Denmark
M >>
M. Pearson Thomson >> Denmark
His true artistic career only began in earnest when he won a travelling
scholarship and went to Rome, where he arrived on his twenty-seventh
birthday. Stimulated to do his best by the many beautiful works of art
which surrounded him, he found production easy, and the classical beauty
of the Roman school appealed to him. Regretting his wasted years, he set
to work in great earnest, and during the rest of his life produced a
marvellous amount of beautiful work. A rich Scotsman bought his first
important work, and the money thus obtained was the means of starting
him firmly on his upward career. This highly talented Dane founded the
famous Sculpture School of Denmark, which is of world-wide reputation.
Thorvaldsen's beautiful designs--which were mainly classical--were
conceived with great rapidity, and his pupils carried many of them out,
becoming celebrated sculptors also. Dying suddenly in 1844, while seated
in the stalls of the theatre watching the play, his loss was a national
calamity. He bequeathed all his works to the nation, and these now form
the famous Thorvaldsen Museum, which attracts the artistic-loving people
of all nations to the city of Copenhagen.
In the courtyard of this museum lies the great man's simple grave, his
beautiful works being contained in the building which surrounds it.
At the top of this Etruscan tomb stands a fine bronze allegorical
group--the Goddess of Victory in her car, drawn by prancing
horses--fitting memorial to this greatest of northern sculptors.
Holger Drachmann was the son of a physician, and quite early in life
became a man of letters. Following the profession of an artist, he
became a very good marine painter. This poet loved the sea in all its
moods, and was never happier than when at Skagen--the extreme northern
point of Jutland--where he spent most of his summers. His painting was
his favourite pastime, but poetry the serious work of his life. He was a
very prolific writer, not only of verse and lyrical poems, but of plays
and prose works, and was a very successful playwright. Drachmann's
personality was a strong one, though not always agreeable to his
countrymen. He had a freedom-loving spirit, and lived every moment of
his life. Some of his best poems are about the Skaw fishermen, and later
in life he settled down among them, dying at Skagen in 1907. He was a
picturesque figure, with white flowing locks, erratic and unpractical,
as poets often are. Like other famous Danes, he chose a unique
burial-place. Away at Grenen, in the sand-dunes, overlooking the
fighting waters of the Skagerack and Cattegat, stands his
cromlech-shaped tomb, near the roar of the sea he loved so much, where
time and sand will soon obliterate all that remains of the Byron of
Denmark.
Nikolai Frederik Grundtvig, the founder of the popular high-schools for
peasants, was born at his father's parsonage, Udby, South Seeland. He
was sent to school in Jutland, and soon learned to love his wild native
moors. While attending the Latin School in Aarhus he made friends with
an old shoemaker, who used to tell him interesting stories of the old
Norse heroes and sagas, often repeating the old Danish folk-songs. The
lad being a true Dane, a descendant of the old vikings, he soon became
very interested in the history of his race. Being sent to the University
of Copenhagen, he chose to study Icelandic in order to read the ancient
sagas, English to read Shakespeare, and German to read Goethe. This
studious youth was most patriotic, and the poetry of his country
appealed to him especially. Oehlenschlaeger's (a Danish poet) works fired
his poetical imagination.
Grundtvig's poems were for the people, the beloved Jutland moors and
Nature generally his theme. His songs and poems are loved by the
peasants, and used at all their festivals. He wrote songs "that would
make bare legs skip at sound of them," and, "like a bird in the
greenwood, he would sing for the country-folk." So successfully did he
write these folk-songs, that "bare legs" do skip at the sound of them
even to-day at every festivity. He was an educational enthusiast, and
his high-schools are peculiar to Denmark. It is owing to these that the
country possesses such a splendid band of peasant farmers. Being a
priest, he was given the honorary title of Bishop, and founded a sect
called "Grundtvigianere."
This noble man died in 1872, over ninety years of age, working and
preaching till the last, his deep-set eyes, flowing white hair and
beard, making him look like Moses of old.
