Of Nils and Nation: Selma Lagerlöf's The Wonderful Adventures of Nils

Recently past its centenary, The Wonderful Adventures of Nils (1906–7), by Selma Lagerlöf, has remained an international children's classic, famous for its charm and magical elements. This article returns to read the book in its original contexts, and sets out to demonstrate that it was also published as a work of instruction, a work of geography, calculated to build character and nation. Arguing that it represents the vested interests of the state school system, and the national ideology of modern Sweden, the article analyses Nils's journey as the production of a Swedish ‘space’. With a focus on representations of power and nationhood in the text, it points to the way Lagerlöf takes stock of the nation's natural resources, characterises its inhabitants, draws upon legends and history, and ultimately constructs a ‘folkhem’, where social classes, ethnic groups and linguistic differences are all made to contribute to a sense of Swedish belonging and destiny.