National Anthem Comparison
Denmark vs Norway
3
Shared themes
✓
Same mood
40
40 years apart
✓
Same continent
Comparison Analysis
Denmark and Norway, both Europe nations, take distinct approaches to their national anthems. Denmark's "There Is a Lovely Land" was written in 1819, while Norway's "Yes, We Love This Country" dates to 1859.
Both anthems share themes of nature, love of homeland and ancestors / heritage.
Both anthems carry a proud tone, creating a similar emotional register despite their geographic distance.
Denmark's anthem predates Norway's by 40 years, having been written in 1819 compared to 1859.
Shared themes
Denmark
🌿 Nature ❤ Love of homeland 🏺 Ancestors / Heritage
Norway
❤ Love of homeland 🌿 Nature 🏺 Ancestors / Heritage ✝ God / Faith ☮ Peace
Shared themes:
🌿 Nature ❤ Love of homeland 🏺 Ancestors / Heritage
Metadata
| Denmark | Norway | |
|---|---|---|
| Written | 1819 | 1859 |
| Adopted | 1835 | 1864 |
| Lyricist | Adam Oehlenschlager | Bjørnstjerne Bjørnson |
| Composer | Hans Ernst Kroyer | Rikard Nordraak |
| Language | da | nb |
| Region | Northern Europe | Northern Europe |
Lyrics Side by Side
Denmark
Der er et yndigt land
Original
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.
Translation
There is a lovely land,
it stands with broad beeches
near the salty eastern shore;
it winds itself in hills and valleys,
it is called old Denmark
and it is Freja's hall.
There sat in ancient times
the armour-clad warriors,
resting from battle;
then they marched forth to the enemies' harm,
now their bones rest
behind the mound's standing stones.
This land is still fair,
for the sea is blue around it,
and the foliage stands so green;
and noble women, fair maidens
and men and brave lads
inhabit the Danish isles.
Hail king and fatherland!
Hail every honest citizen
who does what he can!
Our old Denmark shall endure,
as long as the beech tree mirrors
its crown in the blue wave.
Norway
Ja, vi elsker dette landet
Original
Ja, vi elsker dette landet,
som det stiger frem,
furet, værbitt over vannet,
med de tusen hjem,
elsker, elsker det og tenker
på vår far og mor
og den saganatt som senker
drømme på vår jord.
Norske mann i hus og hytte,
takk din store Gud!
Landet ville han beskytte,
skjønt det mørkt så ud.
Alt, hva fedrene har kjempet,
mødrene har grett,
har den Herre stille lempet,
så vi vant vår rett.
Ja, vi elsker dette landet,
som det stiger frem,
furet, værbitt over vannet,
med de tusen hjem.
Og som fedres kamp har hevet
det av nød til seir,
også vi, når det blir krevet,
for dets fred slår leir.
Translation
Yes, we love this country,
as it rises forth,
rugged, weathered, above the sea,
with its thousand homes,
love it, love it, and think
of our father and mother
and the saga night that sends
dreams upon our earth.
Norwegian man in house and cabin,
thank your great God!
The country He wanted to protect,
though it looked dark.
All that our fathers fought for,
our mothers wept for,
the Lord has quietly granted,
so we won our right.
Yes, we love this country,
as it rises forth,
rugged, weathered, above the sea,
with its thousand homes.
And as our fathers' struggle raised
it from need to victory,
we too, when called upon,
shall pitch camp for its peace.
Interesting facts
Denmark
- 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.
Norway
- 1. Composer Rikard Nordraak, a cousin of Bjørnson, died of tuberculosis in March 1866 at just 23, less than two years after the first performance; his friend Edvard Grieg wrote a Funeral March in Memory of Rikard Nordraak.
- 2. The melody spans an octave and a fourth, an unusually wide range for a national anthem; in 1900 Edvard Grieg called it a "seeming impossibility" for a crowd to sing, yet said it captures the poem's feelings exactly.
- 3. The final text has eight stanzas, but usually only the first and the last two are sung.
- 4. The first version, printed in 1859 for the opening of the Storting, had six stanzas and was dedicated to Charles XV, king of the union of Sweden and Norway; in the revised version Bjørnson published in December 1863, the king was gone.
Listen
Denmark
Norway
