Stjernernes Morgensang. Om N.F.S. Grundtvigs historiske salme: Hyrderne ved Bethlehem

Resumé

The Morning Song of the Stars

By Sune Auken

In 1846 Grundtvig wrote the historical hymn The Shepherds by Bethlehem (Hyrderne ved Betlehem), which describes the shepherds talking together during the night before the birth of Christ, followed by the song of the Angels. His friend, P.A. Fenger made a new version of it, removing the discussion among the shepherds (the first 12 stanzas), while keeping the song of the Angels (the last 5 stanzas). This version, Friends! God's Angel Gently Spoke (Venner! sagde Guds engel blidt) became the commonly known form of the hymn.

Though Fenger’s edition is judged to be well carried out and absolutely necessary, the article argues that the two parts of the poem are intimately connected and that important points were thus lost in Fenger’s version.

The shepherds discuss the present situation as compared to the past, and a young (unnamed) shepherd argues with great sorrow and almost anger that the present is horrible compared to the time of King David (as they are close to King David’s city, it is natural for them to draw him into their discussion). He has seen a young couple (who the reader perceives to be Joseph and Mary) in Bethlehem, and he thinks that their plight finally proves his point: Joseph, the descendant of King David, has come to Bethlehem by order of a heathen King far, far away, and there is not even a place where the pregnant wife can give birth to her child. Against this, an old shepherd called Jonathan argues, with a reference to God’s speech in the Book of Job, that the young shepherd does not possess the knowledge to judge: he did not hear the morning song of the stars at the Creation. Jonathan trusts the the prophecies in the Scriptures, and he argues that God is able to pronounce his ≫Let there be light≪ to the world as a ≫Let there be light again.≪

As soon as Jonathan has finished his speech, the whole issue is settled by the appearance of the Angels. They tell them about the new-born Christ, and sing a song for them which sounds like the song of the stars, thus proving Jonathan right: God has repeated the creation, and a new light is born into the world.