Monday, September 3, 2007

Happy Danes, gloomy Danes, and Nikolai Grundtvig (today's feast)

Who in the world is Nikolai Grundtvig? And what's with "Happy Danes" and "Gloomy Danes"?

Read all about them at the ever-reliable Daily Office site of Mission St. Clare.

Did Grundtvig and Kierkegaard get along? Find out here.

There; don't you feel better?


P.S. I mean no disrespect -- in fact, one of the delights of the Episcopal calendar, with its ecumenical and multidisciplinary celebrations of motley holy people, is that it honors in Grundtvig someone who was both cleric and hymnwriter. One of the biographies describes his claims to fame as "poet and divine." I wouldn't mind that descriptor myself. We have a wonderful tradition in the Anglican heritage, that of parson-poets and priest-novelists and bishop-hymnwriters. Some of our best theology, perhaps our best, is that found in our poetry. If you haven't read it already, have a look at my mentor and friend Bill Countryman's The Poetic Imagination: An Anglican Spiritual Tradition.

1 comment:

Michael McIntyre said...

Hi Jane,

I just discovered your blog while searching for blogs that referenced Grundtvig. It's nice to meet another admirer of his. I will be exploring your blog site now. I blog too, and as it happens, I just got done translating a Grundtvig sermon which you might like to read. Here is the link:

http://extravagantcreation.wordpress.com/2011/03/27/grundtvigs-sermons-4th-sunday-after-trinity-1838/