DENMARK (Language and Literature)
17
express duty: Jeg har at sige Dem, I have to say
(to) you. The Danish has more varieties of
circumlocution than the English, and its
auxiliaries are less irregular. The syntax resembles
that of the English. The definite
article may be omitted, but it is sometimes
used where the English omits it; thus:
Natur-en, nature; Liv-et, life, &c. The noun which
governs a genitive precedes the nominative,
and usually without the article; e.g.: Verdens
Alder, the age of the world; et Legemes (body)
Tyngde, the gravity of a body; mange Vandes
Lyd, of the sound of many waters. The
preposition af is omitted with quantities, as en
Mængde Mennesker, a crowd of people; unless
the thing measured be definite, as en Skieppe af
den ny Hvede, a bushel of the new wheat.
Adjectives follow only surnames, as Knud den
Store, Canute the Great. De, they, when used
to address a single person, takes the singular
of the verb, as Gaaer De paa Komedie? Do
you go to the theatre? The active participle
in nde final is never used as a gerund, but
mostly as an adjective, and the English participle
in ing must often be rendered by the
infinitive; thus: det er neppe værd at see, it is
scarcely worth (to see) seeing. Prepositions
sometimes must be translated by other words;
thus: i, in; i Gaar Aftes (in yester eve's), last
evening; i Morges, this morning; i Aar, this
year; i Morgen, to-morrow, &c. They are also
written as adverbs: igaar, yesterday, igaaraftes,
last night, &c. Paa, on, upon: paa
Søndag, next Sunday. Ad, to, up, of: ad
Aare, next year. Om, for, about: 5 Rigsbankdaler
om Maaneden, $5 a month, &c. We
subjoin a specimen of Danish construction:
| En
|
Ulv,
|
den
|
dummeste
|
af
|
sin
|
Slægt,
|
traf
|
| A
|
wolf,
|
the
|
silliest
|
of
|
his
|
kind,
|
met
|
| engang
|
en
|
Hund
|
udenfor
|
Skoven.
|
Ulven
|
| one time
|
a
|
dog
|
outside
|
wood.
|
Wolf
|
| vilde
|
til
|
at
|
slæbe
|
denne
|
bort,
|
da
|
Hunden
|
| would
|
about
|
to
|
carry
|
this one
|
away,
|
when
|
dog
|
| forestillede
|
ham
|
at
|
den
|
var
|
altfor
|
mager.
|
| presented
|
to him
|
to
|
he
|
be
|
too
|
lean.
|
For a thorough study of the Danish language
the following works may be consulted: Peder
Syv, Simbriske Sprog (1663), the Cimbric
being the basis of the Danish orthography; E.
Pontoppidan, Grammatica Danica (1668); Otho
Sperling, De Danicæ Linguæ Antiqua Gloria
(1694); J. Baden, Roma Danica, sive Harmonia
Linguæ Danicæ cum Latina (1699); J. H.
Schlegel on the advantages and defects of the
Danish language (in Danish, 1763); Rask's
grammar for Englishmen (1830 and 1846);
Fradersdorff's “Practical Introduction to
Danish” (London, 1860). Dictionaries: H.
van Alphelen, “Royal Dictionary” (in Danish,
1764-'72), and Dictionnaire français-danois
et danois-français (3 vols., 1772-'6); Dansk
Ordbog (“Danish Wordbook”), under the direction
of the society of sciences, by Möller,
Viborg, Thorlachus, Müller, &c. (5 vols., 1793-1825);
Björn Halderson's lexicon, Icelandic,
Latin, and Danish, edited by Rask in 1814,
and Danish-English, by Ferral, in 1845-'54;
Hornbeck's “Danish-English and English-Danish
Dictionary” (2 vols., Copenhagen, 1863).—The
literature of Denmark is for the most part
of recent growth. Mediæval Danish writings
belong to the general literature of Scandinavia.
The most important of them are the
codes of the ancient kings, which belong to
the 12th century, and the songs and ballads,
partly derived from the Scandinavian sagas,
which have been preserved by being sung by the
people. The Faroe islanders still sing them,
and dance to their accompaniment. The historian
Saxo Grammaticus (died about 1204) wrote
in Latin. He was one of the first scholars of
his time, and his Historia Danica has been
thought worthy of a modern translation into
Danish and of much scholarly comment.
During the union of Denmark, Sweden, and Norway
under one government, from 1397 to 1523,
there was not much literary progress. Learning
was confined to the clergy, who wrote mostly
in Latin and on scholastic themes. Even the
poems and dramas of the time were scholastic
or mystical allegories. The general revival
of letters, however, at the time of the reformation
was felt in Denmark. Pedersen's
translation of the New Testament and the Psalms
was incorporated into the official translation
of the whole Bible made in 1550, and its
influence upon the national language and literature
can hardly be overestimated. Pedersen
also wrote some popular histories which were
widely read. Unhappily the majority of
writers in the 16th and 17th centuries were
confined to dogmatic and ecclesiastical discussions,
and the government, having adopted the
Lutheran faith, persecuted any deviation from it;
yet the eminent names of Tycho Brahe, the
great astronomer, and Thomas Bartholin, the
first anatomist of his day, with a number of
others, including Christian Longomontanus and
Ole Römer, placed Denmark in the first rank
of scientific progress. In this period there were
also several students of earlier Scandinavian
history, Arent Berndtsen (died in 1680) being the
most eminent of them, whose writings are of
great value to the modern student; while the
collection of the early popular songs, especially
the work of A. S. Vedel (1591), gave a strong
impulse to national poetry. It is said that
Sophia, queen of Frederick II., when on a visit
to Tycho Brahe, was detained several days by
stormy weather; the astronomer beguiled the
time by reading to her from Vedel's collection,
and the queen was so delighted with the work
that she provided for its publication. Vedel
was followed a century later, and his collection
enlarged, by Peder Syv. The 17th
century also produced some original poets, three
of whom should be named: Anders Arreboe
(1587-1637), whose Hexameron describes the
six days of creation; Anders Bording (1619-1677),
who by royal privilege edited the
“Danish Mercury,” a political sheet published
