Danish

“ The Danes fought stubbornly. The love of the fatherland and the flag, the split flag of old Denmark—the Dannebrog—a white cross on a red field, was stimulated by the poets of the day. Old memories were awakened of the days of Juel, Hvidfeldt, and Tordenskjold. Workmen, peasants from the farms, and merchants from the city hastened to enroll. The students of the university, a thousand strong, enlisted to a man. The Danish ships, supported by the shore batteries, lay in the shallow waters of the Sound. ”

“ The whole of the Danish nobility were in attendance; consisting of a noble boy in the wash-leather boots of a gigantic ancestor, a venerable Peer with a dirty face who seemed to have risen from the people late in life, and the Danish chivalry with a comb in its hair and a pair of white silk legs, and presenting on the whole a feminine appearance. ”

“ The Danish that became incorporated with our language, under the reign of Canute and his sons, may be called the direct Danish element, in contradistinction to the indirect Danish of § 76.
The determination of the amount of Danish in English is difficult. It is not difficult to prove a word Scandinavian; but, then, we must also show that it is not German as well. A few years back the current opinion was against the doctrine that there was much Danish in England. At present, the tendency is rather the other way. ”

“ These Danish girls were likely to appeal to a young man just returned from travels abroad, during which his emotions had been doubly stirred, for the first time, by feminine affection and by enthusiasm for a woman. They influenced me the more strongly because they were Danish, and because I, who loved everything Danish, from the language to the monuments, had, since the war, felt something lacking in everyone, man or woman, who was foreign to Denmark. ”

“ The Danes under him were faithful too. They plundered and burned no more, but worked like honest men. They ploughed, and sowed, and reaped, and led good honest English lives. And I hope the children of those Danes played, many a time, with Saxon children in the sunny fields; and that Danish young men fell in love with Saxon girls, and married them; and that English travellers, benighted at the doors of Danish cottages, often went in for shelter until morning; and that Danes and Saxons sat by the red fire, friends, talking of King Alfred the Great. ”

“ In the long series of brilliant victories, won not only by the Danish sword, but by the Danish national character in England, and which, by the conquest of that country, essentially contributed to found there a greatness and a power before unknown, the Danish people possess memorials so proud and brilliant, that they may be reckoned among the most beautiful ornaments in that glorious wreath which from time immemorial encircles the Danish name. ”

“ And I said to myself every day that supposing the war expected in Denmark were to break out again, and the young men were summoned to arms, the most insignificant little Danish girl would make me a better Valkyrie; all my feelings would be foreign to her, and possibly she would not even be able to learn Danish. Any other woman would understand more of my mind than she. And yet! Yet she was the only one for me.
Thus I was swayed by opposing wishes the whole of the long time during which the matter was pending and uncertain. ”

“ CLAUDIUS AND GERTRUDE;
or, Love and Delicacy.
ORMERLY, in Denmark, dwelt a lady of a most noble family, both young in years and of the rarest beauty; but above all this she had a great heart, and was as noble in mind as in birth.
While she was at the court of Britain (where she had spent some seasons with others, ladies and Danish gentlemen, after the ratifying of a friendly peace between the two kingdoms) she was wooed by many a knightly tongue; and many gallant and high-born youths contended for her favour and regard. ”

“ The busy waters were alive with a multitudinous traffic from Russia and Germany and Sweden and Denmark itself, and the fishing vessels that abound along these coasts. Here and there villas and fine country houses peeped out among the trees. The Sund is the joy of the Dane. He loves it, and the stranger who looks upon it does not forget it. One then understands why the Danish poets have sung so loudly of it. ”

“ IV. Danish, like Swedish, is divided into the two great Pre- and Post-Reformation epochs of Old and Modern Danish.
I. Old Danish.—The territory of Old Danish included not only the present Denmark, but also the southern Swedish provinces of Old Danish. Halland, Skåne and Blekinge, the whole of Schleswig, and, as stated above, for a short period also a great part of England, and parts of Normandy. The oldest monuments of the language are runic inscriptions, altogether about 225 in number. ”

