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694 J A M E S [ 1936-1939 ]Joyce's guard by posing as an artist. As a result he spent more time withJoyce than anyone else, and wrote a long interview which he sent to himlater, only to be checked by Joyce's absolute refusal to allow its publication.It appeared, however, after Joyce's death, 15and gives an unusuallydetailed account of their conversation. Vinding was astonished when Joyceaddressed him in good Danish, but when he exclaimed over it Joycepointed out that the Danes had occupied Dublin, so that undoubtedlysome of the blood in his own veins was Danish. He was interested in theancient Irish distinction between the dark and light Scandinavians, thedubhghalls and fionnghalls, and kept looking to see which type the peoplethey passed belonged to. He had read Gunnar Heiberg as well as Ibsen.Vinding asked the predictable question, 'Do you rank Ibsen high?' 'He'sthe greatest playwright I know. No one can construct a piece as he can.There's not a superfluous word in his plays. It was wonderful to see whatLugne-Poe achieved as old Ekdal in The Wild Duck. I'm sorry never tohave seen Little Eyolf; the firstact is a pure wonder.' 'Do you then placeIbsen higher than Shakespeare?' asked Vinding. 'He towers head andshoulders above him when it comes to drama. No one approaches himthere. It's very difficult to believe that Ibsen will grow stale; he will renewhimself for every generation. His problems will be seen from a new angleas time goes on. There are some who think he was a feminist in HeddaGabler, but he was no more a feminist than I am an archbishop.'With Vinding as guide and companion Joyce and his wife visited variousplaces around Copenhagen, including, of course, Hamlet's castle atElsinore.* At Fredericksburg, as they walked through the grounds, Vindingasked, 'Do you like flowers,Mr. Joyce?' 'No. I -love-plants, greengrowing things, trees and grass. Flowers annoy me