Denmark National Anthem
Der er et yndigt land
There Is a Lovely Land
1819
1835
Adam Oehlenschlager
Hans Ernst Kroyer
🌿 Nature ❤ Love of homeland 🏺 Ancestors / Heritage |
Key Facts
- 1. The royal anthem 'Kong Christian stod ved højen mast' tends to be heard on military and royal occasions, while 'Der er et yndigt land' is the one most often heard at sports matches, where since the 1990s it has been customary to sing only the first verse and the closing lines of the last.
- 2. Hans Ernst Krøyer's melody, with its mix of wide leaps and small chromatic steps, is not easy to sing, yet later settings by Thomas Laub (1919) and Carl Nielsen (1924) never displaced it.
- 3. Beeches, a symbol of Danish nature and patriotism since the 1800s, appear in the anthem's second line and again in its closing lines; in 1936, when Argentina asked which tree should represent Denmark in a park of national trees, the Foreign Ministry named the beech.
Denmark National Anthem Lyrics
Der er et yndigt land,
Det står med brede bøge
Nær salten østerstrand;
Det bugter sig i bakke, dal,
Det hedder gamle Danmark,
Og det er Frejas sal.
Der sad i fordums tid
De harniskklædte kæmper,
Udhvilede fra strid;
Så drog de frem til fjenders mén,
Nu hvile deres bene
Bag højens bautasten.
Det land endnu er skønt,
Thi blå sig søen bælter,
Og løvet står så grønt;
Og ædle kvinder, skønne møer
Og mænd og raske svende
Bebo de danskes øer.
Hil drot og fædreland!
Hil hver en danneborger,
Som virker, hvad han kan!
Vort gamle Danmark skal bestå,
Så længe bøgen spejler
Sin top i bølgen blå.
Translations are non-official and intended to convey meaning, not replace originals
Analysis
EditorialWritten by Adam Oehlenschläger in 1819, the anthem describes Denmark's natural beauty. Denmark is one of few countries with two national anthems: this civil anthem and the royal anthem 'Kong Christian stod ved højen mast'.
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Sources & References
- Himno nacional de Dinamarca . Embajada de Dinamarca en México (Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Denmark)
- Adam Oehlenschläger. Fædrelands-Sang, in Poetiske Skrifter I, ed. H. Topsøe-Jensen, p. 102 . Arkiv for Dansk Litteratur (Det Danske Sprog- og Litteraturselskab / Det Kgl. Bibliotek) (1926-1930)
- Der er et yndigt land (nr. 376, 19. udgave) . Højskolesangbogen
- en.wikipedia.org: Der_er_et_yndigt_land . en.wikipedia.org
Source & Review
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