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Du gamla, du fria

English: 'Thou Olden, Thou Free'
A vinyl record of "Du gamla, du fria" published by Tal och ton [sv], dated 1930
National anthem of Sweden
Also known as	Sång till Norden (English: 'Song to the North')
Lyrics	Richard Dybeck, 1844
Music	Based on a Swedish folk tune (arranged for orchestra by Edvin Kallstenius, 1933)
Audio sample
U.S. Navy Band instrumental version (two verses) file help

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National anthem "Du gamla, du fria" (de facto)
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"Du gamla, du fria", originally titled "Sång till Norden", is the de facto national anthem of Sweden. Its music is based on a Swedish folk tune with lyrics written by Swedish antiquarian Richard Dybeck in 1844.

History

Although the Swedish constitution makes no mention of a national anthem, "Du gamla, du fria" enjoys universal recognition and is used, for example, at government ceremonies as well as sporting events. It first began to win recognition as a song in the 1890s, and the issue of its status was debated back and forth up until the 1930s. In 1938, the Swedish public service radio company Sveriges Radio started playing it in the evenings at the end of transmission, which marked the beginning of the de facto status as national anthem the song has had since.

Despite the belief that it was adopted as the national anthem in 1866, no such recognition has ever been officially accorded. A kind of official recognition came in 1893, when King Oscar II rose in honor when the song was played. In 2000, a Riksdag committee rejected a proposal to give the song official status as "unnecessary". The committee concluded that the song has been established as the national anthem by the people, not by the political system, and that it is preferable to keep it that way.

The original lyrics were written by Richard Dybeck in 1844, to the melody of a variant of the ballad "Kärestans död" (lit. 'Loved One's Death'). The ballad type is classified as D 280 in The Types of the Scandinavian Medieval Ballad; the variant from Västmanland that Dybeck reproduced is classified as SMB 133 G. It was recorded by Rosa Wretman at the beginning of the 1840s. Dybeck published the traditional text in Folk-lore I, and the melody in 1845 in his Runa, where he also published his new text "Sång till Norden" (Song for/to the North).

Dybeck himself originally wrote the beginning as "Du gamla, du friska" (lit. 'Thou Ancient, Thou Healthy'), but in the late 1850s, he changed the lyrics to "Du gamla, du fria". The song was already published in several song books and sung with "Du gamla, du friska", but a priest who had known Dybeck took the opportunity to inform the singer most associated with the song, opera singer Carl Fredrik Lundqvist [sv], about the change in the year 1900. From that point on, printings of the "friska" version ceased to be seen in song books, but a recording from 1905 where it is sung with "friska" still exists. The Swedish composer Edvin Kallstenius made an orchestral arrangement of the song in 1933.

By the early 20th century, many regarded the song unsuitable as a national anthem. From the 1890s, it was included in the "patriotic songs" section of song books, but up to the 1920s it was occasionally published just as "folk music". In 1899, a contest to produce a national anthem was held. It led to Verner von Heidenstam writing "Sverige", but did not lead to a new national anthem.

Patriotic sentiment is notably absent from the text of the original two verses, due to their being written in the spirit of Scandinavism popular at the time. After the song started to acquire its informal status as the national anthem, various people wrote additional verses to increase the "Swedish-ness" of the song. The aforementioned Lundqvist wrote his own third verse beginning with "Jag älskar dig Sverige" (lit. 'Thee I Adore, Sweden'); Frans Österblom [sv] wrote four verses beginning with "Jag älskar min hembygd" (lit. 'I Adore My Homestead'); and Louise Ahlén with two verses. However, these are not accepted as part of the anthem, and are not normally published or sung.

