Poet and divine (1783-1872)
As a priest, historian, philologist, poet and teacher, N.F.S. Grundtvig was involved in many areas in society. The many aspects of his work could be summed up as renewing a sense of Danish national feeling and Christianity. With his pioneering ideas of a school in which spirit and thinking should be developed through enlightenment relating to real life – not through a syllabus and examination – he was the man behind the fundamental idea of the Danish folk high school movement and a completely new way of learning.
Grundtvig’s view of Christianity was also more optimistic than that of earlier times: His congregation was to be confirmed in the hope of resurrection, not be filled with the idea of sin. This attitude is found again in his hymns, and it is perhaps part of the explanation of why hymns such as Det er så yndigt at følges ad (To walk together is fair indeed), Den signede dag med fryd vi ser (The blessed day with joy we see) and Et barn er født i Bethlehem (A child is born in Bethlehem) are today among the most popular of Danish hymns.
However, Grundtvig’s life and work were far from being as harmonious as is the impression given by some of his hymns and poems. He suffered from recurrent psychological problems and found himself at loggerheads with many leading figures of his time.
His relationship with Søren Kierkegaard was one of the more strained. One of the terms which Kierkegaard applied to Grundtvig in his diaries was “ a rowdy of historical proportions”.
Grundtvig got on better with his fellow poet B.S. Ingemann, but they disagreed on the interpretation of the dogma of the resurrection of the body, the physical character of which Grundtvig maintained and Ingemann rejected. So their friendship ended in bitterness.
Facts
|
|
1810
|
Probational sermon on Hvi er Herrens Ord forsvundet af hans Huus (How has the word of the Lord disappeared from His house)
|
|
1811-1813
|
Curate at Udby
|
|
1822-1826
|
Priest at Vor Frelsers Kirke (Our Saviour’s Church) in Copenhagen
|
|
1838
|
Historical lecture in Borchs Kollegium
|
|
1839
|
Priest in Vartov Church
|
|
Selected Works
|
|
1809-1811
|
Optrin af Nordens Kæmpeliv 1-2 (Scenes from the Heroic
Age in the North)
|
|
1811
|
Nytaarsnat eller Blik paa Kristendom og Historie (New Year’s Night)
|
|
1817
|
Paaske Lilien (The Daffodil)
|
|
1824
|
Nyaars-Morgen (New Year’s Morning)
|
|
1832
|
Nordens Mythologi eller Sindbilled-Sprog (The Mythology of the North)
|
|
1837-1880
|
Sang Værk til den Danske Kirke 1-5 (Hymns for the Church of Denmark 1-5
|
|
More About Grundtvig
-
Kirkeligt Samfund Vartov Om Grundtvigs kirkelige og folkelige tanker
-
www.nfs-grundtvig.dk. Text database, biography, forum for debate and links in Danish. The site is partly the work of people linked to the Grundtvig Academy and Kirkeligt Samfund
|
