Du gamla, du fria

"Du gamla, du fria" (Swedish pronunciation: [dʉː ˈɡâmːla dʉː ˈfrîːa], English: "Thou ancient, Thou free") is the de facto national anthem of Sweden. It was originally named "Sång till Norden" (pronounced [ˈsɔŋː tɪl ˈnǔːɖɛn], "Song to the North"), but the incipit has since been adopted as the title.

Du gamla, du fria
English: Thou ancient, Thou free
National anthem of  Sweden
Also known as"Sång till Norden" (English: "Song to the North")
LyricsRichard Dybeck, 1844
MusicOld Swedish folk music[1] (arranged for orchestra by Edvin Kallstenius, 1933)[2]
Adopted1866 (1866)
Audio sample
"Du gamla, du fria" (Instrumental)
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Music of Sweden
Genres
Media and performance
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Nationalistic and patriotic songs
National anthem"Du gamla, du fria" (de facto)

History
The scenery that inspired the lyrics

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.[3]

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.

Richard Dybeck wrote the original lyrics in 1844.

The original lyrics were written by Richard Dybeck in 1844, to the melody of a variant of the ballad Kärestans död ('Death of the beloved'). 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.[4] 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" (English: "Song to/of the North").

Dybeck himself originally wrote the beginning as "Du gamla, du friska" (English: "Thou ancient, Thou hale"), but in the late 1850s changed the lyrics to "Du gamla, du fria" (English: "Thou ancient, Thou free"). 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, 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.[5] The Swedish composer Edvin Kallstenius made an orchestral arrangement of the song in 1933.[2]

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.[6]

Patriotic sentiment is notably absent from the text of the original two verses, due to them being written in the spirit of Scandinavism popular at the time (Norden in general refers to the Nordic countries in Swedish, Norwegian and Danish). After the song started to acquire its informal status as the national anthem, various people wrote additional verses to increase the "Swedishness" of the song. The aforementioned Lundqvist wrote his own third verse beginning with "Jag älskar dig Sverige" (I love thee, Sweden), Frans Österblom wrote four verses beginning with "Jag älskar min hembygd" ("I love my native area") and Louise Ahlén wrote two verses in 1910, which are presented as the last two verses in the lyrics section below. These verses however, are not accepted as part of the anthem, and are not generally published, and rarely if ever sung.

Melody

Lyrics
Swedish[7]
Phonetic transcription (IPA)
Literal translation

Du gamla, Du fria, Du fjällhöga nord
Du tysta, Du glädjerika sköna!
Jag hälsar Dig, vänaste land uppå jord,
𝄆 Din sol, Din himmel, Dina ängder gröna. 𝄇

[dʉ̌ː ɡâmːla dʉ̌ː frîːa dʉ̌ː ˈfjɛ̂lːˌhøːɡa nǔːɖ
dʉ̌ː tʏ̂sːta dʉ̌ː ˈɡlɛ̂ːdjæˌriːka ɧø̂ːna
jɑ̌ː(ɡ) hɛ̂lːsa‿ɖɛ̌jː ˈvɛ̂ːˌnastɛ lǎnːd ɵpːoː jǔːɖ
𝄆 dɪnː sǔːl dɪnː hɪ̂mːɛl dîːna ɛ̂ŋːdær ɡrø̂ːna] 𝄇

You ancient, you free, you mountainous north
You quiet, you joyful beauty!
I greet you, loveliest land upon Earth,
𝄆 Your sun, your sky, your green landscapes.[8] 𝄇

II

Du tronar på minnen från fornstora da'r,
då ärat Ditt namn flög över jorden.
Jag vet att Du är och Du blir vad Du var.
𝄆 Ja, jag vill leva, jag vill dö i Norden. 𝄇[9]

[dʉ̌ː trûːnar poː mɪ̂nːɛn froːn ˈfûːɳˌʂtuːra dɑ̌ːr
dǒː æ̂ːrat dɪtː nǎmːn flø̌ːɡ øːvær jǔːɖɛn
jɑ̌ː(ɡ) věːt atː dʉ̌ː æ̌ːr ɔ(kː) dʉ̌ː blǐːr vɑ̌ːd dʉ̌ː vɑ̌ːr
𝄆 jɑ̌ː jɑ̌ː(ɡ) vɪ̌lː lêːva jɑ̌ː(ɡ) vɪ̌lː dø̌ː iː nǔːɖɛn] 𝄇

You are enthroned on memories of great olden days,
When honoured your name flew across the Earth,
I know that you are and remain what you were,
𝄆 Yes, I want to live, I want to die in the North. 𝄇

III (Not accepted as part of the anthem)

Jag städs vill dig tjäna, mitt älskade land,
dig trohet till döden vill jag svära.
Din rätt skall jag värna med håg och med hand,
𝄆 din fana, högt den bragderika bära. 𝄇

[jɑ̌ː(ɡ) stɛ̌ːds vɪ̌lː dɛ̌jː ɕɛ̂ːna mɪtː ˈɛ̂lːˌskadɛ lǎnːd
dɛ̌jː trûːhɛt tɪlː dø̌ːdɛn vɪ̌lː jɑ̌ː(ɡ) svæ̂ːra
dɪnː rɛ̌tː skǎlː jɑ̌ː(ɡ) væ̂ːɳa meːd hǒːɡ ɔ(kː) meːd hǎnːd
𝄆 dɪnː fɑ̂ːna hœ̌gːt dɛnː brâɡːdɛˌriːka bæ̂ːra] 𝄇

I forever want to serve you, my beloved land,
fidelity until death I want to swear to you.
Your right I shall defend with mind and with hand,
𝄆 the glorious ones carry your banner high. 𝄇

IV (Not accepted as part of the anthem)

Med Gud skall jag kämpa för hem och för härd
för Sverige, den kära fosterjorden.
Jag byter Dig ej, mot allt i en värld
𝄆 Nej, jag vill leva jag vill dö i Norden. 𝄇

[meːd ɡʉ̌ːd skǎlː jɑ̌ː(ɡ) ɕɛ̂mːpa fœ̞ːr hɛ̌mː ɔ(kː) fœ̞ːr hæ̌ːɖ
fœ̞ː‿ʂvæ̌ːrjɛ dɛnː ɕæ̂ːra ˈfʊ̂sːtærˌjuːdɛn
jɑ̌ː(ɡ) bŷːtæ‿ɖɛ̌jː ɛ̌jː muːt ǎlːt iː ɛnː væ̌ːɖ
𝄆 nɛ̌jː jɑ̌ː(ɡ) vɪ̌lː lêːva jɑ̌ː(ɡ) vɪ̌lː dø̌ː iː nǔːɖɛn] 𝄇

With God I shall fight for home and for hearth,
for Sweden, the beloved mother soil.
Exchange you, I won't for anything in this world
𝄆 No, I want to live, I want to die in the North 𝄇

See also

Notes
  1. Eva Danielson; Märta Ramsten. "Du gamla, du friska – från folkvisa till nationalsång". musikverket.se (in Swedish). Svenskt visarkiv / Musikverket. 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. 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. Retrieved 2017-06-03.
  6. Reinhammar 2013, p. 152.
  7. Jonsson, Bengt R.; Solheim, Svale; Danielson, Eva (1978). The Types of the Scandinavian Medieval Ballad: A Descriptive Catalogue (2nd ed.). Universitetsforlaget. p. . ISBN 8200016544. Retrieved 1 August 2020.
  8. https://svenska.se/tre/?sok=ängd&pz=1
  9. "Nationalsången". Sveriges Kungahus. Retrieved 2020-04-20.

References
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