Adam Oehlenschlaeger, the greatest Danish dramatist and poet, was a
Professor at the University of Copenhagen, and a marvellously gifted
man. He developed and gave character to Danish literature, and is known
as the "Goethe of the North." Some of his finest tragedies have been
translated into English. These have a distinctly northern ring about
them, dealing as they do with the legends and sagas of the Scandinavian
people. These tragedies of the mythical heroes of Scandinavia, the
history of their race, and, indeed, all the works of this king of
northern poets, are greatly loved by all Scandinavians. Every young Dane
delights in Oehlenschlaeger as we do in Shakespeare, and by reading his
works the youths of Denmark lay the foundation of their education in
poetry. This bard was crowned Laureate in Lund (Sweden) by the greatest
of Swedish poets, Esaias Tegner, 1829. Buried by his own request at his
birth-place, Frederiksberg, two Danish miles (which means eight English
miles) from Copenhagen, his loving countrymen insisted on carrying him
the whole distance, so great was their admiration for this King of
dramatists.
Niels Ryberg Finsen, whose name I am sure you have heard because his
scientific research gave us the "light-cure"--which has been established
at the London Hospital by our Queen Alexandra, who generously gave the
costly apparatus required for the cure in order to benefit afflicted
English people--was born at Thorshavn, the capital of the Faroe Islands.
These islands are under Denmark, and lie north of the Shetlands. His
father was magistrate there. His parents were Icelanders. At twelve
years of age Niels was sent to school in Denmark, and after a few years
at the Grammar School of Herlufholm, he returned to his parents, who
were now stationed in their native town, Reykjavik, the capital of
Iceland. Niels continued his studies there, and when old enough returned
to Denmark to commence his medical work at the University of Copenhagen.
Hitherto he had shown no particular aptitude, but in his medical work he
soon distinguished himself, and his skill gained him a place in the
laboratory. He now began to study the effect of light as a curative
remedy. All his life Finsen thought the sunlight the most beautiful
thing in the world--perhaps because he saw so little of it in his
childhood. He had watched its wonderful effect on all living things,
being much impressed by the transformation caused in nature by the warm
life-giving rays. With observations on lizards, which he found
charmingly responsive to sun effects, he accidentally made his
discovery, and gave to the world this famous remedy for diseases of the
skin, which has relieved thousands of sufferers of all nations.
CHAPTER V
LEGENDARY LORE AND FOLK DANCES
The legend of Holger Danske, who is to be Denmark's deliverer when heavy
troubles come upon her, is one which has its counterpart in other
countries, resembling that of our own King Arthur and the German
Frederick Barbarossa. When Denmark's necessity demands, Holger Danske
will come to her aid; till then he sits "in the deep dark cellar of
Kronborg Castle, into which none may enter. He is clad in iron and
steel, and rests his head on his strong arms; his long beard hangs down
upon the marble table, into which it has become firmly rooted; he sleeps
and dreams. But in his dreams he sees all that happens in Denmark. On
each Christmas Eve an angel comes to him and tells him all he has
dreamed is true, and that he may sleep again in peace, as Denmark is not
yet in real danger. But should danger ever come, then Holger Danske will
rouse himself, and the table will burst asunder as he draws out his
beard. Then he will come forth in all his strength, and strike a blow
that shall sound in all the countries of the world."
Holger Danske was the son of the Danish King Gotrick. While he was a
youth his father sent him to Carolus Magnus, whom he served during all
his wars. Thus he came to India, where he ate a fruit which made his
body imperishable. When Denmark is near ruin, and all her young men have
been slain in defending her, then Holger Danske will appear, and,
gathering round him all the young boys and aged men, will lead them on
to victory, routing the enemy, and thus saving the country. When a
little plant growing in the Lake of Viborg has become a tree, so large
that you can tie your horse to it, then the time draws near when all
this will happen.
Once upon a time the Danes were in great trouble, for they had no King.
But one day they saw a barque, splendidly decked, sailing towards the
coast of Denmark. As the ship came nearer the shore they saw it was
laden with quantities of gold and weapons, but not a soul was to be seen
on board. When the Danes boarded the ship, they found a little boy lying
asleep on the deck, and above his head floated a golden banner. Thinking
that their god Odin had sent the boy, they brought him ashore and
proclaimed him King. They named him Skjold, and he became a great and
good King. His fame was such that the Danish Kings to this day are
called "Skjoldunger." When this King died, his body was placed on board
a ship which was loaded with treasure; and when it sailed slowly away
over the blue water, the Danes stood on the shore looking after it with
sorrow. What became of the ship no one ever knew.
Denmark is rich in legends. There is the legend about the "Danebrog,"
Denmark's national flag, which is a white cross on a crimson ground.
