A Danish Christmas
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A Danish Christmas Just spin the universe right round, just turn everything upside down, the earth as well - for it is false and hollow - but do not touch my...
A Danish Christmas
Just spin the
universe right round,
just turn
everything upside down,
the earth as well -
for it is false and hollow -
but do not touch my
Christmastide...
Thus the secular poet
of Danish Christmas, Peter Faber (1810-77) celebrates Christmas in 1850 in the
carol Sikken voldsom trcengsel og alarm (What a great throng and noise):
a vivid and moving picture of provincial Copenhagen at the time. Faber, a
director of a telegraph company by day, makes reference to traditions and old
values. Together, these shape the celebration of an 'average' Danish Christmas,
which he would not change for all the world. Yet many of these 'traditions'
were recent innovations, often borrowed from Sweden and Germany, quickly
adopted as their own and given their own Danish colour. The Christmas tree, a
recent introduction from Denmark's neighbour to the south, that was slow to
gain a secure place in Danish homes, was often decorated with strings of little
Danish flags, red and white Christmas elves and dozens of candles. In fact in
Scandinavia Christmas is a festival of light. Since ancient times, when
Christmas was a pagan feast linked to midwinter in January, the Scandinavians
have, in contrast to the Anglo-Saxons and southern Europeans, celebrated on
Christmas Eve with a lavish family meal of rice pudding and beer, followed by
roast pork, roast duck or stuffed goose, caramelised potatoes, red cabbage,
jelly and other good things. After the meal, but before the guests leave the
table, the candles on the tree are lit, the assembled company join hands and
dance around the tree. But the dancing would be unthinkable without carols. In
another of Faber's popular and atmospheric portrayals of the middle-class home:
From the top of the
green tree comes the call
Look little child,
all is well,
you know how to
march,
let little Sine
have her Christmas
gift.
The words demand that
the song is sung whilst marching around the tree, awakening the impatience of
the youngest children for material goods, the presents, which are undeniably
central to a modern Christmas.
Yet it is at this time that most Danes come
into contact with what are, for many, undoubtedly the most treasured carols. Of
course one can go to church on Christmas Eve and sing there, but on the one
hand church-going is not that prevalent amongst today's somewhat religiously
ambivalent Danes, and on the other you cannot choose what is sung in church.
You can at home, and Danish families have personal favourites, often in a
specific order, from which they rarely deviate. Most often the religious carols
come first, and among these we find the great Danish hymnists.
First and foremost N. F. S. Grundtvig (1783-1872) with the well-known Del
kimer nu til Julefest (Bells ring out for the Christmas Feast), Velkommen
igen Guds engle små ('Welcome again, God's little angels'), Et barn er
født i Betlehem ('A child is born in Bethlehem'). Vcer velkommen Herrens
år ('We welcome our Lord's new year') is almost an official proclamation of
the new church year. Blomstre som en rosengård ('Blossom shall the
wilderness') is one of Grundtvig's most important texts, set to J. P. E.
Hartmann's (1805-1900) congenial, but much later melody. It has been called the
song of unreasonable hope, in which Isaiah foretells the coming of the Lord,
when all good things will come to pass:
Let no limb falter,
let not one hand fall,
let every tree sprout forth
and every wrinkle be smoothed,
let fallen courage rise up,
let blood flow free
and fear and sorrow disappear!
H. A. Brorson (1694-1764) was a great poet of the pietist movement with
strong verse that described the relationship between Jesus and man in elaborate
and sometimes erotic terms. Her kommer Jesus dine små ('Here come your
little ones, Jesus') or Den yndigste rose er funden ('The fairest rose
is found'), in which the poet likens our Saviour to a rose that God allowed to
bloom, never to be lost again.
Hans Christian Andersen (1805-75) also contributed with Barn Jesus i en krybbe lå (The
Jesus child lay in a manger), in which the celebrated author perhaps does not
make full use of his talent, yet he offers an honest portrayal of the pious,
simple faith of a child.
Finally mention should
be made of B. S. Ingemann (1789-1862), who despite being somewhat overshadowed
by Grundtvig, is, in the minds of many, the Christmas poet, with carols
such as Dejlig er jorden ('How fair is the earth'), Glade jul ('Merry
Christmas', to the tune of Gruber's Stille Nacht), and his masterpiece Julen
har bragt velsignet bud ('Christmas has brought a blessed message') with a
melody by C. E. F. Weyse (1774-1842), Ingemann's favoured composer. At its
heart the intense verse portrays a child dancing on its mother's lap. The child
relates the good news about our Saviour, who, like us was once a child. The
adult is brought down to a baby's level - and this in an age when children were
widely regarded as simply incomplete adults. The poet promises that the Garden
of Eden awaits and that death is therefore not so terrible. Christmas Eve is
like paradise that awaits us, when things look darkest. A simple and pious idea
that Ingemann returned to in the last poem he wrote before his death, in which
the doors are opened to reveal the Christmas tree with its lights (we take it
as read that there will be singing), a sign of eternity.
And the doors are
finally flung wide
and they know, that the Christ child
has brought his Christmas gift.
And they see - what
they believed -
there stands the garden of the Christmas tree.
Ingemann, and much
that came after him, have proved to be unpalatable to certain more dogmatic
theologians. The Danes and Ingemann have strayed far from the traditional
Christmas message. The Danish Christmas is now 'nice' and 'comfortable' and
somewhat food-obsessed, according to one high-ranking member of the Danish
church.
