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Du gamla, du fria
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Wikipedia article
"'" (, ) is the de facto national anthem of Sweden. It was originally named "'" (, "Song to the North"), but the incipit has since been adopted as the title.
History
Although the Swedish constitution makes no mention of a national anthem, "" enjoys universal recognition and is used, for example, at government ceremonies as well as sporting events. It first began to win recognition as a song in the 1890s, and the issue of its status was debated back and forth up until the 1930s. In 1938, the Swedish public service radio company Sveriges Radio started playing it in the evenings at the end of transmission, which marked the beginning of the 'de facto' status as national anthem the song has had since.
Despite the belief that it was adopted as the national anthem in 1866, no such recognition has ever been officially accorded. A kind of official recognition came in 1893, when King Oscar II rose in honor when the song was played. In 2000, a Riksdag committee rejected a proposal to give the song official status as "unnecessary". The committee concluded that the song has been established as the national anthem by the people, not by the political system, and that it is preferable to keep it that way.
The original lyrics were written by Richard Dybeck in 1844, to the melody of a variant of the ballad "" (Death of the beloved). The ballad type is classified as D 280 in The Types of the Scandinavian Medieval Ballad; the variant from Vstmanland that Dybeck reproduced is classified as SMB 133 G.'Sveriges Medeltida Ballader', vol. 4:1, pp. 1617 It was recorded by Rosa Wretman at the beginning of the 1840s. Dybeck published the traditional text in 'Folk-lore I', and the melody in 1845 in his 'Runa', where he also published his new text "Sng till Norden" (Sing to/of the North).
Dybeck himself originally wrote the beginning as "" ("Thou old, Thou hale"), but in the late 1850s changed the lyrics to "" ("Thou old, Thou free"). The song was already published in several song books and sung with "", but a priest who had known Dybeck took the opportunity to inform the singer most associated with the song, opera singer , about the change in the year 1900. From that point on, printings of the "" version ceased to be seen in song books, but a recording from 1905 where it is sung with "friska" still exists. The Swedish composer Edvin Kallstenius made an orchestral arrangement of the song in 1933.
By the early 20th century, many regarded the song unsuitable as a national anthem. From the 1890s, it was included in the "patriotic songs" section of song books, but up to the 1920s it was occasionally published just as "folk music". In 1899, a contest to produce a national anthem was held. It led to Verner von Heidenstam writing "Sverige", but did not lead to a new national anthem.
Patriotic sentiment is notably absent from the text of the original two verses, due to them being written in the spirit of Scandinavism popular at the time ( in general refers to the Nordic countries in Swedish, Norwegian and Danish). After the song started to acquire its informal status as the national anthem, various people wrote additional verses to increase the "Swedishness" of the song. The aforementioned Lundqvist wrote his own third verse beginning with "" (I love thee, Sweden), wrote four verses beginning with "" ("I love my native area") and wrote two verses in 1910, which are presented as the last two verses in the lyrics section below. These verses however, are not accepted as part of the anthem, and are not generally published, and rarely if ever sung.
Melody
\new Staff <<
\set Score.tempoHideNote = ##t
\override Score.BarNumber #'transparent = ##t
\clef treble \key bes \major \tempo 4=76
\relative c' {
\key bes \major
\partial 8 d8 |
d4 bes8 bes bes4 c8 d |
d4 c8 bes a4 r8 c8 | \break
c4 a8 bes c a d8. bes16 |
g2 f4 r8 f8 | \break
bes4 bes8 c a4 a8 bes |
g8. f16 g8 a f4 r8
\repeat volta 2
\addlyrics
\addlyrics
>>
Lyrics
{| class="wikitable"
!Swedish original
!IPA transcription
!English translation
|- style="vertical-align:top; white-space:nowrap;"
|
Du gamla, Du fria, Du fjllhga nord
Du tysta, Du gldjerika skna!
Jag hlsar Dig, vnaste land upp jord,
Din sol, Din himmel, Dina ngder grna.
'II'
Du tronar p minnen frn fornstora da'r,
d rat Ditt namn flg ver jorden.
Jag vet att Du r och Du blir vad Du var.
Ja, jag vill leva, jag vill d i Norden.
'III'
Jag stds vill dig tjna, mitt lskade land,
dig trohet till dden vill jag svra.
Din rtt skall jag vrna med hg och med hand,
din fana, hgt den bragderika bra.
'IV'
Med Gud skall jag kmpa fr hem och fr hrd
fr Sverige, den kra fosterjorden.
Jag byter Dig ej, mot allt i en vrld
Nej, jag vill leva jag vill d i Norden. }}
|
|
You old, you free, you mountainous north
You quiet, you joyful beauty!
I greet you, loveliest land upon Earth,
Your sun, your sky, your green landscapes.https://svenska.se/tre/?sok=ngd&pz=1
'II'
You are enthroned on memories of great olden days,
When honoured your name flew across the Earth,
I know that you are and remain what you were,
Yes, I want to live, I want to die in the North.
'III'
I forever want to serve you, my beloved land,
fidelity until death I want to swear to you.
Your right I shall defend with mind and with hand,
Your banner, the glorious one, (I shall) carry high.
'IV'
With God I shall fight for home and for hearth,
for Sweden, the beloved mother soil.
Exchange you, I won't for anything in this world
No, I want to live, I want to die in the North.
|}
See also
* Flag of Sweden
* National Day of Sweden
* Public holidays in Sweden
* Kungssngen
Notes
References
'Sources'
*
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