This bright and beautiful flag looks thoroughly at home whatever its
surroundings. The story goes that when Valdemar Seir (the Victorious)
descended on the shores of Esthonia to help the knights who were hard
pressed in a battle with the heathen Esthonians (1219), a miracle befell
him. The valour of his troops soon made an impression on the pagans, and
they began to sue for peace. It was granted, and the priests baptized
the supposed converts. Very soon, however, the Esthonians, who had been
secretly reinforcing while pretending submission, in order to throw dust
in the eyes of the too confiding Danes, brought up their forces and
commenced fighting anew. "It was the eve of St. Vitus, and the Danes
were singing Vespers in camp, when suddenly a wild howl rang through the
summer evening, and the heathens poured out of the woods, attacked the
surprised Danes on all sides, and quickly thinned their ranks. The Danes
began to waver, but the Prince of Rugen, who was stationed on the hill,
had time to rally his followers and stay the progress of the enemy. It
was a terrible battle. The Archbishop Andreas Sunesen with his priests
mounted the hill to lay the sword of prayer in the scales of battle; the
Danes rallied, and their swords were not blunt when they turned upon
their enemies. Whilst the Archbishop and others prayed, the Danes were
triumphant; but when his arms fell to his side through sheer weariness,
the heathens prevailed. Then the priests supported the aged man's arms,
who, like Moses of old, supplicated for his people with extended hands.
The battle was still raging, and the banner of the Danes had been lost
in the fight. As the prayers continued the miracle happened. A red
banner, with the Holy Cross in white upon it, came floating gently down
from the heavens, and a voice was heard saying, 'When this sign is borne
on high you shall conquer.' The tide of battle turned, the Christians
gathered themselves together under the banner of the Cross, and the
heathens were filled with fear and fled. Then the Danes knelt down on
the battle-field and praised God, while King Valdemar drew his sword,
and for the first time under the folds of the Danebrog dubbed
five-and-thirty of the bravest heroes knights." Another legend tells the
fate of a wicked Queen of Denmark, Gunhild by name. This Queen was first
the consort of a Norwegian monarch, who, finding her more than he or his
people could stand, thrust her out of his kingdom. She made her way to
Denmark, and soon after married the Danish King. Though beautiful, Queen
Gunhild's pride and arrogance made her hateful to her new subjects, and
her attendants watched their opportunity to rid themselves of such an
obnoxious mistress. The time came for them when the Queen was travelling
through Jutland. A sign was given to her bearers, whilst journeying
through the marshes near Vejle, to drop her down into the bog. This was
done, and a stake driven through her body. To-day in the church at Vejle
a body lies enclosed in a glass coffin, with a stake lying beside it,
the teeth and long black hair being in excellent preservation. This body
was found in 1821, when the marshes near Vejle were being drained for
cultivation. The stake was found through it, thus giving colour to the
tradition. Poor Queen! lost in the eleventh century and found in the
nineteenth.
_Folk-dancers._
The Danes, like all the Scandinavians, are renowned for their love of
dancing. Lately they have revived the beautiful old folk-dances,
realizing at last the necessity of keeping the ancient costumes, dances
and songs before the people, if they would not have them completely
wiped out. A few patriotic Danes have formed a society of ladies and
gentlemen to bring about this revival. These are called the
folk-dancers, their object being to stimulate the love of old-time
Denmark in the modern Dane, by showing him the dance, accompanied by
folk-song, which his forefathers delighted in. Old-time ways the Dane of
to-day is perhaps a little too ready to forget, but dance and song
appeal to his northern nature. The beautiful old costumes of the Danish
peasants have almost entirely disappeared, but those worn by the
folk-dancers are facsimiles of the costumes formerly worn in the
districts they represent. These costumes, with heavy gold embroidery,
curious hats, or pretty velvet caps, weighty with silver lace, must have
been a great addition to local colouring. The men also wore a gay dress,
and it is to be regretted that these old costumes have disappeared from
the villages and islands of Denmark.
In olden times the voice was the principal accompaniment of the dance,
and these folk-lorists generally sing while dancing; but occasionally a
fiddler or flautist plays for them, and becomes the leader in the dance.