Despite this Ingemann
is here to stay. For the sake of completeness it should be stated that when the
Danes dance around the tree, more than a few have to resort to song sheets with
the most popular carols, which can either be bought at the local bookshop or
which often come free with packs of Christmas lights. Unlike the children of
Faber's day, few have the verses drilled into them at school and remember them
when they grow up.
But they do sing.
English version:
Andrew Smith
A Danish Christmas
Blomstre som en rosengard (Like a rose garden) (more info)
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Blomstre som en rosengard (Like a rose garden) - 02:41
Julen har bragt velsignet bud (Christmas has brought a blessed message) (more info)
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Julen har bragt velsignet bud (Christmas has brought a blessed message) - 02:32
Julebudet til dem, der bygge (The Christmas message) (more info)
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Julebudet til dem, der bygge (The Christmas message) - 02:38
I sne star urt og busk i skjul (The bushes are hidden in snow) (more info)
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I sne star urt og busk i skjul (The bushes are hidden in snow) - 01:20
Kimer, I klokker (Ring out, ye bells) (more info)
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Kimer, I klokker (Ring out, ye bells) - 02:17
Der er ingenting i verden sa stille som sne (Nothing in the world is as quiet as snow) (more info)
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Der er ingenting i verden sa stille som sne (Nothing in the world is as quiet as snow) - 02:02
Det kimer nu til julefest (Bells ring out for the Christmas feast) (more info)
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Det kimer nu til julefest (Bells ring out for the Christmas feast) - 02:42
Gammel julesang (Old Christmas Song) (more info)
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Gammel julesang (Old Christmas Song) - 02:55
Velkommen igen, Guds engle sma (Welcome again, God's little angels) (more info)
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Velkommen igen, Guds engle sma (Welcome again, God's little angels) - 02:27
Barn Jesus i en krybbe la (The Jesus Child lay in a manger) (more info)
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Barn Jesus i en krybbe la (The Jesus Child lay in a manger) - 01:39
Her kommer, Jesus dine sma (Here come your little ones, Jesus) (more info)
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Her kommer, Jesus dine sma (Here come your little ones, Jesus) - 02:09
Mit hjerte altid vanker (My heart always wanders) (more info)
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Mit hjerte altid vanker (My heart always wanders) - 03:18
Lovet vaere du, Jesus Krist (Praise be to you, Jesus Christ) (more info)
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Lovet vaere du, Jesus Krist (Praise be to you, Jesus Christ) - 03:45
Vor Jesus kan ej noget herberg finde (Our Jesus can find no lodging) (more info)
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Vor Jesus kan ej noget herberg finde (Our Jesus can find no lodging) - 03:06
Nu vil vi sjunge og vaere glad (Now shall we sing and be glad) (more info)
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Nu vil vi sjunge og vaere glad (Now shall we sing and be glad) - 02:00
Dejlig er den himmel bla (How beautiful is the blue sky) (more info)
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Dejlig er den himmel bla (How beautiful is the blue sky) - 03:03
Et lidet barn er lysteligt (A little child so delightful) (more info)
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Et lidet barn er lysteligt (A little child so delightful) - 02:10
I denne sode juletid (At this sweet Christmas time) (more info)
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I denne sode juletid (At this sweet Christmas time) - 03:16
Sneflokke kommer vrimlende (Snow-flakes come streaming) (more info)
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Sneflokke kommer vrimlende (Snow-flakes come streaming) - 00:52
Nu kom der bud fra englekor (Now comes a message from the angel choir) (more info)
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Nu kom der bud fra englekor (Now comes a message from the angel choir) - 02:14
Skyerne grane (The clouds turn grey) (more info)
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Skyerne grane (The clouds turn grey) - 03:17
Lad det klinge sodt i sky (Let the clouds sweetly resound) (more info)
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Lad det klinge sodt i sky (Let the clouds sweetly resound) - 02:38
Der er noget i luften (There is something in the air) (more info)
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Der er noget i luften (There is something in the air) - 03:22
Velkommen igen, Guds engle sma (Welcome again, God's little angels) (more info)
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Velkommen igen, Guds engle sma (Welcome again, God's little angels) - 02:27
Imellem nattens stjerner (Among the stars of night) (more info)
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Imellem nattens stjerner (Among the stars of night) - 02:17
Nu ville vi os samle (Now let us gather) (more info)
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Nu ville vi os samle (Now let us gather) - 02:48
Det er hvidt herude (It is white out here) (more info)
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Det er hvidt herude (It is white out here) - 02:24
Spurven sidder stumt bag kvist (The sparrow sits silently in the eaves) (more info)
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Spurven sidder stumt bag kvist (The sparrow sits silently in the eaves) - 02:14
Juletraeet med sin pynt (The Christmas tree with its decorations) (more info)
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Juletraeet med sin pynt (The Christmas tree with its decorations) - 01:35
Sikken voldsom traengsel - Nu er det jul igen (What a great throng and noise - Now it is Christmas…) (more info)
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Sikken voldsom traengsel - Nu er det jul igen (What a great throng and noise - Now it is Christmas...) - 02:19
Vaer velkommen, Herrens ar (We welcome our Lord's new year) (more info)
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Vaer velkommen, Herrens ar (We welcome our Lord's new year) - 02:06