Agria 37. (Az Egri Múzeum Évkönyve - Annales Musei Agriensis, 2001)

Z. Szalai Sándor: Gárdonyi Géza történelmi regényei

genden Worten: „Nie und niemand erzählte so leicht, mit solcher komplexen Philosophie, so lieblich aus der Höhe, so poetisch ungarisch wie der neueste Gárdonyi." Sándor Z. Szálai The Historical Novels of Géza Gárdonyi In 1894, Géza Gárdonyi decided to abandon his career in journalism and concentrate entirely on the realisation of his literary plans. In 1897, he settled in Eger for good. It was then that he started to write the historical novels which constitute the most lively elements in his literary output. Initially he wrote about the most heroic episode in the history of Eger, the victory of 1552 which managed to halt the Turkish advance, and then he wrote about the battle between Christianity and the barbarians in the age of the Huns as seen through the eyes of a Greek slave caught up in a hopeless romance. The Captives of God (Az Isten rabjai), an account of the legend of Saint Margaret, is set amidst some of the most important episodes in 13

,h century Hungarian history. Sándor Z. Szálai, who has already written three books and numerous articles about Gárdonyi, now analyses Gárdonyi 's historical novels with the benefit of some recently uncovered primary sources from the writer's rich estate, like for example the Secret Diary (Titkosnapló). The article sheds light on the circumstances in which he was born and what lay behind the historical novels, whilst concerning itself with some of the most disputed aspects of his works. It's not difficult to explain the reasons for the success of his novel "Eclipse of the Crescent Moon" (Egri csillagok), a book which has been translated into many languages, but the degree to which Gárdonyi researched every single detail in each of his novels, and the extent to which each episode is based on actual historical events, is less known. The novel entitled The Invisible Man (A Láthatalan ember) resembles such masterpieces of world literature as Gustave Flaubert's Salammbô in its analysis of the human soul, and the works of Gottfried Keller from a formal (structural) and spiritual point of view. The Captives of God, however, rather than attempting to depict history in any monumental form, chooses the subtle anecdotal style and crystal - clear poesy which is Gárdonyi's great strength. This was something that his contemporary Endre Ady also appreciated: "Nobody has been able to put across such a complex and lofty philosophy, in such an endearing manner and with such poetic feeling for the Hungarian language as that seen in the most recent Gárdonyi." 434