Release date is 2026-03-10

Juhani Kärkkäinen and Tapio Riikonen

"Hemming Gad" by Alpo Noponen is a historical play written in the early 20th century. It dramatizes Sweden’s struggle for independence against Denmark, focusing on the fiery bishop-elect Hemming Gad, the regent Sten Sture the Younger, and the nobles and clergy who divide into pro-Swedish and pro-Danish camps. The work probes loyalty, church power, and popular will as plots, papal pressure, and street-level support collide.

The opening of the play sets a tense political stage in Växjö, where bishops and nobles friendly to King Christian II scheme with the king’s agent, Master Jon, to hand strongholds to Denmark and undermine Sten Sture; Hemming Gad bursts in with townsmen at his back, denounces treason, and expels Jon across the border while the conspirators vow to have Gad excommunicated. In Stockholm Castle, Bishop Matias produces a papal order against Gad; Ingemar repents his defiance, and a wary Sture, fearing a clash with Rome, withdraws his protection as Matias symbolically casts Gad into the ban. Gad retreats to Rönö, while Jaakko Kurki leaves Sture’s service to follow him, and Kristina Gyllenstjerna warns Sture of the cost of losing his staunchest ally. A final vignette among peasants near Rönö shows Master Jon posing as a monk and peddling indulgences while vilifying Gad, hinting at a campaign to turn common folk against him. (This is an automatically generated summary.)

Originally published: Porvoo: Werner Söderström, 1903