''Landstads kirkesalmebog'' (Landstad's Church Hymnal), often simply known as ''Landstads salmebok'' (Landstad's Hymnal), was the most important hymnal for the Church of Norway from 1870 to 1926. In 1852,

Magnus Brostrup Landstad Magnus Brostrup Landstad (7 October 1802 – 8 October 1880) was a Norwegian parish priest and provost, hymn writer, and poet who published the first collection of authentic Norwegian traditional ballads in 1853. Biography Landstad was born in ...

(1802–1880) started compiling a new church hymnal.''Store norske leksikon'': Magnus Brostrup Landstad.
/ref> At that time, three different hymnals were in use: Kingo's hymnal from 1699,

Guldberg's hymnal Guldberg's hymnal (published as ''Psalme-Bog eller En Samling af gamle og nye Psalmer'' 'Hymnal or A Collection of Old and New Hymns') is a hymnal that was created by Bishop Ludvig Harboe and Ove Høegh-Guldberg and was authorized for use in 1778 ...

from 1778, and '' Evangelisk-christelig Psalmebog'' (Lutheran-Christian Hymnal) from 1798. All three were therefore Danish and did not satisfy the Church's needs. In 1855, Landstad published a sample of his translations of

Luther Luther may refer to: People * Martin Luther (1483–1546), German monk credited with initiating the Protestant Reformation * Martin Luther King Jr. (1929-1968), American minister and leader in the American civil rights movement * Luther (give ...

's hymns, and in 1856 he published a volume with Christmas hymns. In 1861 he presented his draft new hymnal with 640 hymns arranged in verse form. The draft was sharply criticized because of its use of dialect vocabulary; the bishop and hymnologist Johannes Skaar argued that Landstad had mixed peasant language and cultured language. Landstad replied to the criticism in his book ''Om Salmebogen, en Redegjørelse'' (A Statement Regarding the Hymnal, 1862). He made some changes based on the criticism. In 1865 a public committee met to decide on the draft. The hymnal was approved under a royal resolution of October 16, 1869 and it was printed in 1870 and could then be used in parishes that decided to adopt it. The hymnal had 634 hymns, of which 307 were originally Danish hymns, 203 were German, and 86 were Norwegian. Landstad himself wrote 60 original hymns. In addition, it contained many of his translations. An innovation in the Norwegian context was hymns that were translated from Swedish. One example is " Den blomstertid nu kommer" (Now the Time of Blossoming Arrives), credited to

Israel Kolmodin Israel Gustaf Kolmodin (24 December 1643 – 19 April 1709) was a Swedish hymnwriter and Lutheran priest, active in the Church of Sweden. He is usually credited for having written the song "Den blomstertid nu kommer Den blomstertid nu kommer (l ...

. On March 4, 1892, Elias Blix's '' Nokre salmar'' (Some Hymns) was authorized for use in public worship, and these

Landsmål Nynorsk () () is one of the two written standards of the Norwegian language, the other being Bokmål. From 12 May 1885, it became the state-sanctioned version of Ivar Aasen's standard Norwegian language ( no, Landsmål) parallel to the Dano-Nor ...

hymns were then incorporated into Landstad's hymnal as nos. 635–791. Landstad's hymnal was revised by the diocesan provost

Gustav Jensen Gustav Margerth Jensen (July 13, 1845 – November 2, 1922) was a Norwegian priest, hymnologist, hymnwriter, seminary instructor, and liturgist. He is best known for his liturgy revision and hymnal publication. Gustav Jensen was born in Drammen, ...

and a committee. ''

Landstads reviderte salmebok ''Landstads reviderte salmebok'' (Landstad's Revised Hymnal) was a hymnal authorized for public worship in Norway under the royal resolutions of October 9, 1920 and February 15, 1924. The book was the Church of Norway's official hymnal until 1985, ...

'' (Landstad's Revised Hymnal) was approved under royal resolutions of October 8, 1920 and February 15, 1924, and it was published in 1926.Ringard, Morten. 1952. ''Byen under fjellet: Holmestrand, 1752 – 10. november – 1952''. Oslo: Aschehoug, p. 79.

References

{{DISPLAYTITLE:''Landstads kirkesalmebog'' Church of Norway Norwegian hymnals 1869 books