Danish folklore consists of folk tales , legends , songs, music, dancing , popular beliefs , myths and traditions communicated by the inhabitants of towns and villages across the country, often passed on from generation to generation by word of mouth . As in neighbouring countries, interest in folklore grew with an emerging feeling of national consciousness in 19th century Denmark. Researchers travelled across the country collecting innumerable folktales, songs and sayings while observing traditional dress in the various regions. Folklore today is part of the national heritage, represented in particular by national and local traditions, songs, folk dances and literature.
36-488: In Danish folklore , a helhest ( Danish " Hel horse ") is a three-legged horse associated with Hel. Various Danish phrases are recorded that refer to the horse. The Helhest is associated with death and illness, and it is mentioned in folklore as having been spotted in various locations in Denmark. The horse figures into a number of Danish phrases as recent as the 19th century, such as " han går som en helhest " ("he walks like
72-500: A hel-horse" ) for a male who "blunders in noisily". The helhest is sometimes described as going "around the churchyard on his three legs, he fetches Death", and from Schleswig , a phrase is recorded that, in time of plague, "die (corrected by Grimm from der ) Hel rides about on a three-legged horse, destroying men". 19th century scholar Benjamin Thorpe connects the Danish phrase "he gave death
108-565: A common ethnicity . This applied to Denmark after the Napoleonic Wars and the loss of Norway in 1814 and above all after the loss of Schleswig to Germany in 1864. A new awareness of common origins was born, encouraging researchers to investigate the everyday lives of countryfolk, at a time when folktales, poetry, songs and beliefs were beginning to disappear. By documenting folk culture , these intellectuals believed they had safeguarded an asset which had been passed on by oral tradition since
144-408: A few exceptions including Bornholm , Amager and Fanø which maintained their own traditions. As the town musicians disliked traditional instruments such as drums , bagpipes and hurdy-gurdies , the fiddle was increasingly used for dance music. By the second half of the 17th century, pair dances from Poland were introduced, especially the pols , a variant of the polska , soon to be followed by
180-569: A pack of oats" when an individual survives a near-fatal disease to notions of the Helhest, considering the oats either an offering or a bribe. According to folklore, the Aarhus Cathedral yard at times features the Hel-horse . A tale recorded in the 19th century details that, looking through his window at the cathedral one evening, a man yelled "What horse is outside?" A man sitting beside him said "It
216-532: A soldier in the First Schleswig War , took an interest in sketching people in local costumes in various parts of the country. He completed his collection of 31 coloured sketches in 1864, publishing them as coloured lithographs in Danske Nationaldragter (Danish National Costumes). In 1817, the art historian and writer Just Mathias Thiele began to undertake cataloguing work on a voluntary basis at
252-407: Is Northern Europe's largest aquarium. Various communities are located on Amager, including Islands Brygge , and the towns of Dragør , Kastrup , and Tårnby . Amager is connected by tunnel to the artificial island Peberholm from which Øresund Bridge connects Denmark to Sweden . The construction of the bridge has had a significant impact on the physical geography of the island, largely due to
288-420: Is a 223 hectare nature reserve in north-west Amager. The former military area is home to a diverse range of flora and fauna; including forests, fields, and Highland cattle . The King's Grove (Danish: Kongelunden) is a large oak forest located on the southern side of Amager. It's popular for cycling, bird watching, and horseback riding. The National Aquarium Denmark is situated in the east of Amager and
324-409: Is cultivated land of high quality. Amager has in the past been referred to as the "kitchen of Copenhagen". At the border of the enlargement there is an old beech forest, Kongelunden (The King's Grove). Amager has long been populated, and well used, thanks to its rich soil and proximity to Copenhagen. In 1521, Christian II invited some Dutch farmers to move to Amager and grow vegetables to supply
360-459: Is located on the island, around 7 km (4 mi) from Copenhagen city centre . Amager is the largest island in the Øresund, and the only one with a large population. As of 2021 , 212,661 people lived on the island, including its northern tip, Christianshavn . The northern part is included in the Copenhagen municipality. The middle part comprises Tårnby municipality, and Dragør municipality
396-399: Is located on the southeast part of the island. Most of the western part of the island today comprises land that was claimed from the sea from the 1930s to the 1950s. This enlargement, from the shallow sound towards Zealand , is known as Kalveboderne . The enlargement has never been built-up and its soil is unsuitable for agricultural use. However, the area between Dragør town and the airport
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#1733084944659432-523: Is perhaps the Hel-horse." "Then I will see it!" exclaimed the man, and upon looking out the window he grew deathly pale, but would not detail afterward what he had seen. Soon thereafter he grew sick and died. At the Roskilde Cathedral , people in former times would spit on a narrow stone where a Helhest was said to be buried. Legend dictates that "in every churchyard in former days, before any human body
