Nikolai Frederik Severin Grundtvig

1783-1872

Born: September 8, 1783, Udby, Zealand, Denmark. Died: September 2, 1872, Copenhagen, Denmark. Buried: September 11, 1872. After a funeral at Vor Frelsers Church in Copenhagen, the coffin was taken by train to the town of Køge. The burial site was about three kilometers outside town, at the farm of Gl. Køgegaard, in a garden named Claras Have.

Grundtvig earned his theology degree from the University of Copenhagen, but was not destined for the life of a pastor. He was ordained in 1811, but the outcry from two early, controversial, sermons caused him to abandon the pulpit in favor of a chaplaincy at a women’s home. However, he wrote profusely, producing works on Norse mythology and over 1,000 hymns. Grundtvig became a bishop in 1861, but never received a diocese.

Hymns:

1. Bright and Glorious Is the Sky
2. Built on the Rock
3. Happy Christmas Comes Once More, The