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Old 02-07-2009, 03:58 PM   #247
skip spence
shadow of a doubt
 
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Join Date: Jan 2008
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Rune Son of Bjarne View Post
The funny thing is that this song was not written about Sweden at all, it was part of Scandinaviasm/Nordism and is about the lovelieness of the north. Only latter was verse added that mention Sweden as such.

Norways national antheme also talk about "Three Brothers" (Denmark, Norway, Sweden), but neither the danish royal antheme or the danish national antheme mentions the other countries.
I believe it was written in the mid 19th century to help strengthen the then quite recent (forced) union between the kingdom of Sweden and Norway. Sweden probably harboured hopes of regaining Finland too at this time, which they just lost to Russia, but before that had been a part of the kingdom for many centuries. Sweden had wrestled Norway from Denmark, their arch-enemies, after a successful field-campain by the newly appointed king, Frenchman Jean Baptiste Bernadotte, who had no Swedish connections apart from leading an invading army against the country only a few years before receiving the crown. This happened in the aftermath of Napoleon's big defeat, which Bernadotte, once favoured by the little big man, was instrumental in achieving with his inside information. In Norway however there was little interest in being the subjects of a French Swedish king; nationalism was stirring and they desired independence but had to wait almost a hundred years to get it. "Du gamla, Du Fria", written as a Scandinavian anthem, later became the unofficial Swedish national anthem, although it never mentions the country in question.

I assign nationalism.
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Last edited by skip spence; 02-07-2009 at 04:20 PM.
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