Johan Herman Wessel is recognized as a major literary figure both in the literature of Norway (since he was born a Norwegian) and in that of Denmark (since he settled permanently in Copenhagen and wrote exclusively in Danish). As Harald Beyer writes, "The [Norwegian] tradition that led from Ludvig Holberg through Johan Herman Wessel to Wergeland, Welhaven, Bjørnson, and Ibsen is inextricably bound up with Danish names like Ewald, Oehlenschläger, Heiberg, Grundtvig, and Kierkegaard." This assessment, which places Wessel squarely in the company of the elite of both literatures, would have amused the world-weary satirist, who always spoke in self-deprecating terms about his work, as in the epitaph he wrote for himself: "Han syntes fød til Bagateller, / Og noget Stort blev han ej heller" (Just bagatelles he seemed to bring, / And greatness never was his thing). This attitude may be a pose...