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"The Emperor of Portugallia," also called "Swedish King Lear," is a novel by Nobel-laureate Selma Lagerlöf, published in 1914 with drawings by Albert Engström. The novel was immediately successful and was adapted for the movies four times. The novel tells of a poor Swedish farmer who has a single daughter he loves over everything. Yet, as his girl goes to Stockholm and stops sending letters home, he envisions her getting married to the emperor of Portugallia. As the father of the imagined empress, he starts behaving accordingly: he takes the front place in Church, socializes with noblemen, and wears emperor regalia.

This work has been selected by scholars as being culturally important, and is part of the knowledge base of civilization as we know it. This work was reproduced from the original artifact, and remains as true to the original work as possible. Therefore, you will see the original copyright references, library stamps (as most of these works have been housed in our most important libraries around the world), and other notations in the work. This work is in the public domain in the United States of America, and possibly other nations. Within the United States, you may freely copy and distribute this work, as no entity (individual or corporate) has a copyright on the body of the work.As a reproduction of a historical artifact, this work may contain missing or blurred pages, poor pictures, errant marks, etc. Scholars believe, and we concur, that this work is important enough to be preserved, reproduced, and made generally available to the public. We appreciate your support of the preservation process, and thank you for being an important part of keeping this knowledge alive and relevant.

The author explores the conspiracy of Gabriel de Espinosa who attempted to pass himself off as the deceased King Sebastian of Portugal sixteen years after his death. Through this the author explores how stories - regarding such topics as prophecies of returned leaders, nuns kept against their will, kidnappings by Moors, etc. - are conceived, told, circulated, and believed.