“ There existed no uniform literary language in the Old Danish period, although some of the most important works of the 15th century, such as Michael's Poems and the Rhymed Chronicle (the first book printed in Danish, in 1495) , on account of their excellent diction, contributed materially to the final preponderance of their dialect, that of Sealand, towards the Reformation.
Form of the language.As to the form of the language, it hardly differs at all during the period between 800 and 1200 A.D. from Old Swedish. It is only in the oldest literature that we can trace any marked differences ”

“ In reviewing the literature of Denmark, one is surprised to see, not so few but so many authors—many, when the limited size of the country and extent of the population be taken into consideration. It must be remembered that the Danish language is not much known, and that it is spoken and read only by the inhabitants of Denmark Proper, its dependencies, and a portion of its colonists in the East and West Indies; yet it can boast of more writers than countries of an equal or larger size—than Holland, Italy, Spain, or Portugal. ”

“ Even, again, if a student of the English language knew nothing about the invasions of England by the fierce Danes, he might guess something about them from the fact that there are many Danish words in the English language, and especially the names of places. Such common words as husband, knife, root, skin, came into English from the Danish. ”

“ THE Danish occupation of England has left a very strong mark on our country in various ways—on its place-names, its racial characteristics, its language, its literature, and, in part, on its ideals. The legend of Havelok the Dane, with its popularity and widespread influence, is one result of Danish supremacy. ”

“ Its development was retarded by the use of German as the court language and of Latin as the language of literature, and in the 17th century by the inroads of French taste and phrases. In the 18th century it was again affected by the predominance of German culture, but the subsequent revival of ancient Norse studies and of a national literature developed the Danish into one of the richest and most refined European tongues. It is now not only the language of Denmark proper, but also of Norway, and of the northern part of Schleswig. ”

“ Björn Halderson's lexicon, Icelandic, Latin, and Danish, edited by Rask in 1814, and Danish-English, by Ferral, in 1845-'54; Hornbeck's “Danish-English and English-Danish Dictionary” (2 vols., Copenhagen, 1863) .—The literature of Denmark is for the most part of recent growth. Mediæval Danish writings belong to the general literature of Scandinavia. The most important of them are the codes of the ancient kings, which belong to the 12th century, and the songs and ballads, partly derived from the Scandinavian sagas, which have been preserved by being sung by the people. ”

“ The business language is everywhere Danish, even in the West India islands. In Iceland, and less purely in the Faroe islands, the old Norwegian or Icelandic is spoken. The Danes are an industrious, patient, and contented people, and make good soldiers and seamen. They have regular features, blue eyes, and light hair. The religion of Denmark is Lutheran, but all creeds are tolerated. ”

“ TRANSLATOR'S PREFACE. The historical records and traditions of Denmark, as well as the modern productions of Danish genius, are almost equally unknown to the general reader is England. While German, Swedish, and Italian works of any recognised merit, readily find translators, and the ancient ballads of Spain have received their English dress from an able and poetic pen, it appears somewhat singular that so little notice has hitherto been bestowed on the literature of a country, whose rich historical recollections are so closely interwoven with those of Anglo-Saxon England. ”

“ In early times before the Danish conquest there were no dialects, because, life being single, king and serf, soldier and peasant, merchant and priest must live and speak alike. So we see in our own days the newspaper, the state school, the railway, the conscription, and the theatre, all tending to bring about in each great European state a sameness of life, thought, and speech through every nook and corner of its area. ”

“ A thoroughly satisfactory Modern Danish grammar does not exist; the most detailed is that by K. Mikkelsen (1894) . The vocabulary of the 16th and 17th centuries is collected in Kalkar's Ordbog, mentioned above; that of the 18th and 19th centuries in the voluminous dictionary of Videnskabernes Selskab (1793-1905) , and in C. Molbech's Dansk Ordbog (2nd ed., 1859) ; that of our days in B. T. Dahl's and H. Hammer's Dansk Ordbog for folket (1903 seq.) .
As already mentioned, Danish at the Reformation became the language of the literary and educated classes of Norway and Dano-Norwegian. ”

