Ja, vi elsker dette landet

"" (; ) is the national anthem of Norway. Originally a patriotic song, it became commonly regarded as the de facto national anthem of Norway in the early 20th century after being used alongside "" since the 1860s. It was officially adopted in 2019.

The lyrics were written by Bjørnstjerne Bjørnson between 1859 and 1868, and the melody was written by his cousin Rikard Nordraak sometime during the winter of 1863 to 1864. It was first performed publicly on 17 May 1864 in connection with the 50th anniversary of the constitution. Usually, only the first and the last two verses are sung, with the first being by far the most common.

History

Until the mid-1860s, the songs "Sønner av Norge" and "Norges Skaal" were commonly regarded as the Norwegian national anthems, with "Sønner av Norge" being most recognised. "Ja, vi elsker dette landet" gradually came to be recognised as a national anthem from the mid-1860s. Until the early 20th century, however, both "Sønner av Norge" and "Ja, vi elsker" were used, with "Sønner av Norge" preferred in official situations. In 2011, the song "Mitt lille land" featured prominently in the memorial ceremonies following the 2011 Norway attacks and was described by the media as "a new national anthem". On Norwegian Constitution Day in 2012, NRK opened its broadcast with "Mitt lille land".

Background

Norway did not have an official national anthem until 11 December 2019, but over the last 200 years, several songs have been commonly regarded as de facto national anthems. At times, multiple songs have enjoyed this status simultaneously. "Ja, vi elsker dette landet" is now most often recognised as the anthem, but until the early 20th century, "Sønner av Norge" occupied this position.

In the early 19th century, the song "Norges Skaal" was regarded by many as a de facto national anthem. From 1820, the song "Norsk Nationalsang" () became the most recognised national anthem. It came to be known as "Sønner av Norge" (originally "Sønner af Norge") after its first stanza. "Sønner av Norge" was written by Henrik Anker Bjerregaard (1792–1842) and the melody by Christian Blom (1782–1861) after the Royal Norwegian Society for Development had announced a competition to write a national anthem for Norway in 1819. "Norsk Nationalsang" ("Sønner af Norge") was announced as the winner. (also called "Nordmandssang") by Ole Vig has also been used as a national anthem. Henrik Wergeland also wrote an anthem originally titled "Smaagutternes Nationalsang" () and commonly known as "Vi ere en Nation, vi med".

"Ja, vi elsker dette landet" was written by Bjørnstjerne Bjørnson and composed by Rikard Nordraak between 1859 and 1868, and gradually came to replace "Sønner av Norge" as the most recognised national anthem. Until the early 20th century, "Sønner av Norge" and "Ja, vi elsker dette landet" were used alongside each other, but "Sønner av Norge" was preferred in official settings. Since 2011, the anthem "Mitt lille land" by Ole Paus has also been called a "new national anthem" and notably featured in the memorial ceremonies following the 2011 Norway attacks. On Norwegian Constitution Day in 2012, the NRK broadcast opened with "Mitt lille land."

In addition, Norway has an unofficial royal anthem, "Kongesangen", based on "God Save the King" and written in its modern form by Gustav Jensen. The psalm "Gud signe vårt dyre fedreland", written by Elias Blix and with a melody by Christoph Ernst Friedrich Weyse, is often called Norway's "national psalm".

Lyrics

Bjørnson wrote in a modified version of the Danish language used in Norway at the time. Written Bokmål has since been altered in a series of orthographic reforms intended to distinguish it from Danish and bring it closer to spoken Norwegian. The text below, commonly used today, is identical to Bjørnson's original in using the same words but with modernised spelling and punctuation. The most sung verses—1, 7 and 8 (which are highlighted and in bold)—have been modernised most and have several variations in existence. For example, Bjørnson originally wrote "drømme på vor jord", which some sources today write as "drømme på vår jord", while others write "drømmer på vår jord".

In each verse, the last two lines are sung twice, and one or two words are repeated an extra time when the lines are sung the second time (for example, "senker" in the first verse). These words are written in italics in the Norwegian lyrics below. The first verse is written down in full as an example.

!Literal translation

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!Norwegian original

!IPA transcription

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