Øverland published his first collection of poems (1911). Øverland became a communist sympathizer from the early 1920s and became a member of Mot Dag. He also served as chairman of the Norwegian Students' Society 1923–28. He changed his stand in 1937, partly as an expression of dissent against the ongoing Moscow Trials. He was an avid opponent of Nazism and in 1936 he wrote the poem "Du må ikke sove" which was printed in the journal Samtiden.[4] It ends with Jeg tenkte: Nu er det noget som hender. Vår tid er forbi - Europa brenner. ("I thought:: Something is imminent . Our era is over – Europe’s on fire!"). Probably the most famous line of the poem is Du må ikke tåle så inderlig vel den urett som ikke rammer deg selv! ("You mustn't endure so sincerely well the injustice that doesn't affect yourself!").[5]
Øverland played an important role in the Norwegian language struggle in the post-war era. He became a noted supporter for the conservative written form of Norwegian called Riksmål, he was president of Riksmålsforbundet (an organization in support of Riksmål) from 1947 to 1956. In addition, Øverland adhered to the traditionalist style of writing, criticising modernist poetry on several occasions. His speech Tungetale fra parnasset, published in Arbeiderbladet in 1954, initiated the so-called Glossolalia debate.[6]
Personal life
In 1918, he married the singer Hildur Arntzen (1888–1957). Their marriage was dissolved in 1939. In 1940, he married Bartholine Eufemia Leganger (1903–1995). They separated shortly after, and were officially divorced in 1945. Øverland was married to journalist Margrete Aamot Øverland (1913–1978) during June 1945.
In 1946, the Norwegian Parliament arranged for Arnulf and Margrete Aamot Øverland to reside at the Grotten. He lived there until his death in 1968 and she lived there for another ten years until her death in 1978.[7][8]
“For a “monotheistic” religion it should be sufficient with three gods.”[10]
“What is there to be said about a Church which certainly promises its believers eternal salvation, but at the same time condemns the non-believers, all those who think differently, to an eternal torment in hell? – If that Church absolutely must talk about love, then it should do so very quietly.”[11]
^Nilsen, Håvard Friis (2013). "Resistance in therapy and war: Psychoanalysis before and during the Nazi occupation of Norway 1933–45". The International Journal of Psychoanalysis (in German). 94 (4): 725–746. doi:10.1111/1745-8315.12107. ISSN1745-8315. PMID23924332. S2CID30412960.