“ I never forgot the Daneman's skull; like the apparition of the viper in the sandy lane, it dwelt in the mind of the boy, affording copious food for the exercise of imagination. From that moment with the name of Dane were associated strange ideas of strength, daring, and superhuman stature; and an undefinable curiosity for all that is connected with the Danish race began to pervade me ”

“ It is only very recently that the popular literature of Denmark has become at all known to the generality of English readers; that the names of Danish authors have been heard on the shores of this island, where, 800 years ago, Canute, a Danish monarch, reigned. ”

“ And albeit that this decree seemed little fitted for his purpose, he showed that the feeblest of the Danish race were better than the strongest men of other nations; and it did the young men great good, each of those chosen being eager to wipe off the reproach of indolence. ”

“ It was necessary in Denmark to accentuate the little things. The Danes love elegant simplicity; they are, above all, aesthetic. My predecessor, who did not remain long enough in Denmark to please his Danish admirers, called the Danes 'the most civilised of peoples.' I found that he was right ”

“ But this is a digression from the literature to the feelings of the Danes—a momentary digression, pardonable, however, it is hoped, as poetry, which gave rise to it, and feeling, are inseparably connected.
There is scarcely any subject which has not been treated of by Danish authors during the latter part of the eighteenth century; but some of the "weightiest" of these, to borrow a Danish expression, are not of a nature to add much to the stores of popular literature, being on matters too abstruse or too scientific for general readers. ”

“ Towards the end of the Middle Ages the Danish influence shows an immense increase, which marks the gradual decline of Norwegian literature, until at last Norwegian as literary language is completely supplanted by Danish. ”

“ In Danish settlements there seems always to have been an overlord, who led his people in war and ruled in time of peace; though there was a class of freemen amongst them which had special rights and privileges.
12. But the Danes were something more than tillers of the soil; they were traders too, and "tuns" became in many places more like our "towns" and trading-places than ever they had been before. In time we find the largest towns in the Danish part of England—Leicester, Lincoln, Derby, Nottingham, and Stamford—binding themselves together to protect their trading interests. ”

“ Note 2.—It should at once be noticed that in Danish pronunciation the lips play a more prominent part than in English, that the upper lip is never drawn so close to the teeth as in English pronunciation, and that the tongue normally has a more advanced and flattened position than with English speaking people.
SOUND VALUE OF DANISH VOWELS AND THEIR GRAPHIC REPRESENTATION IN COMMON ORTHOGRAPHY.
11. A has a sound very near that of English a in father, although not quite as deep (somewhat palatalized) . Ex. long: Gade street, Abe monkey; short: Hat hat, Tak thanks. ”

“ Amongst others there is an essay on Welsh poetry, a translation of the Death of Balder, etc. If I am spared to the beginning of next year, I intend to bring out a volume called Songs of Denmark, consisting of some selections from the Kæmpe Viser and specimens from Ewald, Grundtvig, Oehlenschläger, and I suppose I must give a few notices of those people. Have you any history of [Pg 402] Danish literature from which I could glean a few hints. I think you have a book in two volumes containing specimens of Danish poetry. ”

“ With warriors gallant-hearted.
And Hvidfeld’s fame shall ne’er decay,
His gallant seamens’ never;
A worthy countryman shall they
In every Dane find ever;
When Denmark dear to us shall cry,
Like them will we grim death defy.
Our native ground shall still abound
With warriors gallant-hearted.
BIRTING.
A Fragment.
From the Ancient Danish.
It was late at evening tide,
Sinks the day-star in the wave,
When alone Orm Ungarswayne
Rode to seek his father’s grave.
Late it was at evening hour,
When the steeds to streams are led;
Let me now, said Orm the young,
Wake my father from the dead. ”