beautiful advent hymn, “O Bride of Christ, Rejoice”, all hymns that breathe a truly Evangelical spirit and testify to a remarkable skill in the use of a language then so sorely neglected.
Best known of all Pre-Reformation songs in Danish is “The Old Christian Day
Song”—the name under which it was printed by Hans Thomisson. Of the three
manuscript copies of this song, which are preserved in the library of Upsala, Sweden, the oldest is commonly dated at “not later than 1450”. The song itself,
however, is thought to be much older, dating probably from the latter part of the 14th century. Its place of origin is uncertain, with both Sweden and Denmark contending for the honor. The fact that the text printed by Hans Thomisson is identical, except for minor variations in dialect, with that of the oldest Swedish manuscript proves, at least, that the same version was also current in Danish, and that no conclusion as to its origin can now be drawn from the chance preservation of its text in Sweden. The following translation is based on Grundtvig’s splendid revision of the song for the thousand years’ festival of the Danish church. [1]
With gladness we hail the blessed day
Now out of the sea ascending,
Illuming the earth upon its way
And cheer to all mortals lending.
God grant that His children everywhere
May prove that the night is ending.
How blest was that wondrous midnight hour
When Jesus was born of Mary!
Then dawned in the East with mighty power
The day that anew shall carry
The light of God’s grace to every soul
That still with the Lord would tarry.
Should every creature in song rejoice,
And were every leaflet singing,
They could not His grace and glory voice,
Though earth with their praise were ringing,
For henceforth now shines the Light of Life,
Great joy to all mortals bringing.
Like gold is the blush of morning bright,
When day has from death arisen.
Blest comfort too holds the peaceful night
When skies in the sunset glisten.
So sparkle the eyes of those whose hearts
In peace for God’s summons listen.
Then journey we to our fatherland,
Where summer reigns bright and vernal.
Where ready for us God’s mansions stand
With thrones in their halls supernal.
So happily there with friends of light
We joy in the peace eternal.
In this imperishable song, Pre-Reformation hymnody reached its highest
excellence, an excellence that later hymnody seldom has surpassed. “The Old Christian Day Song” shows, besides, that Northern hymnwriters even “during the time of popery” had caught the true spirit of Evangelical hymnody. Their songs were few, and they were often bandied about like homeless waifs, but they
embodied the purest Christian ideals of that day and served in a measure to link the old church with the new.
[1]Other translations:
“O day full of grace, which we behold” by C. Doving in “Hymnal for Church
