Stop 4 of 10

Lundagård and the Esaias Tegnér statue

Respectability and suspicion

Stella crosses Lundagård by bicycle after an evening at Tegnérs and notices the statue of poet, professor and bishop Esaias Tegnér. Adam is also somewhere in this park when Ulrika telephones him.

Lundagård represents historic, respectable Lund: the university, scholarship and civic continuity. The park was laid out in the eighteenth century on ground that had formed part of the medieval archbishop's complex; the Tegnér statue was unveiled in 1853.

Against this setting, Stella's nocturnal movements may feel transgressive. Yet the novel keeps asking whether her behaviour is evidence of wrongdoing or simply evidence that she has a life her parents do not understand. How quickly do adults turn ordinary teenage secrecy into a sign of guilt?

Good to know

Extra background — not part of the original printed guide.

The name Lundagård comes from the fortified complex that served as the medieval bishops' and archbishops' seat. Today it is Lund's oldest park.
Look for the small mound ringed by six runestones. They were moved here from southern Scania, and several commemorate Viking-age men who died far from home in northern Europe.
The Tegnér statue was created by sculptor Carl Gustaf Qvarnström and unveiled in 1853. A wonderfully Lund-like detail: it now stands in the line of a street that once crossed this part of the park.

On to the next stop

AF-borgen stands just ahead on the eastern side of Lundagård. Let's walk to the building that houses Tegnérs.

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