"Nu tändas tusen juleljus" is a Christian traditional

Swedish language Swedish ( ) is a North Germanic language spoken predominantly in Sweden and in parts of Finland. It has at least 10 million native speakers, the fourth most spoken Germanic language and the first among any other of its type in the Nordic countr ...

Christmas song Christmas music comprises a variety of genres of music regularly performed or heard around the Christmas season. Music associated with Christmas may be purely instrumental, or, in the case of carols or songs, may employ lyrics whose subject ma ...

, written in 1898 by the

Swedish Swedish or ' may refer to: Anything from or related to Sweden, a country in Northern Europe. Or, specifically: * Swedish language, a North Germanic language spoken primarily in Sweden and Finland ** Swedish alphabet, the official alphabet used by ...

song text writer

Emmy Köhler Emmy Köhler, born 22 May 1858 in Stockholm, Sweden, died 2 February 1925 in Fresta, Sweden was a Swedish hymnwriter and writer. Among of her more famous works is the Christmas carol ''Nu tändas tusen juleljus'' and the music for the children' ...

(both text and melody). Translated into English, the title literally means "Now are lit a thousand Christmas candles". The theme of the song is the

gospel Gospel originally meant the Christian message ("the gospel"), but in the 2nd century it came to be used also for the books in which the message was set out. In this sense a gospel can be defined as a loose-knit, episodic narrative of the words an ...

of the newborn Christ and specifically its aspects of domestic harmony and inner peace, brought by the lights of candles as well as of the stars above, most importantly the

star of Bethlehem The Star of Bethlehem, or Christmas Star, appears in the nativity story of the Gospel of Matthew chapter 2 where "wise men from the East" (Magi) are inspired by the star to travel to Jerusalem. There, they meet King Herod of Judea, and ask him: ...

. It was one of the most popular Christmas songs in

Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden,The United Nations Group of Experts on Geographical Names states that the country's formal name is the Kingdom of SwedenUNGEGN World Geographical Names, Sweden./ref> is a Nordic country located on ...

during the 20th century, in churches, homes and schools. Swedish pop singer

Agnetha Fältskog Agneta Åse Fältskog (born 5 April 1950), known as Agnetha Fältskog (), is a Swedish singer, songwriter, and musician. She first achieved success in Sweden with the release of her 1968 self-titled debut album. She later achieved internatio ...

recorded the song on her album "

Nu tändas tusen juleljus "Nu tändas tusen juleljus" is a Christian traditional Swedish language Christmas song, written in 1898 by the Swedish song text writer Emmy Köhler (both text and melody). Translated into English, the title literally means "Now are lit a tho ...

", named after the song, with her daughter

Linda Ulvaeus Linda Elin Ulvaeus (born 23 February 1973) is a Swedish actress and singer. She is the elder child of Björn Ulvaeus and Agnetha Fältskog, members of the pop group ABBA. Early life Ulvaeus is the only daughter of Björn Ulvaeus and Agnetha Fä ...

. The song was also covered by artists and groups like

Evie Evie may refer to: People and fictional characters * Evie (given name) * Evie (singer), American contemporary Christian music singer Evelyn Tornquist (born 1957) * Evie (wrestler), ring name of New Zealand female professional wrestler Cheree Crowl ...

(both 1974 and 1976, also in English),

Carola Häggkvist Carola Maria Häggkvist (; born 8 September 1966), commonly known simply as Carola, is a Swedish singer and songwriter. She has been among Sweden's most popular performers since the early 1980s and has released albums ranging from pop and disco ...

(1983),

Wizex Wizex is a Swedish dansband formed in Osby in 1973. It purchased the rights to the name from a band that started as ''Ulrik Wittmans Kvintett'' in 1957''.'' When Ulrik Wittman left the band in 1963 they started to use the name ''Wizex''. When rea ...

(1993), and

Lill Lindfors Maj Lillemor "Lill" Lindfors (born 12 May 1940) is a Swedish singer who has performed in Scandinavia since the 1960s. Career She was born in Helsinki, Finland, and made her debut as a revue actress in Uddevalla in 1960. The following year she ...

(1991). Swedish

punk Punk or punks may refer to: Genres, subculture, and related aspects * Punk rock, a music genre originating in the 1970s associated with various subgenres * Punk subculture, a subculture associated with punk rock, or aspects of the subculture s ...

band

Ebba Grön Ebba Grön was a Swedish punk band formed in Stockholm, Sweden, in 1977. Ebba Grön consisted of Joakim Thåström (lead vocals, guitar), Gunnar Ljungstedt (drums) and Lennart Eriksson (bass guitar, backing vocals). Thåström, Ljungstedt and ...

