denmark from a literary perspective.
background information on demark:
The demographic of Denmark (as shown in the table below) is mainly spread out. Of course, like other countries in the world, the older ages represent less of the population, but Denmark shows features of a restrictive population pyramid, which is a characteristic of an MDC (more developed country). The population currently sits at 5,732,713 people and is predicted to continue growing. The primary and official language of Denmark is Danish but 86% of Danish people can also speak English as a second language which is mandatory to be learnt by Danish students from first grade in public schools, the next most common languages that can be spoken there include Swedish, German and French.
literary history:
Denmark is not as well known for literature as it is known for butter and Lego but some of its most well-known authors are regarded very highly in the literature world. Some of these authors include:
Søren Kierkegaard — who made great contributions to what we know of philosophy today and his most recent book of “Fear and Trembling” which goes into a deep analysis of human anxiety.
Karen Blixen — who is otherwise known as Isak Dinesen and also the author of the critically acclaimed “Out of Africa” that was adapted into a movie by Sydney Pollack whose story was actually inspired by real life events that happened to Blixen who lived on a coffee plantation in present day Nairobi. The film went on to win 7 Oscars including best picture and gross more than $128 million.

Hans Christian Andersen — who has written countless widely loved classic fairy tales including stories like The ugly duckling, “The little mermaid”, “The little match girl”, “The ugly duckling” (perhaps shockingly, the original version of these stories may not be considered to be child appropriate in this day and age) and also probably the most widely known and critically acclaimed today “Frozen” which was derived from Anderson’s “The snow queen”.

Yes Elsa and Anna of Arendale were characters inspired by those in the story of the snow queen. Elsa, like her corresponding Andersen counterpart, was initially going to be the antagonist in the movie until Disney decided to go against the original and give her character more depth, which worked really well and may have been the decision that made “Frozen” Disney’s most successful animated feature to date. Instead of using the classic “evil magical queen” archetype that is often used in fairy tales and instead created the “queen in distress about her uncontrollable ice powers, forcing her into isolation” archetype. These modern adaptations show how even though Hans only wrote in one small corner of the world and is now dead, how he has lived on through the stories he wrote that are still told in the world today, even 143 years after his death. Hans birthday, the 2nd of April is also internationally recognised as “Children’s book day”.

short story analysis’:
story 1: ‘portrait of Avant Garde’ by Peter Hø eg
The expression of “Avant-Garde” translates in English to ‘new and experimental ideas and methods in art, music or literature’. In this lengthy 15 paged short story, the reader follows a Simon Bering who is a famous Avant-Garde artist, and also a slightly narcissistic man with the ability to sway others with his clever words. He falls in love with his housekeeper Nina and decides the two should go “on a trip befitting two modern individuals” on the same occasion, she tells him that she is pregnant with their child. Three weeks later, the couple set sail for the island of Christiansø, Nina’s birthplace. A “fine black thread” like bridge connects this island to the even smaller island of Frederiksø. On the boat ride there, Nina tells Simon of a story of a man who slept during a battle while a bear took his place, when the man woke up to go fight, the bear disappeared because the bear was the man’s dream. The story stuck with Simon like a prophecy he could not understand. On their second day on the island, Simon found himself feeling alienated while he observed that Nina looked like she had “come home”. On this day, Simon announces to Nina that this were to be their last day on the island and agrees obediently. While in conversation with Nina Simon stares off to see a woman wearing a green dress and has a moment of revelation. He would paint a picture “depicting the history of man” which would hurl the people from this island into the future, a painting “capable of depopulating an island”. Reading his mind, Nina tells him to tell her “when he has had enough”. That night, Simon dreams that there is a bear sitting on his chest and he wakes up with the realisation that the woman sleeping next to him is going to have his child. In fright, Simon gets dressed and leaves where he was sleeping, outside he sees the girl in her green dress on the bridge, getting ready to leave the island. Suddenly infatuated with her, Simon begins to run to the harbour and gets on a boat with an old man in it to Bornholm. At the beginning of their trip, Simon talks about the two types of freedom (to go wherever one pleases and the one where we find ourselves capable of ending a life), until he realises that they are sailing the wrong way to which the the old man replies by telling him that he is deaf. The old man then gives the shocked Simon some life advice, first, that you have to have damned good references to get into heaven, second, that we actually have children to remind us that we will one day die, not to leave our mark on the world and the third, was not advice but a prayer to god. As a reply to this, Simon announced a third type of freedom, in being absolutely free from our conscience, and being able to cope with utter loneliness. So, as the sun rose again, Simon and the old man headed back to Christiansø where once he gets off the boat. Turning around, Simon finds that the man and the boat are no longer there, and he finds his wife still sleeping, he tells her that he has had enough.