Melody

Lyrics

See also

• Flag of Sweden
• National Day of Sweden
• Public holidays in Sweden
• "Kungssången"

Notes

1. Swedish pronunciation: [dʉː ˈɡâmːla dʉː ˈfrîːa]; lit. 'Thou Olden, Thou Free'
2. pronounced [ˈsɔŋː tɪl ˈnǔːɖɛn]; lit. 'Song to the North'
3. Norden in general refers to the Nordic countries in Swedish, Norwegian, and Danish
4. See Help:IPA/Swedish and Swedish phonology.
5. ^ Often sung as Jag vet att Du är och förblir vad Du var [jɑː(ɡ) věːt atː dʉː æːr ɔ(kː) fœr.ˈbliːr vɑː(d) dʉː vɑːr].

References

1. Eva Danielson; Märta Ramsten (30 May 2013). "Du gamla, du friska – från folkvisa till nationalsång". musikverket.se (in Swedish). Svenskt visarkiv / Musikverket. Archived from the original on 26 December 2018. Retrieved 3 June 2017.
2. ^ Holm, Anna Lena (August 1991). "Edvin Kallstenius". musikverket.se (in Swedish). Musik- och teaterbiblioteket / Musikverket. Archived from the original on 20 October 2017. Retrieved 3 June 2017.
3. "Sweden: Du gamla, Du fria". NationalAnthems.me. Archived from the original on 2012-03-26. Retrieved 2011-08-08.
4. Sveriges Medeltida Ballader, vol. 4:1, pp. 16–17
5. Collections., University of California, Santa Barbara. Library. Department of Special (2005-11-16). "Cylinder Preservation and Digitization Project". cylinders.library.ucsb.edu. Archived from the original on 2017-10-20. Retrieved 2017-06-03.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
6. Reinhammar 2013, p. 152.
7. Riksdagsförvaltningen. "Sveriges nationalsång Motion 2009/10:K263 av Lennart Sacrédeus (kd) - Riksdagen". www.riksdagen.se (in Swedish). Archived from the original on 2022-03-17. Retrieved 2022-03-17.
8. "Sweden anthem - Saami version [CC]". YouTube. 11 July 2021. Archived from the original on 2022-10-30. Retrieved 2022-10-30.
9. Mutso, A. (21 April 2009). "Põhjamaade muusikud (19 – 20 sajandi algul)". Hot.ee. Archived from the original on 21 April 2009. Retrieved 9 November 2024.
10. "This is why Sweden doesn't have an official national anthem". Classic FM. Archived from the original on 2022-06-29. Retrieved 2022-03-17.
11. Byström, Jakob Jakobsson (1950). Sånger och sångare (in Swedish). B-ms bokförlag.
12. "Du gamla du fria - Lyrics, låttext, låttexter - Felsjunget.se". Archived from the original on 2022-05-16. Retrieved 2022-03-17.
13. Jonathan Nilsson (2010-02-11). "Svenska Nationalsången - Du Gamla Du Fria [Med Text]". YouTube. Archived from the original on 2022-03-17. Retrieved 2022-03-17.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)
14. PsychedelicMindGarage (2010-06-06). "Du Gamla Du Fria (Alla 4 verserna Ultima Thule)". YouTube. Archived from the original on 2022-03-17. Retrieved 2022-03-17.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)
15. "Nationalsången". Sveriges Kungahus. Archived from the original on 2021-01-14. Retrieved 2020-04-20.
16. "Sweden national anthem lyrics in English". Classical Music.com. Archived from the original on 25 April 2023. Retrieved 25 April 2023.

Sources

• Reinhammar, Maj (2013). "Swedish Dialects and Folk Traditions 2013" (PDF). Swedish Dialects and Folk Traditions (339). Royal Gustavus Adolphus Academy. ISSN 0347-1837. Archived (PDF) from the original on 2022-10-09. Retrieved 31 July 2020.

External links

• Works related to Du gamla, du fria at Wikisource
• Media related to National anthem of Sweden at Wikimedia Commons

• 1844 songs
• European anthems
• National symbols of Sweden
• National anthems
• Songs in Swedish
• Swedish patriotic songs
• Compositions in B-flat major