ABSTRACT
As the first popularized presentation of Kierkegaard's life and thought to have been published in Norwegian, Harald Beyer's Søren Kierkegaard has exerted a considerable influence on the common conception of Kierkegaard in Norway. The connections between the present work and Beyer's earlier Søren Kierkegaard og Norge are displayed in Beyer's occasional use of passages from famous literary works that either bear an obvious affinity to Kierkegaard or are directly influenced by him. Søren Kierkegaard is a minor work both in the context of writing on Kierkegaard in general and in the context of Beyer's own scholarly efforts. By present scholarly standards, Beyer's book is severely flawed. Although its historical significance and impact on the general Norwegian understanding of Kierkegaard should not be underestimated, its methodology and conclusions are clearly outdated and problematic, even when considered as an attempt at popularizing Kierkegaard's thought.
