"" (; da, "Vort ældgamle land under isblinkens bavn", ; en, "You, Our Ancient Land") is the

national anthem A national anthem is a patriotic musical composition symbolizing and evoking eulogies of the history and traditions of a country or nation. The majority of national anthems are marches or hymns in style. American, Central Asian, and Europea ...

Greenland Greenland ( kl, Kalaallit Nunaat, ; da, Grønland, ) is an island country in North America that is part of the Kingdom of Denmark. It is located between the Arctic and Atlantic oceans, east of the Canadian Arctic Archipelago. Greenland i ...

, an autonomous state of the Kingdom of Denmark. Written by Henning Jakob Henrik Lund in 1912, it was officially adopted in 1916. Music for it was later composed by Jonathan Petersen in 1937. The reference to Kalaallit as "half-grown children" yearning to join the "advanced nations" of the world has been considered controversial in modern times. Since 1979, " Nuna asiilasooq" ("The Land of Great Length"), an ethnic anthem used by the self-governing

Kalaallit Kalaallit make up the largest group of the Greenlandic Inuit and are concentrated in Kitaa. It is also a contemporary term in the Greenlandic language for the indigenous people living in Greenland (Greenlandic ''Kalaallit Nunaat'').Hessel, 8 Th ...

, has also been officially recognised by the government.

History

The song was written in 1912 by Greenlandic priest Henning Jakob Henrik Lund, originally set to the melody of the Swedish national anthem, " Du gamla, du fria". It was one of the first Greenlandic national songs and has been suggested to have been written as a national battle song for politicians pushing for a bill on home rule. In 1937, organist and piano teacher Jonathan Petersen composed a melody for the anthem. In 1916, it was translated into Danish by Eskimologist William Thalbitzer. It was the only Greenlandic song translated into Danish, and remained so for many years, and as such was given official status as the national anthem of Greenland by Denmark. It was performed in this role at the

University of Copenhagen The University of Copenhagen ( da, Københavns Universitet, KU) is a prestigious public research university in Copenhagen, Denmark. Founded in 1479, the University of Copenhagen is the second-oldest university in Scandinavia after Uppsala Unive ...

in 1921 for the 200th anniversary of missionary Hans Egede's landing in Greenland and in 1937 for King Christian X's 25-year jubilee. In 1985, Thalbitzer's Danish translation was refined by theologian Mads Lidegaard.

Lyrics

The fifth verse is more often sung after the first verse than the second verse in short versions.

Notes

References

External links

MIDI and sheet music

Greenland's regional anthem on YouTube (short version)
{{Authority control Danish anthems National symbols of Greenland North American anthems Greenlandic music National anthem compositions in E-flat major Regional songs