Hans Christensen Sthen i studerekammeret

Om arbejdsmetode og temabehandling i Lyckens Hiul

Abstract

In 1581, the Danish priest and author Hans Christian Sthen published a book entitled »Lyckens Hiul« (»Wheel of Fortune«). The work consists of a preface and a didactic versified poem. In both parts insight into the mutability of fortune is demonstrated to be a necessity to acquire the knowledge, which characterizes the Wise. For this edification, Sthen has used a number of sources; a collection of proverbs from 1529 is the main source for his preface. This article attempts to observe Sthen at work in his study with his collection of books. Based on a detailed analysis of his use of sources, it is possible to outline how Sthen used his books and how he treated the themes in »Lyckens Hiul«. It can be shown that Sthen, as was typical for Humanists in this period, takes what he can use from his sources, but at the same time adapts what he has borrowed so that his work expresses his own conception of the human condition as characterized by a lack of stability.