Category: Biographies
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 skil...
Grundtvig wrote most of his hymns when he was past middle age, a man of extensive learning, proved poetical ability and mature judgment, especially in spiritual things. Years of...
9. Chapter 9The city of Tønder, when Brorson located there, had about two thousand inhabitants. At one time it had belonged to the German Dukes of Gottorp, and it was still largely German s...
3. Chapter 3Thomas Kingo, the first of the great Danish hymnwriters, grew forth as a root out of dry ground. There was nothing in the religious and secular life of the times to foreshadow t...
12. Chapter 12Grundtvig began his work at Udby with all the zeal of a new convert. He ministered to young and old, spent himself in work for the sick and the poor, and preached the Gospel wit...
11. Chapter 11The latter part of the eighteenth and the earlier part of the nineteenth century produced a number of great changes in the spiritual, intellectual and economic life of Denmark....
16. Chapter 16Grundtvig's later years present a striking contrast to the years of his earlier manhood. The lonely Defender of the Bible became a respected sage and the acknowledged leader of...
13. Chapter 13Grundtvig began his ministry in the capital with high hopes, but he was soon disappointed. His services as usual attracted large audiences, audiences that frequently overflowed...
4. Chapter 4Kingo's first hymns appeared shortly before Christmas, 1673, in a small volume entitled _Spiritual Song-Choir, Part I_. The book contained fifteen morning and evening hymns and...
17. Chapter 17The Danish church has produced a large number of hymnwriters, who, except for the greatness of Kingo, Brorson and Grundtvig, would have commanded general recognition. The presen...
14. Chapter 14Sages from the East afar When they saw this wondrous star, Went to worship and adore Him And to lay their gifts before Him -: Who was born that midnight hour :-
10. Chapter 10The Pietist movement, new and numerically small when the Brorsons aligned themselves with it, made such sweeping progress that within a few years it became the most powerful mov...
8. Chapter 8Hans Adolph Brorson came from Schleswig, the border province between Denmark and Germany which for centuries has constituted a battleground between the two countries and cost th...
6. Chapter 6Kingo's church hymns naturally differ from his spiritual songs. They are more objective in form and less fiery in spirit. Most of them follow their themes quite closely, reprodu...
2. Chapter 2The 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,...
7. Chapter 7Kingo's work with the hymnal had brought him much disappointment and some loss of popularity. He felt not without justification that he had been ill treated. He did not sulk in...
1. Chapter 1Danish 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...
5. Chapter 5After the publication of _Spiritual Song-Choir II_, Kingo stood at the very height of his fame. His hymns were sung everywhere, and nobles and commoners vied with each other in...