The Project Gutenberg EBook of Hymns and Hymnwriters of Denmark, by Jens Christian Aaberg

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Title: Hymns and Hymnwriters of Denmark

Author: Jens Christian Aaberg

Release Date: August 11, 2009 [EBook #29666]

Language: English

*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK HYMNS AND HYMNWRITERS OF DENMARK ***

Produced by Stephen Hutcheson and Ken Jentsch

Hymns and Hymnwriters of

Denmark

By

J. C. AABERG

Published by

The Committee on Publication

of the Danish Evangelical Lutheran Church in America

Des Moines, Ia.

1945

Copyright 1945

The Danish Ev. Luth. Church In America

Printed in Lutheran Publishing House

Blair, Nebr.

Foreword

This book deals with a subject which is new to most English readers. For though

Danish hymnody long ago became favorably known in Northern Europe, no

adequate presentation of the subject has appeared in English. Newer American Lutheran hymnals contain a number of Danish hymns, some of which have gained considerable popularity, but the subject as a whole has not been presented.

A hymn is a child both of its author and of the time in which he lived. A proper knowledge of the writer and the age that gave it birth will enhance our understanding both of the hymn and of the spiritual movement it represents. No

other branches of literature furnish a more illuminating index to the inner life of Christendom than the great lyrics of the Church. Henry Ward Beecher said truly:

“He who knows the way that hymns flowed, knows where the blood of true piety

ran, and can trace its veins and arteries to its very heart.”

Aside from whatever value they may have in themselves, the hymns presented on the following pages therefore should convey an impression of the main currents within the Danish church, and the men that helped to create them.

The names of Kingo, Brorson and Grundtvig are known to many, but so far no biographies of these men except of the sketchiest kind have appeared in English.

It is hoped that the fairly comprehensive presentation of their life and work in the following pages may fill a timely need.

In selecting the hymns care has been taken to choose those that are most characteristic of their authors, their times and the movements out of which they were born. While the translator has sought to produce faithfully the metre, poetry and sentiment of the originals, he has attempted no slavishly literal reproduction.

Many of the finest Danish hymns are frankly lyrical, a fact which greatly increases the difficulty of translation. But while the writer is conscious that his translations at times fail to reproduce the full beauty of the originals, he still hopes that they may convey a fair impression of these and constitute a not unworthy contribution to American hymnody.

An examination of any standard American church hymnal will prove that

American church song has been greatly enriched by transplantations of hymns from many lands and languages. If the following contribution from a heretofore

meagerly represented branch of hymnody adds even a little to that enrichment, the writer will feel amply rewarded for the many hours of concentrated labor he

has spent upon it.

Most of the translations are by the writer himself. When translations by others have been used, credit has been given to them except where only parts of a hymn

have been presented.

Minneapolis, Minnesota, September 21st, 1944.

INDEX

Chapter

Page

Table of Contents 7

I Early Danish Hymnody 9