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| English: Thou ancient, Thou free |
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| National Anthem of |  Sweden |
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| Lyrics | Richard Dybeck, 1844 |
| Music | Old Swedish Folk music |
| Adopted | Never officially adopted |
Du gamla, Du fria ("Thou ancient, Thou free") is the de facto national anthem of Sweden.
Although the Swedish constitution makes no mention of a national anthem, the song enjoys universal recognition and is used, for example, at sporting events. It first began to be used as a national anthem in the 1890s. Despite a widespread belief that it was adopted as the national anthem in 1866, no such recognition has ever been officially accorded. In 2000 a Riksdag committee rejected, as "unnecessary", a proposal to give the song official status. However, there have since been repeated motions with a similar intent.
The lyrics were written by Richard Dybeck in 1844 to a traditional melody from Västmanland, and have sometimes been wrongly thought as beginning with "Du gamla, Du friska" (Thou ancient, Thou hale). However, the original lyrics are "Du gamla, Du fria" (Thou ancient, Thou free). Patriotic sentiment is notably absent from the text of the original two verses, which is because they were written in the spirit of Scandinavism popular at the time (Norden refers to the Nordic countries in Swedish). Since the song had started getting its informal status of national anthem, Louise Ahlén wrote the verses three and four in 1910. They have, however, very seldomly been published, and have remained largely unknown to the public.
It should be noted that the song is originally titled Sång till Norden ("Song to the North"). The opening words Du gamla, Du fria is the de facto title. A very common mistake is singing "Jag vet att Du är och förblir vad du var" ("I know that You are and remain what You were") instead of "Jag vet att Du är och Du blir vad du var" ("I know that You are and You will be what You were").
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| Festivals | Where the Action Is |
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Du gamla, Du fria |
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Contents |
Lyrics
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Original verses by Richard Dybeck:
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Literal translation
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Original verses:
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Note that verses 3 and 4 are nearly never sung and few actually know that they exist.
See also
- Flag of Sweden
- National holiday of Sweden
- Holidays in Sweden
- Ålänningens sång - the official anthem of Åland
External links
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Wikipedia content modification information:
- This page was last modified on 11 November 2008, at 16:34.
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