Description:
Following a trip to Sicily, Lagerlof was inspired by a Sicilian legend: "When Antichrist comes, he shall seem as Christ. There shall be great want and it shall go from land to land and give bread to the poor. And he shall find many followers."
Brief description: Selma Ottilia Lovisa Lagerlöf (1858 - 1940) was a Swedish author and teacher. She was the first female writer to win the Nobel Prize in Literature and is best remembered for her children's book The Wonderful Adventures of Nils. Lagerlof was asked by the National Teacher's Association in 1902 to write a geography book for children. She interestingly combined informative facts of Sweden's geography with a boy named Nils Holgersson. When the boy got in trouble, he traveled to many different provinces, allowing children to learn about Sweden while staying interested.