, who recorded the song in 1980,Information
at

Svensk mediedatabas Svensk mediedatabas (''Swedish Media Database'') is a search engine for the audiovisual works of the National Library of Sweden. The database contains data about TV, radio, video, movies that have been shown in cinemas, gramophone records, CDs ...

altered the lyrics and called the song "Nu släckas tusen människoliv" ("Now a thousand of human lives are put out"). This version is about

homelessness Homelessness or houselessness – also known as a state of being unhoused or unsheltered – is the condition of lacking stable, safe, and adequate housing. People can be categorized as homeless if they are: * living on the streets, also kn ...

. The

Norwegian language Norwegian ( no, norsk, links=no ) is a North Germanic language spoken mainly in Norway, where it is an official language. Along with Swedish and Danish, Norwegian forms a dialect continuum of more or less mutually intelligible local and regio ...

version is Nå tennes tusen julelys and has been recorded by artists such as

Elisabeth Andreassen Elisabeth Gunilla Andreassen (; born 28 March 1958), also known as just Bettan, is a Norwegian-Swedish singer who has finished both first and second in the Eurovision Song Contest. Career Her talent was discovered in 1979 by Swedish musician and ...

and

Sissel Kyrkjebø Sissel Kyrkjebø (; born 24 June 1969), also simply known as Sissel, is a Norwegian soprano. Sissel is considered one of the world's top crossover sopranos. Her musical style ranges from pop recordings and folk songs, to classical vocals and op ...

. There is also a

Spanish language Spanish ( or , Castilian) is a Romance languages, Romance language of the Indo-European language family that evolved from colloquial Latin spoken on the Iberian peninsula. Today, it is a world language, global language with more than 500 millio ...

version called "Mil Luces" that appeared on an album entitled "Felicidad en Navidad" by an unknown artist, which was distributed by Fuente de Vida.

Titles in other languages

Finnish language Finnish ( endonym: or ) is a Uralic language of the Finnic branch, spoken by the majority of the population in Finland and by ethnic Finns outside of Finland. Finnish is one of the two official languages of Finland (the other being Swedish ...

: Nyt syttyy valot tuhannet (also Nyt sytytämme kynttilän) *

Danish language Danish (; , ) is a North Germanic language spoken by about six million people, principally in and around Denmark. Communities of Danish speakers are also found in Greenland, the Faroe Islands, and the northern German region of Southern Schles ...

: Nu tændes tusind julelys *

Faroese language Faroese ( ; ''føroyskt mál'' ) is a North Germanic language spoken as a first language by about 72,000 Faroe Islanders, around 53,000 of whom reside on the Faroe Islands and 23,000 in other areas, mainly Denmark. It is one of five languages de ...

: Nú tendrast túsund jólaljós *

Icelandic language Icelandic (; is, íslenska, link=no ) is a North Germanic language spoken by about 314,000 people, the vast majority of whom live in Iceland, where it is the national language. Due to being a West Scandinavian language, it is most closely re ...

: Við kveikjum einu kerti á *

: Nå tennes tusen julelys *

: Nu tändas tusen juleljus *

Indonesian language Indonesian ( ) is the official language, official and national language of Indonesia. It is a standard language, standardized variety (linguistics), variety of Malay language, Malay, an Austronesian languages, Austronesian language that has be ...

: Seribu Lilin * Different melody:

Russian language Russian (russian: русский язык, russkij jazyk, link=no, ) is an East Slavic languages, East Slavic language mainly spoken in Russia. It is the First language, native language of the Russians, and belongs to the Indo-European langua ...

version, V lesu rodilas elochka The

version, В лесу родилась ёлочка ( The Forest Raised a Christmas Tree), is commonly claimed to have been written based on this song in 1903 and set to music in 1905 by the amateur composer Leonid Karlovich Beckmann. The tune of the song is only slightly different than the Nordic language ones.

References

External links

Lyrics on Swedish Wikisource
{{DEFAULTSORT:Nu Tandas Tusen Juleljus 1898 songs Agnetha Fältskog songs Carola Häggkvist songs Swedish Christmas songs Elisabeth Andreassen songs Wizex songs Songs about Jesus Hep Stars songs

Titles in other languages

See also

References

External links