468-468: The German Romanticism movement was based on the belief that there was a relationship between language, religion, traditions, songs and stories and those who practiced them. Common roots encouraged a country's inhabitants to share the concept of a modern nation. The approach spread to smaller, oppressed countries whose politicians and intellectuals worked towards developing the population's awareness of
504-557: The Middle Ages or even earlier. Today it is recognized that only a fraction of the sources can be traced back further than the Renaissance . Furthermore, traditions changed with time while new trends were born. The research and archives compiled in the 19th century by Svend Grundtvig , Henning Frederik Feilberg and Evald Tang Kristensen have nevertheless contributed to a better appreciation and understanding of Danish folklore. Over
540-595: The Royal Library in Copenhagen where he compiled a short work titled Prøver af danske Folkesagn (Samples of Danish Folktales). This was to lead to far more significant research, inspired partly by the fairy tale collections of the Brothers Grimm and partly by Denmark's growing interest in Romanticism. He travelled around the country, recording and writing up legends, attracting the support of influential figures such as
576-402: The minuet . Dances which became popular in the 19th century included the waltz and Danish variants of contra and square dances such as the hopsa , rheinlænder , galop , sveitrit and schottish . Those taking part in the festivities wore their best Sunday costumes, which differed somewhat from region to region but were invariably made at home from flax, wool or linen. In the middle of
612-531: The 19th century, both the traditional costumes and the dances began to die out. But by the beginning of the 20th century, when there was renewed interest in the national heritage, a number of groups began to revive the music, the dances and the costumes. In 1901, the Society for the Promotion of Danish Folk Dancing ( Foreningen til Folkedansens Fremme ) was founded in Copenhagen, leading to local dancing societies throughout
648-492: The Danish Court and Copenhagen. These farmers enjoyed certain privileges such as their own government and institutions, as well as their own schools and priests. Due to this and a ban on mixed marriages, they maintained their own language, Amager Dutch, which remained spoken until 1858. This dialect's spelling and vocabulary was influenced by Danish, and it had heavier phonological and grammatical influence from Low German , due to
684-458: The English brownies and hobs . Just Mathias Thiele collected legends about the nisse in his Danske Folkesagn (Danish Folktales) (1819–1823), which encouraged artists such as Johan Thomas Lundbye to depict the julenisse (Christmas nisse) later in the 19th century. Dressed in grey with a pointed red cap, he was no taller than a 10-year-old boy. Traditionally each farm had its own nisse living on
720-476: The body was covered by a fabric jacket or blouse, A close-fitting bodice fastened by hooks or laced at the front was worn in some regions. Skirts, jackets and bodices were edged and decorated with flat or patterned silk tape while light scarves were worn around the neck to cover the shoulders and throat. Like the women, men's clothing was made mainly of flax and wool but their knee-breeches were often of leather. Long home-knitted white wollen stockings reached above
756-513: The centuries, dancing has formed a key part of celebrations in Denmark. Festive gatherings often took place in farmhouses where chain dances or rotational sequences provided opportunities for everyone to join in even if the room was packed. In the 17th and 18th centuries, music in Denmark could only be performed in most areas by officially appointed town musicians ( stadsmusikanter ) who played together with their apprentices at family gatherings, local festivities and even in churches. There were however
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#1733084944659792-433: The country. Today there are some over 12,000 folk dancers belonging to 219 local clubs which provide courses in music, dancing and dressmaking. The traditional costumes of Denmark, though varying from region to region, date back roughly to the period between 1750 and 1900 when clothes were often home-made from yarn spun from wool or flax. In rural communities, the fabrication of garments for both family members and servants
828-438: The form of a bonnet or a scarf. The headpiece often consisted of a bonnet, a piece of linen underneath and a scarf to hold it in place, either in broad lace or in embroidered tulle . On the island of Zealand , there was a tradition for trailing bonnets embroidered with gold and silver thread. Skirts or petticoats were long, worn by the layer and invariably covered by an apron of fine silk or embroidered mull . The upper part of
864-519: The importance of Low German in trade in the Baltic Sea and the influence of Low German-speaking Lutheran clergy. It was only in the late 19th century that Copenhagen began to expand onto the island (Sundbyerne), and in 1902 these built-up areas were incorporated into Copenhagen. During the Second World War, high unemployment in Copenhagen led authorities to drain a large part of the sea, west of
