In all its Splendour now the Sun shines The Dynamics between Popular Culture and Christian Theology in four Hymns written by N.F.S. Grundtvig (1783-1872) master-thesis written by Maarten Diepenbroek In all its Splendour now the Sun shines.* The Dynamics between Popular Culture and Christian Theology in four Hymns written by N.F.S. Grundtvig (1783-1872) Thesis for the Master ‘Kerk en Theologie’ Faculty of Theology, Utrecht University Maarten Diepenbroek, 0448346 June 2007 First supervisor: Prof. Dr. M. Barnard, Utrecht University Second supervisor: Prof. Dr. J.H. Schjørring, Aarhus University * The title is based on Christian Thodberg’s translation of Grundtvig’s hymn for Whitsun I al sin glans nu stråler solen (cf. Chr. Thodberg, ‘Grundtvig the Hymnwriter’ in: Chr. Thodberg, A.P. Thyssen (eds.), N.F.S. Grundtvig, Tradition and Renewal: Grundtvig’s Vision of Man and People, Education and the Church, in Relation to World Issues Today, Copenhagen 1983, p. 188). Figure 1 (front page): Grundtvig in 1843 painted by C. A. Jensen. The picture shows Grundtvig as minister at Vartov, just before his sixtieth birthday (source: P. Hansen, F.A. Larsen, Factsheet Denmark / N.F.S. Grundtvig, p. 3). 2 Contents Prologue ..................................................................................................................................... 5 Chapter 1: Introduction .............................................................................................................. 6 N.F.S. Grundtvig: homo universalis, a prophet of the North or a monster?...................... 6 Introduction to the research question ................................................................................. 6 Danish society and Church after 1800 ............................................................................... 7 Chapter 2: A general understanding of Grundtvig’s liturgical theology.................................. 10 Introduction ...................................................................................................................... 10 Grundtvig’s ‘unparalleled discovery’............................................................................... 11 A theology of creation and recreation: the divine origin of men ..................................... 14 Humankind as a divine experiment in our history ........................................................... 14 Cosmic renewal................................................................................................................ 15 The Christian rites ............................................................................................................ 16 A hermeneutics of the Spirit............................................................................................. 17 Conclusion........................................................................................................................ 18 Chapter 3: Analysis of four representative hymns................................................................... 19 Introduction .......................................................................................................................... 19 Reis op dit Hoved, al Christenhed, 1837.............................................................................. 19 Historical background ...................................................................................................... 21 Break with Lutheran Orthodoxy and Pietism................................................................... 22 Fight against Rationalism: Grundtvig’s cultic-mythical understanding of human life.... 22 Theological contents ........................................................................................................ 24 Use of language: Nordic cultural elements ...................................................................... 25 Use of language: existential and antithetical.................................................................... 27 Conclusion: the dynamic interaction between popular culture and theology .................. 28 Kommer sjæle, dyrekøbte, 1837 .......................................................................................... 30 Historical background .......................................................................................................... 31 Linguistic aspects: the use of Anglo-Saxon motives ....................................................... 32 Grundtvig’s reception of Anglo-Saxon literature............................................................. 33 Linguistic aspects: antithetical language.......................................................................... 35 The liturgical-sacramental articulation of the cosmic renewal ........................................ 35 The influence of the early Church: break with Lutheran Orthodoxy............................... 36 Conclusion: Grundtvig’s Norse cultic understanding of Christianity.............................. 37 Tag det sorte kors fra graven, 1832, 1846............................................................................ 38 Historical background ...................................................................................................... 40 Break with Lutheran orthodoxy and pietism.................................................................... 40 Grundtvig’s liturgical-sacramental understanding of Easter............................................ 41 The cultic mythical articulation of Christianity ............................................................... 41 Linguistic aspects: images out of nature and Danish cultural life.................................... 42 The use of Norse cultural symbols................................................................................... 43 Anti-rationalistic features: the stress on female and non-cognitive aspects of faith........ 43 Theological content: the theology of recreation............................................................... 44 Conclusion: the interaction between theology and popular culture ................................. 44 3 I al sin glans nu stråler solen, 1843, 1853 ............................................................................ 46 Historical background ...................................................................................................... 46 Theological contents: Grundtvig’s understanding of the Holy Spirit .............................. 48 Use of language: Images from nature and the Danish countryside.................................. 48 Use of language: the emancipation of the Nordic culture................................................ 49 The Liturgical-Sacramental focus .................................................................................... 50 Conclusion: the interaction between theology and popular culture ................................. 51 Chapter 4: Conclusions ............................................................................................................ 53 The dynamics between popular culture and theology in Grundtvig’s hymns.................. 53 An appreciation of Grundtvig’s hymnal work ................................................................. 54 Epilogue ................................................................................................................................... 56 Bibliography............................................................................................................................. 57 Appendix .................................................................................................................................. 61 A short biography of N.F.S. Grundtvig................................................................................ 61 Original Danish texts of the analyzed hymns....................................................................... 65 Reis op dit Hoved, al Christenhed! ................................................................................. 65 Kommer Sjæle, dyrekøbte ............................................................................................... 66 Tag det sorte Kors fra Graven! ........................................................................................ 68 I al sin glans nu stråler solen ........................................................................................... 69 4 Prologue My first encounter with N.F.S. Grundtvig was at the teacher-seminary in Jelling (Denmark), in the year 2000. In that time I was studying to be a teacher at primary school and I took the opportunity to study in Denmark for three months to learn about the Danish educational system. I was especially interested in the way in which children with learning difficulties were integrated in the public primary school. Part of the program was an introduction to the Danish educational and pedagogical ideas. In this context Grundtvig was mentioned as the one who stood at the cradle of the folk high school-movement (Folkehøjskole). In the Grundtvigian way of learning songs and stories took the place of books. Later on I was able to experience this in practice, when I could teach some lessons at a primary school near Give. This school was a so called Friskole (‘Free-school’) and very much influenced by the ideas of Grundtvig. In this school learning was considered not only as a cognitive activity. The whole identity of the child was involved in the learning process. Every Monday morning the whole school gathered in the school hall to open the week with songs and often these were songs