The Source for “Hail, Savior and Redeemer!”

Abstract

Grundtvig’s hymn “Hail, Savior and Redeemer!” appeared in Sang-Værk til den Danske Kirke in 1837. According to most research on Grundtvig, the source for the hymn is “Salve mundi salutare” by the Cistercian abbot Arnulf of Louvain (d. 1250) in an abridged version from 1817 by the German hymnologist August Jacob Rambach (1693-1735). This article affirms what several researchers have previously pointed out: that other works were interwoven in Grundtvig’s rewriting, but here it is suggested that these other works were used in a different way than has previously suggested. The article begins with a chronological account of previous research on the source material. The article then engages points in previous
research through a comparative analysis of Grundtvig’s 1837 edition and Rambach’s edition of “Salve mundi salutare” (published in 1817) as well as other possible sources.