900-446: The island's total area of 96 km . The Danish capital, Copenhagen Municipality , is partly situated on Amager, covering the northern part of the island, which is connected to the much larger island of Zealand by eight bridges and a metro tunnel. Amager also has a connection across the Øresund to Sweden, the Øresund Bridge . Its western part begins with a tunnel from Amager to another Danish island, Peberholm . Copenhagen Airport
936-402: The island, and build a dam to hold out the water, effectively adding one half of Amager's previous area to the island. The claimed area is currently known as Kalvebod Fælled , and was originally a military area, but today it is part of a major construction area called the Ørestad , being thought of as an extension to central Copenhagen . The area houses major facilities such as: This project
972-402: The knee. In addition to long shirts, men wore several jerseys and jackets. The well-off displayed buttons made of silver although usually they were of tin or even horn. Men and women both generally wore clogs while men often had long, leather top-boots and both men and women wore leather dress shoes with a buckle in front. The artist Frederik Christian Lund , who had travelled across Denmark as
1008-507: The last 40 years have played there, both those of international origin ( Prince , Alien Ant Farm , P.O.D , Aimee Mann , Uriah Heep , King Crimson , Cradle of Filth , John Mayall and the Bluesbreakers , Jethro Tull , The Moody Blues , MGMT , Nas , Andrew Bird ) and from Denmark ( D.A.D , Dodo and the Dodos , Johnny Deluxe , Big Fat Snake ). Amager Common ( Danish : Amager Fælled )
1044-556: The literary historian Rasmus Nyerup, who wrote a foreword emphasizing the multifaceted significance of the enterprise. His four-volume collection of Danish Folktales ( Danske Folkesagn ) was published between 1819 and 1823. The manner in which he presented the stories, recording the narratives given by the local people he met, served as an example and working method for subsequent work by Svend Grundtvig , Evald Tang Kristensen , Axel Olrik and Hans Ellekilde who further documented legends and folk tales across Denmark. As Nyreup had foreseen,
1080-592: The loft or in a stable. The creatures would be helpful if treated properly, for instance by giving them a bowl of porridge with a clump of butter at night, but, failing such treatment, they could also be troublesome. Amager Amager ( Danish pronunciation: [ˈɑˌmɑˀ] or, especially among older speakers, [ˈɑˌmɛˀɐ] ), located in the Øresund , is Denmark 's most densely populated island, with more than 216,000 inhabitants (January 2022). The protected natural area of Naturpark Amager (including Kalvebod Fælled ) makes up more than one-third of
1116-502: The regional literature movement that dominated elite literary circles later in the 19th century. Numerous Danish folktales contain mythical figures such as trolls , elves , goblins , and wights as well as figures from Norse mythology . The nisse is a particularly well-known legendary figure in Danish folklore, apparently dating back to pre-Christian times when it was believed there were household gods. Other Scandinavian countries also have similar figures and there are similarities to
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1152-484: The work had an added dimension: "Providing material for poets and themes for further development." His collection did indeed have a profound influence on the Danish Golden Age , providing inspiration for Hans Christian Andersen 's fairytales, Steen Steensen Blicher 's short stories, Johan Ludvig Heiberg 's plays and Christian Winther 's poetry. Indeed, it laid the foundations for Denmark's Modern Breakthrough and
1188-427: Was an important part of everyday life. They were usually made of woolen fabric, woven by the women themselves or by a professional weaver. Many of the patterns, based on a limited range of colours from vegetable dyes, were common to almost all parts of the country. Variations in costume between the regions can best be seen in women's best Sunday attire, especially in the arrangement of the ever present headdress, either in
1224-423: Was buried in it, a living horse was interred. This horse re-appears and is known by the name of 'Hel-horse.'" 19th century scholar Jacob Grimm theorizes that, prior to Christianization , the helhest was originally the steed of the goddess Hel . Danish folklore As in the rest of Europe, interest in Danish folklore was a result of national and international trends in the early 19th century. In particular,
1260-402: Was initiated by the Danish government. The beach area to the east of the island, known as Amager Strandpark (Amager Beach Park), which had fallen into disrepair since its inception in the 1930s, was extensively redeveloped between May 2004 and August 2005. A 2-km-long artificial island was constructed just off the mainland, from which it is separated by a small lagoon. Until the 1970s, Amager
1296-487: Was used as a place to dump latrine waste; this led to a slang term for the island 'Lorteøen' (Shit Island). See Renholdningsselskabet af 1898 . Large parts of Kalvebod Fælled are rich in nature and have many grazing cows and horses. This area allows the citizens of Copenhagen to experience nature, without travelling far from the city. Amager is also home to the Amager Bio, a cinema, concert and cultural venue. Top bands from
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