Hymns and Hymnwriters of Denmark, pdf download by Jens Christian Aaberg

Hymns and Hymnwriters of Denmark, pdf download by Jens Christian Aaberg

Book: Hymns and Hymnwriters of Denmark

Author: Jens Christian Aaberg

Release Date: August 11, 2009 

Language: English.

(✍️ This article is collected from this book 📚 (All Credit To Go Real Hero The Author of this book 📖) 🙏 Please buy this book hardcopy from anyway.)

🧾In This Book____________________________

Danish hymnody, like that of other Protestant countries, is largely a child of the

Reformation. The Northern peoples were from ancient times lovers of song.

Much of their early history is preserved in poetry, and no one was more honored

among them than the skjald who most skillfully presented their thoughts and

deeds in song. Nor was this love of poetry lost with the transition from paganism

to Christianity. The splendid folk songs of the Middle Ages prove conclusively

that both the love of poetry and the skill in writing it survived into the new age.

One can only wonder what fine songs the stirring advent of Christianity might

have produced among a people so naturally gifted in poetry if the church had

encouraged rather than discouraged this native gift.

But the Church of Rome evinced little interest in the ancient ways of the people

among whom she took root. Her priests received their training in a foreign

tongue; her services were conducted in Latin; and the native language and

literature were neglected. Except for a few lawbooks, the seven hundred years of

Catholic supremacy in Denmark did not produce a single book in the Danish

language. The ordinances of the church, furthermore, expressly forbade

congregational singing at the church services, holding that, since it was unlawful

for the laity to preach, it was also impermissible for them to sing in the

sanctuary. It is thus likely that a Danish hymn had never been sung, except on a

few special occasions in a Danish church before the triumph of the Reformation.

It is not likely, however, that this prohibition of hymn singing could beeffectively extended to the homes or occasional private gatherings. 

Hans

Thomisson, who compiled the most important of the early Danish hymnals, thus

includes five “old hymns” in his collection with the explanation that he had done

so to show “that even during the recent times of error there were pious Christians

who, by the grace of God, preserved the true Gospel. And though these songs

were not sung in the churches—which were filled with songs in Latin that the

people did not understand—they were sung in the homes and before the doors”.

Most of these earlier hymns no doubt were songs to the Virgin Mary or

legendary hymns, two types of songs which were then very common and popular

throughout the church. Of the few real hymns in use, some were composed with

alternating lines of Danish and Latin, indicating that they may have been sung

responsively. Among these hymns we find the oldest known Danish Christmas

hymn, which, in the beautiful recast of Grundtvig, is still one of the most favored

Christmas songs in Danish.

Christmas with gladness sounds,

Joy abounds

When praising God, our Father,

We gather.

We were in bondage lying,

But He hath heard our prayer.

Our inmost need supplying,

He sent the Savior here.

Therefore with praises ringing,

Our hearts for joy are singing:

All Glory, praise and might

Be God’s for Christmas night.

Right in a golden year,

Came He here.

Throughout a world confounded

Resounded

The tidings fraught with gladness

For every tribe of man

That He hath borne our sadness

And brought us joy again,

That He in death descended,

Like sun when day is ended,

And rose on Easter morn

With life and joy reborn.

He hath for every grief

Brought relief.

Each grateful heart His praises

Now raises.

With angels at the manger,

We sing the Savior’s birth,

Who wrought release from danger

And peace to man on earth,

Who satisfies our yearning,

And grief to joy is turning

Till we with Him arise

And dwell in Paradise.

The earliest Danish texts were translations from the Latin. Of these the fine

translations of the well known hymns, “Stabat Mater Dolorosa”, and “Dies Est

Laetitia in Ortu Regali”, are still used, the latter especially in Grundtvig’s

beautiful recast “Joy is the Guest of Earth Today”.

At a somewhat later period, but still well in advance of the Reformation, the first

original Danish hymns must have appeared. Foremost among these, we may

mention the splendid hymns, “I Will Now Hymn His Praises Who All My Sin

Hath Borne”, “On Mary, Virgin Undefiled, Did God Bestow His Favor”, and the

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.