The Icelandic National Anthem
Summary
The Icelandic national anthem, Ó, Guð vors lands (O, God of Our Land) was written by the poet Matthías Jochumsson (1835-1920). The melody is by the composer Sveinbjörn Sveinbjörnsson (1847-1927).
First verse of the Icelandic National Anthem:
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!, ;:
Eternity's flow'r, with its homage of tears,
That reverently passes away.
- English translation by Jakobina Johnson
The History of the Icelandic National Anthem
The Icelandic national anthem is originally written for a particular occasion and it probably did not occur to either the poet or the composer that the song was destined to become a national anthem, for more than a generation passed before this came about.
The year 1874 marked the millennial anniversary of the settlement in Iceland of the first Norseman, Ingólfur Arnarson. In the summer of that year there were celebrations throughout the country to commemorate this event, the chief ceremonies being held at Thingvellir, the place of assembly of the ancient Parliament of the people ("Althingi"), and in Reykjavik. It was for this occasion that the hymn was written, hence the words "Iceland's thousand years", which recur in all three verses, i.e. the title of the original edition of the poem and the music (Reykjavik, 1874), which was A Hymn in Commemoration of Iceland's Thousand Years.
By special order in September 1873 it was decreed that services should be held in all Icelandic churches to commemorate the millennial anniversary of the first settlement in Iceland, and it was left to the Bishop of Iceland to decide upon a day and the choice of a text for the service. In the autumn of the same year, the Bishop, Dr. Pétur Pétursson, announced that the day for the service was to be 2nd August and the chosen text Psalm 90.
About the same time as the Bishop's letter was sent out, the Rev. Matthías Jochumsson (1835-1920) set off on the third of his eleven trips abroad. The poem was written in Great Britain during the winter of 1873-74, the first verse in Edinburgh, the remaining two in London.
The composer of the anthem was Sveinbjörn Sveinbjörnsson (1847-1927). After completing musical education in Copenhagen, Edinburgh and Leipzig, he had just settled down as a music master and pianist in Edinburgh when Jochumsson arrived there in the autumn of 1873 to stay with him. When he had finished the opening verse of the hymn, Matthías showed it to Sveinbjörn, and in his autobiography we find the following description of this scene: "After studying the words carefully, Sveinbjörn professed his inability to set them to music; during the course of the winter I wrote repeatedly, pressing him to attempt the hymn. And at length, in the spring, the music arrived, reaching us at home just in time for the national celebrations."
The anthem was performed in public for the first time at the commemoration services in the Cathedral at Reykjavik on Sunday, 2nd August, 1874. On that day there were sung seven commemorative poems which Jochumsson had been commissioned to write but the anthem is one of the few poems he wrote for the celebrations of his own accord.
While independence was still a thing of the distant future, there was no question of there being a national anthem in the usual sense. However, when Icelanders wished to sing in praise of their motherland during the nineteenth century, they usually sung Eldgamla Ísafold by Bjarni Thorarensen (1786-1841), written in Copenhagen, probably during 1808-9. But there were two reasons why this could not become the national anthem despite its general popularity. One was that apart from the first and final verses the poet's nostalgia finds expression there in taunts against Denmark, where the poet was then living. A weightier reason, however, was that it was sung to the tune of the British national anthem.
During the last quarter of the nineteenth century, Ó, Guð vors lands was often sung in public by choral societies. When sovereignty was officially proclaimed, it was played as the national anthem of Iceland at the ceremony, and such it has remained ever since. The Icelandic Government acquired the copyright to the melody, which formerly had been held by a Danish music publishing firm, in 1948, and that of the words in 1949.