Throughout the text, there are references to Simon’s sexism, like in the scene where while they are travelling to Nina’s hometown when Simon says, “It’s the way of the world, women dream and men act” to which she replies, “don’t you dream?” and he says, “even my dreams are actions”. Simon’s sexism towards women is also demonstrated in how he wants to leave Christiansø merely for the reason that he cannot comprehend a woman being more comfortable somewhere than he was. The actual wisdom of women are also demonstrated to the reader by Nina who foresees events that will later be given meaning to like the bear dream story she tells him on their way to Christiansø. Another theme in this short story is the one of dreams and reality, on Nina’s birthplace island, Simon finds it difficult to distinguish between dreams and reality, so much so that 4 pages of the story are committed to a boat ride that was actually made up. Though this boat ride does not amount to nothing as Simon is humbled by it and it helps him to come to terms with the upcoming birth of his child. This aspect of the story may show Hø eg’s contention that dreams, if vivid and meaningful enough, can actually have the power to change reality. The story is actually set in Denmark, and this can be inferred because references to Copenhagen are made. Furthermore, Christiansø, Frederiksø and even the bridge connecting them are real Norway landmarks. The short story may tell us of some of the attitudes that Danish had towards had towards women that Høeg may have wanted to change.
story 2: ‘The little match girl’ by Hans Christian Andersen
‘The little match girl’ by Hans Christian Anderson is a fairy tale type story that tells the story of a girl who wanders the streets of her city on the night of Christmas Eve. It is snowing, and the weather is freezing cold, but she doesn’t dare to go home because she had not sold any matches that day and so instead, she sits down at the corner of a street. To keep herself warm, she lights her matches and she sees astonishing sights before her including those of a great brass stove with a bright fire, a Christmas tree and then a feast with a roasted goose. When she strikes the next match, she sees her old grandmother who had recently passed away and was the only person who had ever truly loved her. The girl cried to her grandmother to take her with her, she thought that her grandmother would surely vanish away after the match burnt out just like the goose and the Christmas tree, so she lit all the remaining matches at once and her grandmother shone “brighter than daylight”. Both of them flew up into the brightness and joy above the Earth. Though in reality, the girl was still in the corner, smiling while she was frozen to death, holding the match of the last candle she had burnt. The spectators the next day said that she had wanted to warm herself, but there is no way they could have imagined the joyous images the girl saw that night.
From this story, the reader can learn a few things about their country, like how the Danish celebrate Christmas, told to the reader through the hallucinations of the girl like the Christmas tree, brass stoves and roasted geese. She dreams of these things because she comes from a disadvantaged familial background and also dies because of her fear to go back to them and be abused. This focus on the lives of the less advantaged Danish people gives the reader an insight into the difficult lives of these people that would have been a story that was less told to the Danish people at that time. The ultimate theme and moral that Anderson was trying to tell his audience was to be more charitable towards these less fortunate people. Norway is currently in a societal situation where the prominence of these people in society is rising, and even though the story was published in 1845, the story is still clearly relevant today and tells the reader about the values of the people in this country that Anderson may have been trying to change.

