A memorial plaque at 15 London Street in Edinburgh recognizing the house in which the Icelandic national anthem, "Lofsöngur", was composed
The late 19th century saw music in Iceland develop and flourish. Though many of their initial composers had to study and apply their trade abroad due to insufficient opportunities on offer at home, they were able to bring what they had learned back to Iceland.[3][4] One of these musicians was Sveinbjörn Sveinbjörnsson, who was the first person from his homeland to pursue "an international career as a composer".[3] He sojourned in Edinburgh during the early 1870s,[4][5] and wrote the music for Lofsöngur inside a town house located in the city's New Town in 1874.[4] By 1922, the song became so well known and loved throughout Iceland that, in recognition of this, the Althing endowed Sveinbjörnsson with a state pension.[4] He was the first composer in the country to be conferred such an honour.[3]
The lyrical portion of it was penned by Matthías Jochumsson, one of the "best loved poets" in the country[6] who was also a priest.[7] Although the commemorative plaque in Edinburgh purports that both the music and lyrics were written there, it is nowadays believed that Jochumsson had in fact produced the latter back in his homeland.[4] Much like Sveinbjörnsson, Jochumsson became the first Icelandic poet to be given a state pension. The Althing also bestowed on him the title of "National Poet".[8]
It was written to coincide with the 1874 festivities in honor of one millennium since the Norsefirst arrived on the island.[7][9] It is for this reason that the full translation of the anthem's title is "The Millennial Hymn of Iceland".[9][10] The song was first played on August 2 of that year,[10] at a service celebrated at Reykjavík Cathedral to commemorate the milestone, with the King of Iceland, Christian IX, in attendance.[7][11] However, the song was not officially adopted as the country's national anthem until 70 years later in 1944,[12] when Icelanders voted in a referendum to end their state's personal union with Denmark and become a republic.[13]
Lyrics
Although the Icelandic national anthem consists of three stanzas, only the first one is sung on a regular basis.[11]
Ó, guð vors lands! Ó, lands vors guð!
Vér lofum þitt heilaga, heilaga nafn!
Úr sólkerfum himnanna hnýta þér krans
þínir herskarar, tímanna safn.
Fyrir þér er einn dagur sem þúsund ár
og þúsund ár dagur, ei meir:
eitt eilífðar smáblóm með titrandi tár,
sem tilbiður guð sinn og deyr.
Íslands þúsund ár,
Íslands þúsund ár,
eitt eilífðar smáblóm með titrandi tár,
sem tilbiður guð sinn og deyr.
Ó guð, ó guð! Vér föllum fram
og fórnum þér brennandi, brennandi sál,
guð faðir, vor drottinn frá kyni til kyns,
og vér kvökum vort helgasta mál.
Vér kvökum og þökkum í þúsund ár,
því þú ert vort einasta skjól.
Vér kvökum og þökkum með titrandi tár,
því þú tilbjóst vort forlagahjól.
Íslands þúsund ár,
Íslands þúsund ár!
Voru morgunsins húmköldu, hrynjandi tár,
sem hitna við skínandi sól.
Ó, guð vors lands! Ó, lands vors guð!
Vér lifum sem blaktandi, blaktandi strá.
Vér deyjum, ef þú ert ei ljós það og líf,
sem að lyftir oss duftinu frá.
Ó, vert þú hvern morgun vort ljúfasta líf,
vor leiðtogi í daganna þraut
og á kvöldin vor himneska hvíld og vor hlíf
og vor hertogi á þjóðlífsins braut.
Íslands þúsund ár,
Íslands þúsund ár!
verði gróandi þjóðlíf með þverrandi tár,
sem þroskast á guðsríkis braut.
Our country's God! Our country's God!
We worship Thy name in its wonder sublime.
The suns of the heavens are set in Thy crown
By Thy legions, the ages of time!
With Thee is each day as a thousand years,
Each thousand of years, but a day,
Eternity's flow'r, with its homage of tears,
That reverently passes away.
Iceland's thousand years,
Iceland's thousand years!
Eternity's flow'r, with its homage of tears,
That reverently passes away.
Our God, our God, we bow to Thee,
Our spirits most fervent we place in thy care.
Lord, God of our fathers from age unto age,
We are breathing our holiest prayer.
We pray and we thank Thee a thousand years
For safely protected we stand;
We pray and we bring Thee our homage of tears
Our destiny rest in Thy hand.
Iceland’s thousand years,
Iceland's thousand years!
The hoarfrost of morning which tinted those years,
Thy sun rising high, shall command!
Our country’s God! Our country’s God!
Our life is a feeble and quivering reed;
We perish, deprived of Thy spirit and light
To redeem and uphold in our need.
Inspire us at morn with Thy courage and love,
And lead through the days of our strife!
At evening send peace from Thy heaven above,
And safeguard our nation through life.
Iceland’s thousand years,
Iceland's thousand years!
O, prosper our people, diminish our tears
And guide, in Thy wisdom, through life!
O God of our land! O land of our God!
We praise your holy, holy name!
From solar systems of the heavens, tied to thee is a wreath
By your armies, a collection of the times.
For to you, one day is like a thousand years
and a thousand years a day, not more:
eternity's lone small flower with trembling tears,
that worships its own god and dies.
Iceland's thousand years,
Iceland's thousand years,
eternity's lone small flower with trembling tears,
that worships its own god and dies.
O God, O God! We fall forward
and sacrifice to you burning, burning soul,
God father, our Lord from kin to kin,
and we pray our holiest speech.
We pray and thank for a thousand years,
since you are the only shelter.
We pray and thank with trembling tears,
since you offered our destiny.
Iceland's thousand years,
Iceland's thousand years!
They were morning hoarfrost, collapsing tears,
that warm with shining sun.
O God of our land! O land of our God!
We live as a fluttering, fluttering straw.
We die if you are not that light and life
that lifts us from the obscurity.
O be every morning our sweetest life,
our leader in the trial of the days
and in evenings our heavenly rest and our protection
and our commander on national life's path.
Iceland's thousand years,
Iceland's thousand years!
May they become a growing national life with decreasing tears
that develop on God's kingdom's path.
^ abcdefSilk, Mark (July 1, 2016). "Go Iceland!". The Gazette. Colorado Springs. Religion News Service. Archived from the original on April 25, 2017. Retrieved April 26, 2017.
