Hymns and Hymnwriters of Denmark

Hymns and Hymnwriters of Denmark is by J. C. Aaberg, and its foreword says the book deals with a subject which is new to most English readers. The foreword says that, although Danish hymnody long ago became favorably known in Northern Europe, no adequate presentation of the subject has appeared in English. The foreword also says a hymn is a child both of its author and of the time in which he lived.

The text says the 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, and the text says it contained 268 hymns, set to their appropriate tunes. Cathrine Grundtvig bore her husband five children, of whom Nicolaj was the youngest. The text says that one man's genius was so unique and his work so many-sided that with equal justice one might call him a historian, a poet, an educator, a religious philosopher, a hymnologist and a folk-leader.