Disney also made animated a version of Andersen’s story here:
Denmark poetry analysis’
“Where are you now, you roses red?” — Adam Oehlenschläger [translated by John Adams]
original version:
Hvor blev I røde Roser dog
Fra Ungdoms Dage glade?
I min Erindrings Psalmebog
Jeg giemmer Eders Blade
Og skiøndt hvert Blade er gult og graat
Som Farven af de Døde,
Den Sommerdag jeg mindes godt
Da de var purpurrøde
I deres fine Vaev endnu
Jeg kiender hver en Aare
Som før af Morgenduggen, nu
De fugtes af min Taare
translated version:
Where are you now, you roses red
From days of youth so blissful?
I keep your petals long since shed
In recollection’s missal
And though each petal’s dull and grey,
Its shade like those departed,
I still recall the summer day
When crimson they all started
In their silk weave I still can view
Each vein so finely fretted.
Once moistened by the morning dew,
Now by my tears it’s wetted.
interpretation
This poem was written to describe the poet’s longing for the rose that he once saw in the summer. He describes how even though the petals in reality have turned ‘dull and grey’, he can still see how they once were in his own recollections of them. The poem has a strict rhyming structure in each stanza of ABAB which was preserved from the original poem. The syllable structure was also attempted to be preserved from the original poem, in the original the syllable count in the first stanza is 8,6,8,6 while in this translated version, it is 8,7,8,7. The ability to preserve these aspects of the poem along with its meaning shows how thought out the translation would have been and also how it is probably a very accurate rendition of the original. The poem comments on the weather conditions at Denmark but apart from that not much else. The main theme that is present in the poem is that of how beauty tends to fade with time.
“Det gamle Træ, o lad det staa” — Hans Christian Andersen [translated by John Irons]
original version:
Det gamle Træ, o lad det staa
Indtil det døer af Ælde;
Saamange Ting det husker paa.
Hvad kan det ikke melde.
translated version:
That ancient tree, don’t let it fall
Until old age is knelling;
So many things it can recall
What tales it could be telling.
interpretation
This poem, also translated by John Irons, follows the same poetic accuracy as that of the previous one. It keeps the same rhyming scheme of ABAB and also exactly the same syllable count in each line of 8,7,8,7. The poem depicts an old tree that Andersen pleads not to be cut down until its death comes from old age. He believes that trees that live long tell stories of the past and the importance of preserving these stories. From the poem, the reader may be able to conclude the problem in Denmark to do with deforestation, for if it was not a problem, Andersen probably would have felt no need to comment on the issue of preserving tree life. The main theme of this poem is the beauty and importance in the preservation of nature.
“Maynat (May Night)” — Jeppe Aakjær [translated by John Irons]
original version:
Saa ensomt bræger det spæde Lam
paa Bakken langt i det fjærne,
og Frøerne kvækker fra Pyt og Dam,
som sang det fra Stjærne til Stjærne.
translated version:
The lonely young lamb on the hill beyond
can be heard with its plaintive small baa,
and the frogs all croak from puddle and pond,
as if star now were singing to star.
interpretation
Yet again, in translation Iron manages to retain the rhyming scheme (of ABAB) and feel of the original poem by using simple words that get the initial contention of the poem across. This time the translation does not keep the same syllable count but considering Iron’s past translations this was probably a necessary step to take to preserve the original meaning of the poem. After the third poem it can be presumed that Danish people and poets’ favourite type of poetry would come in the form of four-line stanza poetry, formally known as quatrains. This specific poem describes a typical Danish green field in where all the animals exist harmoniously. It confirms the images that may come to people’s minds when “Denmark” are mentioned. The poem does not really have any major underlying themes.
