äfven där märkte föga liknelse til fortkomst, anskönt jag grälat så mycket som Björnar och Richardsöner. Korteligen, jag war i största willrådighet. Det föll mig väl in, at jag som någre andre skrifware kunde få et rum bland de Officerare, som då antogs för Fransk räkning, men som man ej gärna får föra biblithequer med sig i fält, och pen-
> ningar til equipering, resa, etc felade, förföll snart den idén.
> Braad had a German edition (1742) of Samuel Richardson's Pamela (1740) in his library in 1781 but I'd guess this has nothing to do with the _Richardsöner_ in the quotation.


Thanks for that extended quote, it made all the difference to me. Context is everything! It seems that he's wanting an office, either a position or an actual office space. Chancery and the Antiquities archive are mentioned. If we look in the old encyclopedias such as Nordisk Familjebok we find a Jakob Richardson  who was an 'assessor' at the Antiquities archive (Antiqvitets-arkivet). There is also a Didrik Björn whose career started in some chancery in Stockholm, possibly around 1780. If these two individuals achieved something that Braad coldn't (by nagging themselves into office), Braad may well have mentioned the names in a construction meaning 'the likes of [name]'. The construction he uses with the surnames in plural does exist in Swedish, and you have a similar construction in English, e.g. the Tebbits and the Thatchers of this world...

There are other old Swedish encyclopedias on the same site (runeberg.org), and old usage and spellings of Swedish words can best be found in the SAOB dictionary online.

I hope this makes some sense.


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