Hymns and Hymnwriters of Denmark. J. C. Aaberg

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.^[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 and Home.” “The dawn from on high is on our shore” by S. D. Rodholm in “World of Song”.

      Chapter Two Reformation Hymnody

      The Danish Reformation began quietly about 1520, and culminated peacefully in the establishment of the Lutheran church as the church of the realm in 1536. The movement was not, as in some other countries, the work of a single outstanding reformer. It came rather as an almost spontaneous uprising of the people under several independent leaders, among whom men like Hans Tausen, Jorgen Sadolin, Claus Mortensen, Hans Spandemager and others merely stand out as the most prominent. And it was probably this very spontaneity which invested the movement with such an irresistible force that within in a few years it was able to overthrow an establishment that had exerted a powerful influence over the country for more than seven centuries.

      In this accomplishment Evangelical hymnody played a prominent part. Though the Reformation gained little momentum before 1526, the Papists began as early as 1527, to preach against “the sacrilegious custom of roaring Danish ballads at the church service”. As no collection of hymns had then been published, the hymns thus used must have been circulated privately, showing the eagerness of the people to adopt the new custom. The leaders of the Reformation were quick to recognize the new interest and make use of it in the furtherance of their cause. The first Danish hymnal was published at Malmø in 1528 by Hans Mortensen. It contained ten hymns and a splendid liturgy for the morning service. This small collection proved so popular that it was soon enlarged by the addition of thirty new hymns and appropriate liturgies for the various other services, that were held on the Sabbath day. Independent collections were almost simultaneously published by Hans Tausen, Arvid Petersen and others. And, as these different collections all circulated throughout the country, the result was confusing. At a meeting in Copenhagen of Evangelical leaders from all parts of the country, it was decided to revise the various collections and to combine them into one hymnal. This first common hymnal for the Danish church appeared in 1531, and served as the hymnal of the church till 1544, when it was revised and enlarged by Hans Tausen. Tausen’s hymnal was replaced in 1569 by The Danish Psalmbook, compiled by Hans Thomisson, a pastor of the Church of Our Lady at Copenhagen, and the ablest translator and hymnwriter of the Reformation period. Hans Thomisson’s Hymnal—as it was popularly named—was beyond question the finest hymnal of the transition period. It was