Astrid Lindgren was a trained secretary and wrote all his books with shorthand. Shorthand means "cramped writing" - with special characters you can write faster and in less space than with ordinary letters.
But reading someone else's shorthand other than their own can be difficult, which is why Astrid Lindgren's original manuscript has been shrouded in obscurity for many years. A new digital research project with literature researchers at Uppsala University will now decipher the script.
- The material is so unique and interesting that it is almost impossible to understand that it is basically untouched. Getting the opportunity to crack this code, Lindgren's own robbery language, is a favor for a researcher, says literature researcher Malin Nauwerck in a press release.
So far, the title "The Brothers Lion Heart: the last chapter, unfinished version" has been obtained from one of the 52 stenogram blocks containing the Brothers Lion Heart and from which the research project is based.
A total of 670 stenogram blocks signed by Astrid Lindgren are preserved at the Royal Library and the Swedish Children's Book Institute.