Johan Henrik Schrøter

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JHSchrøter in 1849

Johan Henrik Schrøter (born February 25, 1771 in Tórshavn , Faroe Islands , † November 14, 1851 ibid) was a Faroese pastor , known as one of the first Faroese writers .

Life

Johan Henrik was the son of from Silesia coming German land surgeon Christian Gottlob Schröter (1724-1781) and his wife Anna Elisabeth, born Hammershaimb (1741-1780), daughter of the bailiff Jørgen Frandz de Hammershaimb (1688-1765). In 1801 Johan Henrik Schrøter married Mariane Sophie (1773–1828), the daughter of his uncle Venceslaus Hammershaimb (1744–1828), who was also governor of the Faroe Islands.

Schrøter grew up in Tórshavn and attended the local Latin school from 1784 to 1790. He spent his final year in school in Slagelse , Denmark , where he graduated from university in 1791. At the University of Copenhagen , he first enrolled in medicine until he decided to study theology , which he successfully completed in 1796. The following year Schrøter was assistant chaplain on Suðuroy , from 1804 then parish priest in Hvalba . After falling from his horse, in which he suffered a hernia , he was retired in 1826 for health reasons. According to other sources, the real reason for his early retirement is related to links with smugglers, which undermined the monopoly trade in the Faroe Islands. In addition to his priesthood, Schrøter had also operated a lively trade with which he was able to acquire a considerable fortune. After his early retirement, he moved to Vágur and from there in 1828 after the death of his wife, who had been blind in the last 17 years, back to his native town of Tórshavn, where he lived as a widowed pensioner for over 20 years. Johan Henrik Schrøter died very old in 1851 at the age of 80 in his native town.

His unmarried daughter Elisabeth Christiane Schrøter (1803–1873) lived from 1863 with her cousin VU Hammershaimb in Nes on Eysturoy .

Literary work

Schrøter's interest in language and literature came from the cradle, so to speak. He later wrote in one of his numerous letters that he had spoken German with his father, with his mother “half-Danish” (most likely Gøtudanskt is meant), Scottish or English with his playmates and a mixture of different Faroese dialects with the children of ordinary people who had come to Tórshavn from all over the Faroe Islands.

Like Svabo before him and VU Hammershaimb after him, Schrøter achieved special significance as one of the pioneers of the Faroese written language . For the first time he wrote down various Faroese ballads that had previously only been passed down orally , including the Sigurdlieder , which are still among the most popular dance ballads today. He thus made a significant contribution to the work Færøiske Qvæder om Sigurd Fofnersbane og hans Æt (1822) by Hans Christian Lyngbye .

In 1823 the first translation of the Bible into Faroese appeared: The Gospel of Matthew by Schrøter. This work is also known as Føroyska bók and, with the support of the Church, found its way into every Faroese household. Although it must have been very popular, the response was devastating. The reasons for this are on the one hand Schrøter's peculiar orthography and on the other hand the fact that the Danish language was inseparably linked to the church in the imagination of most Faroese at that time . So some were bothered by Schrøter's choice of words when he z. B. used kola instead of lampa for the oil lamp or lýsi instead of olja for the oil. The language in Schrøter's translation was, as Hammershaimb wrote in 1845, perceived as “flat and tasteless”. People were bothered by the, in their opinion, simple language in the translation of the Bible, which does not do justice to the holy things mentioned there and is more reminiscent of kitchen language. Because of these negative reactions from the Faroe Islands, the Danish Bible Society did not pursue a continuation of the Bible translation. She now assumed that the Faroe Islands would prefer to read the Bible in Danish. However, this should change 100 years later in the language dispute.

The third important work by Pastor Schrøter was the translation of the Faroese saga in 1832 from Old Icelandic , which the Danish archaeologist Carl Christian Rafn compiled. This translation appeared in Rafn's book edition in 1833 alongside the old original text and a Danish translation. Schrøter had further developed orthographically, which was primarily based on the suggestions of the Danish philologist Rasmus Rask .

Schrøter also became a member of the old font society Det kongelige nordiske oldskriftselskab, which Rafn and Rask helped to found in 1825 .

Spelling examples

This example (Brinilda Thaattur 47. / Brynhildar táttur 46.) comes from the Sigurd songs in Hans Christian Lyngbye's book of 1817/1822, which is also the first printed work in the Faroese language. Here Schrøter is clearly based on Jens Christian Svabo's sound-based orthography. The text can without further Färöischkenntnisse be read aloud and corresponds to the correct pronunciation (if <gj> than about [⁠ ʤ ⁠] is articulated, and the first <d> in "Nordlondun" mute remains).

Schrøter 1817 New Faroese
Brinild situr uj gjiltan Stouli,
Teâ hit veâna Vujv,
Drevur hoon Sjúra eâv Nordlondun
Uj Hildarhaj tiil sujn. 		Brynhild situr í gyltum stóli,
tað hitt væna vív,
dregur hon Sjúrða av Norðlondum
í Hildarheið til sín.

More than 30 years later, VU Hammershaimb published the work in its spelling, where he also corrected what he believed was incorrect in content at Schrøter:

Hammershaimb 1851 New Faroese
Brinhild situr í giltum stóli,
tàð hit væna vív,
dregur hon Sjúrð áf öðrum londum
sàr til sorgar tíð. 		Brynhild situr í gyltum stóli,
tað hitt væna vív,
dregur hon Sjúrð av øðrum londum,
sær til sorgartíð.