Some of these dances are of a comical nature, and no doubt were invented
to parody the shortcomings of some local character. Others represent
local industries. A pretty dance is "Voeve Vadmel" (cloth-weaving). In
this some dancers become the bobbins, others form the warp and woof;
thus they go in and out, weaving themselves into an imaginary piece of
cloth. Then, rolling themselves into a bale, they stand a moment,
unwind, reverse, and then disperse. This dance is accompanied by the
voices of the dancers, who, as they sing, describe each movement of the
dance. A very curious dance is called "Seven Springs," and its principal
figure is a series of springs from the floor, executed by the lady,
aided by her partner. Another two are called respectively the "Men's
Pleasure" and the "Girls' Pleasure." In these both men and girls choose
their own partners, and coquet with them by alluring facial expressions
during the dance. The "Tinker's Dance" is a solo dance for a man, which
is descriptive and amusing; while the "Degnedans" is more an amusing
performance in pantomime than a dance, executed by two men. Many more
than I can tell you about have been revived by the folk-dancers, who
take a keen delight in discovering and learning them. They are
entertaining and instructive to the looker-on, and a healthy, though
fatiguing, amusement for the dancers.
In the Faroe Islands the old-time way is still in vogue, and the dance
is only accompanied by the voice and clapping of hands. Thus do these
descendants of the old vikings keep high festival to celebrate a good
"catch" of whales.
The old folk-songs, which were sung by the people when dancing and at
other times, have a national value which the Danes fully realize, many
being written down and treasured in the country's archives.
CHAPTER VI
MANNERS AND CUSTOMS
The Danes being a polite and well-mannered race, the children are early
taught to tender thanks for little pleasures, and this they do in a
pretty way by thrusting out their tiny hands and saying, "Tak" (Thank
you). It is the Danish custom to greet everybody, including the
servants, with "Good-morning," and always on entering a shop you give
greeting, and say farewell on leaving. In the market-place it is the
same; also the children, when leaving school, raise their caps to the
teacher and call out, "Farvel! farvel!" In the majority of houses when
the people rise from the table they say, "Tak for Mad"[1] to the host,
who replies, "Velbekomme."[2] The children kiss their parents and say
the same, while the parents often kiss each other and say, "Velbekomme."
The Danes are rather too eager to wipe out old customs, and in
Copenhagen the fashionable people ignore this pretty ceremony. The
majority, however, feel uncomfortable if not allowed to thank their host
or hostess for their food.
[Illustration: CHILDREN'S DAY.]
A Danish lady, about to visit England for the first time, was told
that here it was customary to say "Grace" after meals. The surprise of
the English host may be imagined when his Danish guest, on rising from
the table, solemnly put out her hand and murmured the word "Grace!"
After a day or two, when this ceremony had been most dutifully performed
after every meal, the Englishman thought he had better ask for an
explanation. This was given, and the young Dane joined heartily in the
laugh against herself!
The Danes begin their day with a light breakfast of coffee, fresh rolls,
and butter, but the children generally have porridge, or "oellebroed,"
before starting for school. This distinctly Danish dish is made of
rye-bread, beer, milk, cream, and sometimes with the addition of a
beaten-up egg. This "Ske-Mad"[3] is very sustaining, but I fear would
prove a little too much for those unaccustomed to it. Ollebroed also is
the favourite Saturday supper-dish of the working-classes, with the
addition of salt herrings and slices of raw onion, which doubtless
renders it more piquant.
At noon "Mid-dag"[4] is served. Another peculiar delicacy common both to
this meal and supper is "Smoerrebroed," a "variety" sandwich consisting of
a slice of bread and butter covered with sausage, ham, fish, meat,
cheese, etc. making a tempting display, not hidden as in our sandwich by
a top layer of bread. The Danes are very hospitable, and often invite
poor students to dine with them regularly once a week. Dinner consists
of excellent soup (in summer made of fruit or preserves), meat, pudding
or fruit, and cream, and even the poorest have coffee after this meal.
Prunes, stewed plums or apples, and sometimes cranberry jam, are always
served with the meat or game course, together with excellent but rather
rich sauce. The Danish housewife prides herself on the latter, as her
cooking abilities are often judged by the quality of her sauces. It is
quite usual for the Danish ladies to spend some months in learning
cooking and housekeeping in a large establishment to complete their
education.
"Vaer saa god"[5] says the maid or waiter when handing you anything, and
this formula is repeated by everyone when they wish you to enter a room,
or, in fact, to do anything.
