Agneta Horn's Beskrifning öfwer min wandringestidh, A woman's voice from the Seventeenth Century

Agneta Horn was a Swedish noblewoman who lived in the Seventeenth Century. Her autobiography is interesting for historical, social, linguistic and literary reasons, and often addresses the crucial events of the time, such as the Thirty Years’ War. The language Horn employs, especially the military jargon, is rich in loanwords from Middle Low German and French, thus reflecting the changes that Swedish was undergoing in the Seventeenth Century. Apart from the linguistic and historical aspects, Horn’s autobiography is noteworthy also for its formal diversity and articulation, possibly attributable to the influences of a variety of literary genres. It is a female autobiography, a genre that was gaining popularity at the time (Queen Christina also authored her own autobiography); it is a släktbok, i.e. a collection of personal notes that recount the private and economic events of a family; it is a war diary, since Horn’s husband was in the army and she followed him during his military campaigns; it is finally a book of prayers, which are a considerable portion of the text, especially in the final section.