Magnus Brostrup Landstad

Magnus Brostrup Landstad

Magnus Brostrup Landstad , also Magnus Landstad, (born October 7, 1802 in Måsøy , Finnmark , † October 8, 1880 in Christiania ) was a Norwegian Lutheran pastor, author of hymns, publisher of church hymn books and collector of folk songs.

He collected folk songs and wrote numerous hymns himself. He edited two books that were central to the 19th century: Norske Folkeviser (1853) and Kirkesalmebog (authorized 1869). The hymn book was in use for over 100 years and appeared in many editions. Both books had a great impact in Norwegian literature and cultural life.

Life

His parents were the pastor Hans Landstad (1771–1838) and his wife Margrete Elisabeth Schnitler (1768–1850).

Landstad's grave

Landstad was taught first by his mother, then by the Haugian Nils Sveinungsson, then by his father. In 1822 he passed the Examen artium at the University of Christiania and studied theology. In 1827 he passed the theological exam and became a resident chaplain in Gausdal . On May 6, 1829, he married Wilhelmine ("Mina") Margrethe Marie Lassen (July 27, 1808– February 20, 1892), daughter of the provost Albert Lassen (1781–1835) and his wife Dorthea Andrea Lange (1789–1867). In 1834 he became a pastor in Kviteseid in Telemark . When his father died in 1838, he was given his last pastor in Seljord in 1839 . He stayed there for a decade and created his most important work, the collection of folk poetry, especially ballads . He also began to write hymns on his own. In 1849 he became pastor in Fredrikshald . In 1859 he took over the pastor's position in Sandeherred in Vestfold.

In later years his health was compromised, and after suffering a stroke in 1876, he left the parish and moved to Christiania, where he died in 1880. He is buried in Vår Frelsers gravlund.

Works

Folk poetry and tradition

The linguist Ivar Aasen and the historian PA Munch were important companions of his project to save folk poetry from ruin (the preface says that he wanted to save the family items from a burning house) . His work competed with a project to collect folk tales, behind which Jørgen Moe and the printer Peter Tidemand Malling stood. These tried to prevent him from doing his work. In writing Landstad initially thought of following the contemporary pronunciation. But then, on Munch's advice, he chose a solemn antiquing language with many echoes of old Norwegian. In the 1940s, he completed a first draft in which he used the dialect of West Telemark. It was published in 1925. The most famous ballad is Draumkvedet , a medieval account of a near-death experience.

Landstad's collection is not a scientific work, which is why it has also been criticized. Most of the original texts he used were later discovered. His work is a fruit of the national romanticism of the 19th century and served nation building in Norway . The book was supposed to fulfill several tasks: it was supposed to preserve the literary heritage, through its linguistic form it was supposed to form a line of tradition to the early Norwegian language of the saga times and finally to promote the Norwegian sense of community.

The work has around 900 pages and around 100 medieval poems (ballads). There were also occasional poems, quatrains, counting rhymes and nursery rhymes. Olea Crøger also gave some notes for this . The book became a treasure trove for Norwegian authors and had an inspiring effect in both substance and style. But Landstad not only collected folk poetry, but also handed down folk traditions. The collection of Old Stories about the Residents of Hjartdal was published the year he died. But the family stories and the stories of Telemark, the mythical stories of Telemark, weren't published until the 1920s. In 1879 he also published a number of his own poems.

Hymns

In 1848 he was first asked to write a hymn book. He declined because of overwork. A hymn book by Pastor Wilhelm Andreas Wexel appeared. Landstad wrote a devastating criticism in 1852: Wexel's hymn book was "linguistically unnational", the style "unpoetic" and the whole keynote was "too Grundtvigian for the Norwegian Church ". The church department asked him again if he could create a hymn book, and he said yes. In 1861 a draft of the hymn book was available. The criticism of it criticized the many vernacular words that he had used. Landstad fiercely opposed this with the support of Ivar Aasen. Still, he had to make a number of changes. Because he also had another competitor in the pastor Andreas Hauge, the son of Hans Nielsen Hauge , whose hymnbook was supported by conservative laypeople. But in 1869 his hymnbook was released for church use in Norway, replacing the previous Danish hymnbook of Lutheran orthoxy and rationalism. It caught on and was even given to the Norwegian Church in America. In 1924 a version revised by Gustav Jensen appeared, at the same time a further competition in the form of a hymn book in Nynorsk. But it remained dominant until the new Norwegian hymn book from 1985.

Landstad's hymn book had many songs by Norwegian poets but was far from breaking with Danish and German tradition. 300 Danish and 200 German songs are included in the Norwegian new poetry.

Honor

Magnus Landstad became a Knight of St. Olav in 1870 .

Catalog raisonné

• Dagbok 1825-1829 . 1950
• Jens Matthias Pram Kaurin - biskop in Bergen . 1944
• Fridtjof og Ingeborg (lyric drama) . 1917
• Snefrid - et scenisk dict om gammel elskov og om ung . 1915
• Harald Haarfager (dramatisk festdikt) . 1914
• Norges skumring - et digt i and mod tiden . 1907
• "Soldaterliv" (skisser from Gardermoen) . 1905
• Paa Feltmanøver or 47 paa Krigsstien . 1905
• Tolv legend . 1898
• En salig hjemgang . 1887
• Kristendommens forhold til politics . 1884
• Gamle Sagn om Hjartdølerne . 1880
• Oplysning om de Salmers Oprindelse and Forfattere . 1871
• Kirkesalmebog . 1870
• Kirkesalmebog, efter public Foranstaltning . 1869
• Salmer og Sange (to Brug ved Missions-Møder and Mission-Festivities) . 1863
• Om Salmebogen (en Redegjørelse) . 1862
• Kirke-Salmebog - et Udkast . 1861
• Velkomsthilsen til de Fremdmede Sangere . 1856
• Jule-Salmer . 1856
• Norske folkeviser . 1853
• Neslands kirke - et digt . 1852
• Hjertesuk til hver Dag i Ugen, Morgen og Aften . 1846

Remarks

1. ↑ University entrance examination, corresponds to today's Abitur.
2. ↑ Permanent chaplain in contrast to the traveling chaplains.
3. ↑ OA Överland: Landstad, Magnus Bostrup . In: Theodor Westrin (Ed.): Nordisk familjebok konversationslexikon och realencyklopedi . 2nd Edition. tape 15 : Kromat – Ledvätska . Nordisk familjeboks förlag, Stockholm 1911, Sp. 1054 (Swedish, runeberg.org ).

literature

The article is essentially based on Olav Solberg's article Magnus Landstad in Norsk biografisk leksikon .