DANISH LANGUAGE AND LITERATURE. The Danish language, which, with slight modifications, is common to the three Scandinavian kingdoms, is a branch of the ancient Gothic, and has been retained almost in its original form in Iceland. The oldest memo rials of the Danish are codes of laws, as the Skaanske Lox, and the old and new ,C,wellandske Loy. promulgated by Valdemar the great in 1162 and 1171; but these, no less than the writings of Harpestreng, canon of Roeskilde (1244) already show.markcd deviations from the Icelandic, in consequence of the intermixture of the Anglo-Saxon, English, and Norman elements, due to the Danish occupation of England, and the immi gration of monks and artisans into Denmark from Britain. The influence of the Eng lish dialect was again modified towards the close of the 12th c. by the influx of Germans into the country. Saxo Grammaticus, the father of Danish history, who died in 1204, wrote, like almost all his ecclesiastical brethren at that day, in Latin, as did also his con temporary, the knight Svend Aagesen. The Danish Kcemperiser are the richest poetical remains of the folk-lore of the middle ages in Europe, and consist-1. Of narratives and songs of giants, demigods, and other supernatural creatures of the Scandinavian mythol ogy; 2. Of romantic songs and tales connected with these mythical beings; and 3. Of historical verses, referring to a later period. The names of the writers are unknown, and these compositions seem rather to be the expression of the entire people than the production of individual poets. Many have, from time immemorial, been associ ated with certain national melodies, which have secured them a permanent place in the hearts of the people, whose disposition leads them to dwell with fondness on the memory of by-gone times and events, and to seek in the glory of the past a compensation for the national humiliation and reverses of the present. The first printed collection of the Kampeviser is due to the royal historiographer, Vedel, and appeared at Ribe, 1592; another edition (Copenh. 1005) by Peter Syv found its way to almost every peasant's cottage; but the most complete of any is probably that by Nyerup and Rabek, in 5 vols. (Copenh. 1810-14). After the reformation, the national literature was compar atively neglected, for the composition of poor theolorical treatises and bald versions of the Psalms. Among the best of the writers in this department we may instance Christian Pedersen (born 1480), who, after made a metrical version of the ancient national chronicles, devoted himself to the diffusion of the Lutheran faith, and made Danish translations of the New Testament, and the reformer. Hans Taussen (born 1494), who composed catechisms, and translated the Pentateuch into Danish. The Danish language acquired stability and new life by the translation of the whole Bible, which, by order of king Christian III., was effected in 1550 by Palladius and other professors of the university. The close of the 10th c. was memorable for the many admirable writers on history which it produced in Denmark. Among those who 'edited and annotated the ancient Danish and Icelandic historical chronicles, we may mention Peder Claussen, A. S. Veda and Axil llvitfeldt, whose respective works supply invaluable :materials to the historical inquirer. These men were contem poraries of the great astronomer, Tycho Brahe, and, like him, experienced the caprices of court-favor. The 17th c. shows a large number of able writers, among. whom were
Longomontanus, the pupil of Tycho Brahe; the family of Barth°lin, numbering seventeen in three generations, who were all known for the ability of their writings on medical, philosophical, and mathematical subjects in Latin, German, and Danish; the family of the Pontoppidans, eleven in number, all of whom have left memorials of their proficiency in philology and history, and of their acquaintance with the theology and natural history of the times; Arrelme, the father of Danish poetry, who wrote on sacred subjects, and in his principal work, Harameron, described in epic verse the events of the first six days of creation; Steno, the anatomist, and the lyrical poet, T. Bingo. A new era began with the genial and versatile Ludvig Holberg (born 1684), who wrote in Latin, French, German, and Danish, and has left very_numerous works on history, biography, and topography, but whose fume among his countrymen will ever rest on his inimitable comedies, farces, and satirical compositions. His genius and his gave an impetus to the cultivation of the Danish language, which not all the studied neglect of the court-party, and their persistence in the use of German, could check. The 18th c. produced many good historical critics—as, for instance, Torfaals, Langebek, Schoning, and Suhm, Magnteus, the Icelandic scholar, Thorlacius, and Thorkelin, learned in ancient northern lore, and Rosenviuge, the jurist. Among the epic and dramatic poets of that age, Ewald stands foremost, whose national lyrics evince true poetic genius. The close of the century was, however, unfavorable to mental development and freedom of thought; and the best writers, as in the case of Mahe Brunn and the poet Heiberg, were either compelled to leave the country, or to abstain from giving expression to their opinions. Among the snore recent writers, we may instance the poet Oehlenschl5ger whose national tragedies and lyrical legends of Scandinavian mythology have rekindled all the lowg slumbering fire of Danish patriotism—Baggeseu, Whither, Bauch, F. P. 31011er, I-Ieiberg, Hertz, II. C. Andersen, Rosenhoff, }last, and Overskou. Ingemann, who stands first as a writer of historical novels, also wrote good lyrics, and his subjects were generally taken from the national history. Short tales or novelettes would seem, however, to be more congenial to the taste of the Dimes, and most of their best writers of fiction have adopted this form—as, for instance, Blicher, Heiberg, Trane, Andersen, Windier, Carit Etlar, etc. The names of Oersted, Schouw, Forchhammer, Bask, Finn 31agnussen, Worsaa, Grundtvig, Petersen, and Eschricht, sufficiently attest the stand that the physical sciences, philology and archscology, have attained in Denmark in the present day. Thorwaldsen, by the gift of his works to the nation, has created a taste and appreciation for sculpture and the arts generally among his countrymen, to which they were previously strangers, and has thus given a new direction to the mental culture of the Danes.
The Danish language is peculiarly soft, from the great number (ten) of distinct vowel-sounds which it contains, the absence of gutturals, and the softening of all the consonants. It may be said to bear the same relation to the ancient tongue, the Nor rcena or Minsk Tango, that Italian does to Latin, force and precise inflections having been sacrificed for melody and simplicity.