Ja, vi elsker dette landet

The story

For much of the 19th century Norway had no single anthem. In the early part of the century many regarded "Norges Skaal" as one, and from 1820 the most recognised was "Norsk Nationalsang", later known from its first words as "Sønner av Norge", written by Henrik Anker Bjerregaard with a melody by Christian Blom after the Royal Norwegian Society for Development announced a competition for a national anthem in 1819.

Bjørnstjerne Bjørnson wrote "Ja, vi elsker dette landet" ("Yes, We Love This Country") between 1859 and 1868, and his cousin Rikard Nordraak composed the melody in the winter of 1863 to 1864. It was first performed in public on 17 May 1864, in connection with the 50th anniversary of the constitution. Bjørnson wrote in the form of Danish then used in Norway; the text sung today keeps his words with modernised spelling and punctuation, after the reforms of written Bokmål. The original version had a verse hailing Charles IV, who had succeeded his father as king of Norway in July 1859, and praising the "brethren pact", a military treaty by which Norway, Sweden and Denmark were to help one another if attacked. When German troops invaded South Jutland in February 1864, in the Second Schleswig War, none of the partners came to Denmark's aid; the hope of a united Scandinavia was shattered, Bjørnson turned from monarchist to republican, and the verse to the king was struck out.

The song came to be recognised as a national anthem from the mid-1860s, but until the early 20th century it was used alongside "Sønner av Norge", which was preferred on official occasions. In 1905, when the Storting's declaration of 7 June dissolved the union with Sweden and the two countries came close to war that autumn, Swedish socialists sang "Ja, vi elsker dette landet" in support of the Norwegians' right to secede, while their leaders Hjalmar Branting and Zeth Höglund spoke for a peaceful settlement. During the Second World War both the Norwegian resistance and the Nazi collaborators used it, the collaborators mainly for propaganda, until the German occupiers forbade any use of the anthem.

Usually only the first and the last two verses (1, 7 and 8) are sung, the first by far the most often, and the last two lines of each verse are sung twice. In May 2006 the multicultural newspaper Utrop proposed an Urdu translation so that immigrants not yet fluent in Norwegian could honour their new country in song; a member of the Storting called the idea "integration in reverse", and one supporter of a translation received hate mail and threats. After the 2011 Norway attacks, Ole Paus's "Mitt lille land" was sung at the memorial ceremonies and called "a new national anthem" by the media. "Ja, vi elsker dette landet" was officially adopted as the national anthem on 11 December 2019. Norway also has an unofficial royal anthem, "Kongesangen", and a "national psalm", "Gud signe vårt dyre fedreland".

What it says

A song of love for Norway, its rugged land and the homes of its people, which recalls the deeds and hardships of the nation's past and closes with a pledge to stand by the country and defend its peace. The mood is solemn and warm.

The words