Ernst Ludvig Norlind, artist, writer, and violinist, was born in Apil 25, 1877, in the Vellinge Parish in Skane County, Sweden. He was the son of pastor Lars Christenson and Johanna Norlind, as well as brother of music researcher Tobias Norlind and author Arnold Norlind. He began his education as a philosophy candidate in Lund in 1898, but transferred to studying art when he attended schools in Dachau and Paris. 

In 1904 he moved in with his companion Hanna Larsdotter at her home in Borgeby Castle in Skane, at which she held various cultural salons. There, they hosted luminaries such as Axel Tormeman, Rainier Maria Rilke, Edvard Persson, Anders Osterling, Tora Vega Holmstrom, and others. They married in 1907 and had a son in 1909. Norlind continued to work, furthering his studies in Paris where he was introduced to Auguste Rodin. He was primarily an oil painter, frequently - and to great acclaim - using the landscape of Skane for his subject matter. He also worked in charcoal as well as graphic techniques such as etching and blockprints. His graphic work often focused on bird motifs, particularly storks. 

Among his illustration work, Norlind designed the cover for Anders Osterling’s first poetry collection and was perhaps best known for his poster advertising the Baltic Exhibition in Malmo in 1914. Norlind also played violin and was a radio personality, telling stories on air in the 1940s. He was a friend of folk musician Olof Andersson. He debuted his writing with Dikter (1907) and subsequently followed a comprehensive fictional literature production and playwriting. 

His paintings were often dark and featured a a limited palette until about 1925, becoming livelier and brighter as he introduced more colors to his oeuvre. During this period, Norlind also became interested in adding figures to his landscape motif, as well as still life painting. 

Ernst Ludvig Norlind died in Borgeby, Sweden on December 16, 1952.