In the Lord's Prayer from the Gospel of Matthew from 1823, Schrøter then dispenses with the <uj> (today: <í>) and writes <ui>. The <ó> which we find for / ou / in today's spelling indicates an accentuated long / o /. However, he initially retained the use of the <â> for today's <a, æ>.

Schrøter 1823 Dahl / Viderø 1961
Feâjir vaar, tû sum ér ui Himlunun! haillit væri Navn tuit!
Kómi Ruigji tuit! Skjé tuin Villie
sum ui Himmalinun, so ogsó aa Jørini!
Gjév okkun ui Deâ okkara dagliga porridge!
O forlaad okkun okkara Skjild,
sum víd forlaada Skjildnarun okkara!
O lai okkun ikkje inn ui Fruistilse; men fruja okkun fraa tui Onda! 		Faðir vár, tú sum ert í himlunum! Heilagt verði navn títt;
komi ríki títt, verði vilji tín
sum í himli so á jørð;
gev okkum í dag okkara dagliga breyð;
og fyrigev okkum skuldir okkara,
so sum vit fyrigeva skuldarum okkara;
og leið okkum ikki í freistingar; men frels okkum frá tí illa.

The example from the beginning of the Faroese saga of 1832 shows Schrøter's further development of his own orthography. For example, the / a / with the circumflex no longer appears as <â>, but as <ä>; and instead of the <aa> he now uses the (Swedish) <å>, which is now written as <á>. The <ou> from the above examples is written <ow>, while the <ui> appears again as <uj>.

Altisl. according to CC Rafn JH Schrøter 1832 VU Hammershaimb 1884 Bjarni Niclasen 1995
Maðr er nefndr Grímur kamban, hann bygði fyrstr Færeyjar á dögum Haralds hins hárfagra; þá flýðu fyrir hans ofkríki fjöldi manna, settust sumir í Færeyjum, ok bygðu þar, en sumir leituðu til annarra eyðilanda. Ajn Mävur èr nevndur Grujmur Kamban, han fowr fistur at biggja Förjar, meni Häraldur hin hårfagri vär å Døvun; tå fluddi firi Owdømi hansara mengur Mävur; summir settu se uj Förjun og bigdu här, men summir lajtavu til onnur Ojulond. Maður er nevndur Grímur kamban; hann var fyrsti maður, ið búsettist í Føroyjum á døgum Haralds hins hárfagra; tá flýddi stór mannfjøld undan harðræði hansara, settust sumir í Føroyjum og reistu búgv har, men sumir leitaðu í onnur oyðilond. Maður er nevndur Grímur Kamban; hann var fyrsti maður, ið setti búgv í Føroyum. Á døgum Haralds Hárfagra flýddi stór mannfjøld undan harðræði hansara; Summir settust í Føroyum and bygdu har, men summir leitaðu í only óbygd lond.

Schrøter's grammar is also interesting. Ajn Mävur ("a man", today written a maður ) uses the indefinite article that did not appear in Old Icelandic. Hammershaimb and his successors do without it. Hammershaimb also used the genitive ( á døgum Haralds hins hárfagra “in the days of Harald Fairhair”), which was already rare in his day, where Schrøter used an elegant paraphrase: meni Häraldur hin hårfagri vär å Døvun, something like : “As Harald Fairhair on the Power was ”.

Catalog of works

literature

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ No 2. Syderø Præstegjeld . wiberg-net.dk
  2. ↑ a b Færøernes spiritual stat . wiberg-net.dk (Danish)
  3. ^ Johan Henrik Schröter. denstoredanske.dk (Danish)
  4. ↑ "Opdragen i Thorshavn talte jed i Barndommen tydsk med min Fader, halvdansk med min Moder, skotsk eller engelsk med mine Legebrödre og en Blanding af de färöiske Dialecter med Börn af den sig i Thorshavn fra de forskellige Öer samlede Djupedal." Reidar: Kring JH Schröters omsetjing av Matteus = Evangeliet, 1823 . Fróðskaparrit, 10. bók, 1961. Bls. 243, infomedia.dk
  5. ^ Reidar Djupedal: Kring JH Schröters omsetjing av Matteus = Evangeliet, 1823 . Fróðskaparrit, 10. bók, 1961. Bls. 241, infomedia.dk
  6. ↑ Brinilda Thaattur, 47.  - Internet Archive In: Hans Christian Lyngbye: Færøiske Qvæder om Sigurd Fofnersbane og hans Æt.  - Internet Archive
  7. ↑ Annar táttur: Brinhild. 46. In: Venceslaus Ulricus Hammershaimb: Faeröiske kvaeder , Volume 1
  8. ↑ Brynhildar táttur (anchor Eli Petersen) , heimskringla.no
personal data
SURNAME Schrøter, Johan Henrik
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Faroese pastor and one of the first Faroese literary figures
DATE OF BIRTH February 25, 1771
PLACE OF BIRTH Tórshavn , Faroe Islands
DATE OF DEATH November 14, 1851
Place of death Tórshavn , Faroe Islands