Birthdays and other anniversaries are much thought of in Denmark. The
"Foedelsdagsbarn"[6] is generally given pretty bouquets or pots of
flowers, as well as presents. Flowers are used on every joyous occasion.
Students, both men and women, may be seen almost covered with bright
nosegays, given by their friends to celebrate any examination
successfully passed.
Christmas Eve, and not Christmas Day, is the festive occasion in
Denmark. Everybody, including the poorest, must have a Christmas-tree,
and roast goose, apple-cake, rice porridge with an almond in it, form
the banquet. The lucky person who finds the almond receives an extra
present, and much mirth is occasioned by the search. The tree is lighted
at dusk, and the children dance round it and sing. This performance
opens the festivities; then the presents are given, dinner served, and
afterwards the young people dance.
Christmas Day is kept quietly, but the day after (St. Stephen's Day) is
one of merriment and gaiety, when the people go from house to house to
greet their friends and "skaal" with them.
New Year's Eve brings a masque ball for the young folk, a supper,
fireworks, and at midnight a clinking of glasses, when healths are drunk
in hot punch.
On Midsummer's Night fires are lighted all over the country, and people
gather together to watch the burning of the tar-barrels. Near a lake or
on the seashore the reflections glinting on the water make a strangely
brilliant sight. On some of the fjords a water carnival makes a pretty
addition to these fires, which the children are told have been lighted
to scare the witches!
The Monday before Lent is a holiday in all the schools. Early in the
morning the children, provided with decorated sticks, "fastelavns Ris,"
rouse their parents and others from slumber. All who are found asleep
after a certain time must pay a forfeit of Lenten buns. Later in the day
the children dress themselves up in comical costume and parade the
streets, asking money from the passer-by as our children do on Guy
Fawkes' Day.
A holy-day peculiar to Denmark is called "Store-Bededag" (Great Day of
Prayer), on the eve of which (Danes keep eves of festivals only) the
church bells ring and the people promenade in their best clothes.
"Store-Bededag" is the fourth Friday after Easter, and all business is
at a standstill, so that the people can attend church. On Whit-Sunday
some of the young folks rise early to see the sun dance on the water and
wash their faces in the dew. This is in preparation for the greatest
holiday in the year, Whit-Monday, when all give themselves up to outdoor
pleasure.
"Grundlovsdag," which is kept in commemoration of the granting of a free
Constitution to the nation by Frederik VII., gives the town bands and
trade-unions an opportunity to parade the streets and display their
capability in playing national music. "Children's Day" is a school
holiday, and the children dress in the old picturesque Danish costumes;
they then go about the town and market-places begging alms for the
sanatoriums in their collecting-boxes. In this way a large sum is
collected for these charities.
"Knocking-the-cat-out-of-the-barrel" is an old custom of the peasantry
which takes place the Monday before Lent. The young men dress themselves
gaily, and, armed with wooden clubs, hie them to the village green. Here
a barrel is suspended with a cat inside it. Each man knocks the barrel
with his club as he runs underneath it, and he who knocks a hole big
enough to liberate poor puss is the victor. The grotesque costumes, the
difficulty of stooping and running under the barrel in them, when all
your energies and attention are required for the blow, result in many a
comical catastrophe, which the bystanders enjoy heartily. Puss is
frightened, but not hurt, and I think it would be just as amusing
without the cat, but the Danish peasants think otherwise. Another
pastime which takes place on the same day is called "ring-riding." The
men, wearing paper hats and gay ribbons, gallop round the course, trying
to snatch a suspended ring in passing. The man who takes the ring three
times in succession is called "King," he who takes it twice "Prince."
When the sport is over, King and Prince, with their train of
unsuccessful competitors, ride round to the farms and demand refreshment
for their gay cavalcade, of which "AEleskiver," a peasant delicacy,
washed down by a glass of aqua-vitae, forms a part.
On the eve of "Valborg's Dag" (May-Day) bonfires are lighted, and the
young Danes have a dinner and dance given to them. Each dance is so long
that it is customary for the young men to change their partners two or
three times during the waltz.
A beautiful custom is still preserved among the older peasantry: when
they cross the threshold of their neighbour's house they say, "God's
peace be in this house."
All domestic servants, students, and other people who reside away from
home for a time, take about with them a chest of drawers as well as a
trunk. I suppose they find this necessary, because in Denmark a chest of
drawers is seldom provided in a bedroom.