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Hey there, if you're new to the Skald it is a Literature blog, coming out icy slick and polar fresh from e-Norge (sort of) weekly. If you could spare a broseph a comment (even a o7) it'll complete a mission for 9 gold and the last one to comment gets it. 9 GOLD FOR FREE! I'm sick of looking at it and would gladly pay 9 gold to anyone to remove it from my sight.

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Anyway enough panhandling, time for some gaudy balladry from the bon ton of Pan-Scandanavi..eh on wordsmiths, the venerable Hans Christian Andersen.

Hans Christian Andersen was a Danish author born in Odense, Denmark, on April 2, 1805. Andersen achieved worldwide fame for writing innovative and influential fairy tales. Many of his stories, including "The Ugly Duckling" and "The Princess and the Pea," remain classics of the genre. He died in Copenhagen on August 4, 1875.

He was a noted Pan-Scandinavian. After a visit to Sweden in 1837, he committed himself to writing a poem that would convey the relatedness of Swedes, Danes, and Norwegians. It was in July 1839, during a visit to the island of Funen in Denmark, that Andersen first wrote the text of his poem, Jeg er en Skandinav ("I am a Scandinavian").



Andersen composed the poem to capture "the beauty of the Nordic spirit, the way the three sister nations have gradually grown together", as part of a Scandinavian national anthem. Composer Otto Lindblad set the poem to music, and the composition was published in January 1840.



The notion of Pan-Scandinavianism unfortunately floundered and became a lost curiosity of history despite it's proto European Federalist visions of fraternal ties bound by history and a common North Germanic language.

Perhaps Anderssons vision is a seed merely late to bloom. In an age where mass immigration is so common it's prosecutable to even question it, this poem could be considered offensive to some. Not merely for banding three unique countries together (and leaving Finland and Iceland out heh) but being proud of said countries, their share values and heritage. Let me know what you guys think, is Pan-Scandanavism a veiled form of racism designed to ostracize outsiders or a natural state of harmony between the Nords against foreign influence on their culture.

You can duke it out in the comment section if you like.
Here is my translation of another dudes translation. Enjoy!



Jeg er en Skandinav

We are one people and we are called Scandinavians,
In three realms our homeland is divided;
But between the great heavenly gifts
It lies: our heart grows into one
Let it be forgotten, if wrong was done unto us;
The spirit of time, like a cleansed Margarethe,
Unites us, it gives thrice the power,
Even our tongue ties us, we speak equal
Of mountains, in woods and by the night-blue sea,
I shout with joy: I am Scandinavian!

Come with me to the shade of Mount Dovre, where the glacier glitters,
Hear the thunder of the waterfall, the far off song of the herding colleen;
Enraptured by the glistening lake and mountains zephyr,
I walk where Æsir and Vanir once walked,
And dream of stalwart men that trod there before me,
Where Olaf, Ragnar and Harald's tales are told;
To the mountains! To the mountains! With strong castles of rock
You stand tall, my old Norway,
Bathed in the Northern lights, by a stormy sea;
My love runs with the heavenly hunt! I am Scandinavian!

Come with me on the quick boat, let the steam work,
See rivers threshing foam into deep lakes on our way!
Sail over the mountain, where the tall birches
Exhale virgin air! Oh, Sweden my love!
From here Gustav's name sounded on Earth,
He was the last stranger knight here in the North.
A piece of bark-bread, and the Swedish farmer sings,
His diligence makes him young; Uppsala's son and protector
He sings the songs the skalds gave him;
And we sing with him: I am Scandinavian!

A fresh bouquet of clover, grain and hop
Is Denmark! Come and be lost, enchanted by forests of beech-wood!
On the plains here the sons of the Spirit frisk,
It rumbles cheerfully under the hoof of the horse;
Of science and art we quickly learn,
From Thorvaldsen's dexterous hands its soul resounds from immortal stone,
Freya gave it wings and opened hers to her peoples
A rose Denmark is! I sing, Scandinavian,
Of the flower of the Spirit amidst the rough sea!
Odin's eye watching as crows fly near and plainly see: I am Scandinavian!

Let not this joyous unity disappear,
Norwegian, Swedish and Danish stretch out for each other's hand,
The old folk songs join us,
In melody a strong bond exists.
Of unity's seeds only good can be harvested,
We scout eagerly towards West and East
In joy and sorrow! Oh, it's good to live here!
Here our loved ones live!
From spruce to birch and beech, across the sea,
Resound song of joy: I am Scandinavian, and forever will be!

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Fred!