“Blinkende Lygter (flickering lights)” — Tove Ditlevsen [translated by John Irons]
original version:
I Barndommens lange og dunkle Nat
brænder smaa blinkende Lygter
som Spor, af Erindringen efterladt,
mens Hjertet fryser og flugter.
Og en eller anden kommer dig nær,
men kan aldrig helt forstå dig,
for dit liv har du lagt under lygternes skær,
og ingen skal siden nå dig.
translated version:
In childhood’s long night, both dim and dark
there are small twinkling lights that burn bright
like traces memory’s left there as sparks
while the heart freezes so and takes flight.
And someone who draws near to you,
will never really understand you,
because your life lies beneath these glowing lights,
and no one can really ever reach you.
interpretation
The text above was partly translated by John Irons, the part translated by him can probably be identified quite clearly because of the clear effort and skill that has gone into translating the poem to preserve most of its initial meaning. In the first quatrain stanza, syllable count, rhyme scheme and original meaning are attempted to be translated into English while in the second quatrain stanza, only the direct translation of the original meaning is considered (the translator of the second half is not known). The meaning and main theme of this poem is about how someone can never really know you, the content within you that lies “beneath those glowing lights” of your eyes. This poem though is a generalisation and aimed at addressing anyone who reads it so the meaning behind it likely does not have anything to do with originating from Denmark. Not much can be inferred about the Danish people through this poem.
“Møderferat (meeting report)” — Benny Andersen [translated by Michael Goldman]
original version:
Først kom den første
så kom den anden
den tredje lod vente lidt på sig
men nåede frem lige før den sidste
der kom for sent.
Først sagde den første ingenting
fordi han var alene.
Da den anden kom til snakkede de to sammen
om gamle dage og enkelte nye.
De kendte ikke hinanden så grundigt
men nok til
at de nødig ville uddybe bekendtskabet.
Først da den tredje og den sidste dukkede op
kom der rigtig gang i snakken.
Den første og den tredje
som kendte hinanden godt
og gerne ville uddybe bekendtskabet
snakkede længe i munden på hinanden.
Den anden og den sidste
som begge havde set hen til dette møde
snakkede også først i munden på hinanden
men ikke i munden på de andre.
Først holdt den første og den tredje op med deres samtale.
De havde ikke rigtig mere at snakke om
men kom alligevel med små efterskvulp
forsinkede grynt og smil
for det havde været en god samtale
så længe den varede.
Derpå holdt den anden og den sidste op
for de var kommet ind på et emne
som let kunne blive pinligt for den ene
og dermed også for den anden
så de tav taktfuldt
og nikkede bare forstående til hinanden
uden forsåg på at få det sidste nik.
Den anden kom med en kort bemærkning til den tredje
der høfligt svarede:
Det er muligt De har ret.
Mere kom der ikke ud af det
men det blev liggende i luften
at han lige så vel kunne have uret
det måtte vare vente til næste møde.
Endelig sagde den sidste
at han desværre måtte gå
og de andre blev belejligt enige om
at det var på tide at hæve mødet
og aftale et nyt.
De var alle enige om
at der var ting de var gået lovlig let henover
og som afgjort måtte tages op næste gang.
Først gik den sidste
derpå den tredje
og kort efter den anden.
Den første blev lidt endnu
for det var hans tur til at betale regningen
på det de havde drukket og spist under mødet.
Det gik på omgang.
Tilsidt gik den første.
translated version:
The first one came first
then the second one came
the third one let them wait for him a bit
but he got there just before the last one
who came late.
At first the first one said nothing
because he was alone.
When the second one arrived the two chatted together
about old days and a few new ones.
They didn’t know one another all that well
but enough
that they didn’t want to deepen their acquaintance.
It wasn’t until the third one showed up
that the conversation really got going.
The first one and the third one
who knew each other well
both talked at once for a long time.
The second one and the last one
who both had been looking forward to this meeting
also both talked at once
but not with the other two.
First the first one and the third one stopped their conversation.
