The Miracles of Antichrist

THE MIRACLES OF ANTICHRIST was written following a trip of Selma Lagerlof’s to Sicily. While there, she heard — and was inspired by — a Sicilian legend: “When Antichrist comes, he shall seem as Christ. There shall be great want, and Antichrist shall go from land to land and give bread to the poor. And he shall find many followers.” Selma Lagerlof was the first woman and the first Swedish author to be awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1909. She was considered one of Sweden’s most beloved authors; the Swedish Academy declared that their recognition of her was “for reason of the noble idealism, the wealth of imagination, the soulful quality of style, which characterize her works.”

Author Biography

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.