They really didn’t have anything else to talk about
but each made a few small last slurps
grunts and smiles
because it had been a good conversation
as long as it lasted.
At that point the second and the last one stopped talking
because they had touched on a subject
that could be embarrassing for the one
and thereby also for the other one
so they tactfully kept quiet
and just nodded knowingly to one another
without trying to get in the last nod.
The second one made a little remark to the third one
who answered politely:
Yes, you may be right.
That’s as far as they got
but it was left hanging
that he may just as well have been wrong
it would have to wait until the next meeting.
Finally, the last one said
that unfortunately he had to go
and the others conveniently agreed
that it was time to end the meeting
and schedule a new one.
They all agreed
that there were things they had glossed over
and that obviously would have to be taken up next time.
First the last one left
then the third one
and shortly after, the second one.
The first one stayed a little longer
because it was his turn to pay the bill
for what they had drunk and eaten during the meeting.
They took turns.
Finally the first one left.
interpretation
This poem is very different to the other four poems, besides from the fact that they are all from the same country this poem is almost not alike in any other way. The other ones are short, this one is long, the other ones have identifiable structures, this one does not and the others rely on interesting imagery and themes for interest while this one draws upon on the relatable and slight story line. It fits into the poetry style of “free verse” and has phrases with identifiable techniques like enjambment in where no punctuation is used and the reader is supposed to read the phrase accordingly, an example of enjambment can be seen in the part that goes like:
At that point the second and the last one stopped talking
because they had touched on a subject
that could be embarrassing for the one
and thereby also for the other one
so they tactfully kept quiet
and just nodded knowingly to one another
without trying to get in the last nod.
This was probably done to emphasise the rapidity and awkwardness of the situation that the poet is describing. The main theme in the poem would be in highlighting the structural generality in most social interactions like ones where old friends meet with each other in the poem, people can easily be replaced with labels based on the order in which they arrive and conversations can begin to look very similar when dialogue is generalised. This poem may be telling the reader about how the Danish people interact with each other during social gatherings and about social etiquette in the country about what is okay and not okay to ask other people in casual conversation.
conclusion:
Denmark used to be, prior to this project, a very alluring and mysterious country to me. I knew nothing about its culture and couldn’t even place it on the world map (I can proudly claim to be able to do this now, spoiler: it’s the small country above Germany). Though after doing this project I have learnt more about the country’s literacy than just Hans Christian Anderson facts (who is the reason for why I chose to analyse this country). The impact that such a small country like itself could have on the world is phenomenal and personally found my expectations of the country to be greatly exceeded after researching its achievements. Even when separated by the barrier of language, Denmark manages to make its imprint in the lives of people who live outside of the countries physical borders. Some of these impacts include: inspiring several award winning and critically acclaimed movies, having beautiful poems whose rhyme schemes sweep the reader away, writing short stories that withstand the cruelty of time, having “world literacy day” in memory of one of the best writers from that country and many other. From my research of it, I have learnt that Denmark is more than just Lego and rolling green plains of grass. Much much more.

Bibliography (other sources are directly hyperlinked to the article):
populationpyramid.net (2017) population pyramid of Denmark 2017 [online] [Accessed 27 August 2018] available at:
wikipedia.com languages of Denmark [online] (updated 28 July 2018) [Accessed 27 August 2018] available at:
molybdenum2011 Worldlit1 Story Portrait of the Avant-Gade by Peter Hoeg [Accessed 23 August] available at:
Nye, D. (2011) 100 Danish Poems, From the Medieval Period to the Present Day — Bilingual edition [online] (Updated 28th October 2011) [Accessed 30th August 2018] available at:
Mliefting (2016) Flickering Lights [online] (Updated 9 October 2016) [Accessed 30th August 2018] available at:
Oxford dictionaries (2014) The Legacy of Hans Christian Anderson [online] (Updated April 2nd 2014) [Accessed 6th September] available at:
