# Du gamla, du fria

Music of Sweden :
Genres :
Dansband
Death metal
Epadunk
Folk
Hip hop
Jazz
Könsrock
Pop
Progg
Punk
Rock
Skweee
Vispop :
Specific forms :
Sámi music :
Media and performance :
Nationalistic and patriotic songs :
vte :
Du gamla, du fria ('Thou Olden, Thou Free'), from its first verse, originally titled Sång till Norden ('Song to the North'), is the de facto national anthem of Sweden. Its music is based on a Swedish folk tune with lyrics written by Swedish antiquarian Richard Dybeck in 1844.
The song is notable for neither mentioning nor referring to Sweden specifically at all, or even a nation; making the Polish national anthem the only national anthem to mention Sweden.

## De facto national anthem

Although the Swedish constitution makes no mention of a national anthem, "Du gamla, du fria" enjoys universal recognition and is used, for example, at government ceremonies as well as sporting events. It first began to win recognition as a song in the 1890s, and the issue of its status was debated back and forth up until the 1930s. In 1938, the Swedish public service radio company Sveriges Radio started playing it in the evenings at the end of transmission, which marked the beginning of the de facto status as national anthem the song has had since.
Despite the belief that it was adopted as the national anthem in 1866, no such recognition has ever been officially accorded. A kind of official recognition came in 1893, when King Oscar II rose in honor when the song was played. In 2000, a Riksdag committee rejected a proposal to give the song official status as "unnecessary". The committee concluded that the song has been established as the national anthem by the people, not by the political system, and that it is preferable to keep it that way.

## History

The original lyrics were written by Richard Dybeck in 1844, to the melody of a variant of the ballad "Kärestans död" (lit. 'Loved One's Death'). The ballad type is classified as D 280 in The Types of the Scandinavian Medieval Ballad; the variant from Västmanland that Dybeck reproduced is classified as SMB 133 G. It was recorded by Rosa Wretman at the beginning of the 1840s. Dybeck published the traditional text in Folk-lore I, and the melody in 1845 in his Runa, where he also published his new text "Sång till Norden" (Song for/to the North).
Dybeck himself originally wrote the beginning as "Du gamla, du friska" (lit. 'Thou Olden, Thou Healthy'), but in the late 1850s, he changed the lyrics to "Du gamla, du fria". The song was already published in several song books and sung with "Du gamla, du friska", but a priest who had known Dybeck took the opportunity to inform the singer most associated with the song, opera singer Carl Fredrik Lundqvist [sv], about the change in the year 1900. From that point on, printings of the "friska" version ceased to be seen in song books, but a recording from 1905 where it is sung with "friska" still exists. The Swedish composer Edvin Kallstenius made an orchestral arrangement of the song in 1933.
By the early 20th century, many regarded the song unsuitable as a national anthem. From the 1890s, it was included in the "patriotic songs" section of song books, but up to the 1920s it was occasionally published just as "folk music". In 1899, a contest to produce a national anthem was held. It led to Verner von Heidenstam writing "Sverige", but did not lead to a new national anthem.
Patriotic sentiment is notably absent from the text of the original two verses, due to their being written in the spirit of Scandinavism popular at the time. After the song started to acquire its informal status as the national anthem, various people wrote additional verses to increase the "Swedish-ness" of the song. The aforementioned Lundqvist wrote his own third verse beginning with "Jag älskar dig Sverige" (lit. 'Thee I Adore, Sweden'); Frans Österblom [sv] wrote four verses beginning with "Jag älskar min hembygd" (lit. 'I Adore My Homestead'); and Louise Ahlén with two verses. However, these are not accepted as part of the anthem, and are not normally published or sung.

## Lyrics
### Swedish lyrics (Du gamla, du fria)

Richard Dybeck's original text, sourced from Normal-sångbok för Svenska skolor [sv] (1888):
* Outdated original
* Du gamla, du friska, du fjellhöga Nord,
* Du tysta, du glädjerika sköna!
* Jag helsar dig, vänsta land uppå jord,
* 𝄆 Din sol, din himmel, dina ängder gröna. 𝄇
* Du tronar på minnen från fornstora da'r,
* Då äradt ditt namn flög öfver jorden;
* Jag vet att du är och blir hvad du var,
* 𝄆 Ack, jag vill lefva, jag vill dö i Norden! 𝄇
Richard Dybeck's revised text, i.e. the modern formal version, sourced from Nu ska vi sjunga (1943):
| Formal version | IPA transcription | English free translation |
| Du gamla, Du fria, Du fjällhöga nord Du tysta, Du glädjerika sköna! Jag hälsar Dig, vänaste land uppå jord, 𝄆 Din sol, Din himmel, Dina ängder gröna. 𝄇 Du tronar på minnen från fornstora da'r, då ärat Ditt namn flög över jorden. Jag vet att Du är och Du blir vad Du var. 𝄆 Ja, jag vill leva, jag vill dö i Norden. 𝄇 | [dʉː ˈɡâmː.la dʉː ˈfrîː.a dʉː ˈfjɛ̂lː.ˌhøː.ɡa nǔːɖ |] [dʉː ˈtʏ̂sː.ta dʉː ˈɡlɛ̂ːd.jɛ̠.ˌriː.ka ˈɧø̂ː.na ‖] [jɑː(ɡ) ˈhɛ̂lː.sa‿ɖɛj ˈvɛ̂ː.nas.tɛ̠ lanːd ˈɵ̌p.poː juːɖ |] 𝄆 [dɪnː suːl dɪnː ˈhɪ̂m.mɛ̠l ˈdîː.na ˈɛ̂ŋː.dɛ̠r ˈɡrø̂ː.na ‖] 𝄇 [dʉː ˈtrûː.nar poː ˈmɪ̂n.nɛ̠n froːn ˈfûːɳ.ˌʂtuː.ra dɑːr |] [dǒː ˈæ̂ː.rat dɪtː namːn fløːɡ ˈøː.vɛ̠r ˈjǔː.ɖɛ̠n ‖] [jɑː(ɡ) věːt atː dʉː æːr ɔ(kː) dʉː bliːr vɑː(d) dʉː vɑːr |] 𝄆 [jɑː jɑː(ɡ) vɪlː ˈlêː.va jɑː(ɡ) vɪlː døː iː ˈnǔː.ɖɛ̠n ‖] 𝄇 | Thou olden, thou free, thou mountainous North Thou quiet, thou joyous beauty! I greet Thee, loveliest land upon Earth, 𝄆 Thy sun, thy sky, thy meadows green. 𝄇 Thou enthrones upon memories of great olden days, When honoured thy name flew across Earth, I know that thou art and remain what thou wert, 𝄆 Yes, I want to live, I want to die in the North. 𝄇 |

### Finnish lyrics (Pohjolanmaa)

Pohjolanmaa ('Nordic land') is the de facto Finnish version of the song, as recognized by the Swedish National Agency for Education, originally translated by Finnish writer Alpo Noponen [fi] (1862–1927); text sourced from the Helsinki Adult Education Centre's songbook (1928):
| Finnish version | English translation |
| Sä jylhä ja ponteva pohjolanmaa, sä hiljainen riemun kehto parhain, sä armahin seutu, min kohdata saa, 𝄆 maa kukkanurmein, koskein, tähtitarhain. 𝄇 Sun muistosi suuret, sun uljahat työs ei hukkua saata ajanvuolla; mit’ ennen voit olla, voit vastakin myös – 𝄆 mä pohjolassa tahdon elää, kuolla. 𝄇 | You majestic and vigourous North, you quiet cradle of joy, the best of them all, you most beloved country, that one can ever meet. 𝄆 Land of flower fields, brooks, starry heavens. 𝄇 Your great memories, your grand works, may not drown in the passage of time; what you once were, you can be once more – 𝄆 In the North I want to live, to die. 𝄇 |

### Southern Sámi lyrics

A version in Southern Sámi was recorded by Swedish national radio in 1938, performed by the 'Skarvsjöby' nomad school (1926–1945) in Storuman Municipality, Sweden. Author of the lyrics is unknown; when the recording was made, Hanna Bergeman was the teacher of class 1–3, and Helfrid Leijer the teacher of class 4–6. Text sourced from the manual captions of a youtube video:
* Southern Sámi version
* Tån aiteki lanta tu all vari kum,
* tån tjappa tån avost tievas ätnam.
* Mån ätsav tu fapmokis ruodnis mietsi kum
* 𝄆 tu almev, tu jaurit, tu änoit. 𝄇
* Tu namma li allak tu fapmo vil aj,
* tu kudne kitt alme radjai kulloi.
* Mån tietav att nåu tat kalka sjaddat aj.
* 𝄆 Mån sitav viessot, japmet ietjat lunne. 𝄇

### Estonian lyrics

An Estonian version, a free translation by a "A. Mutso", was featured in an Estonian internet article on "Nordic musicians (19th – early 20th centuries)", published around the mid 2000s, on the now defunct site hot.ee, written by a 'Galina Kulikova'. Both names appear in the 2002–2004 yearbooks of the Estonian Academy of Music, as well as the 2010–2011 yearbook of Heino Eller Tartu Music College: Galina Kulikova – lektor, Andres Mutso (A. Mutso) – accompanyist/pianist, indicating a connection between the names in the Estonian musical sphere. The latter yearbook provides insight at Kulikova being a lecturer in music history and thereof, giving support to her being the author of the article "Nordic musicians (19th – early 20th centuries)", and by extension, her colleague 'Andres Mutso' being the same A. Mutso as credited with writing the Estonian version.
The latter yearbook gives some background on Andres Mutso, giving some reputability to the Estonian version. In 1992 he graduated from Heino Eller Tartu Music College in the piano class of A. Antzon, in 1997 from the Estonian Academy of Music as a soloist in the piano class of professor A. Juozapenaite-Eesmaa. Since 1997 he has been working as a piano teacher and concertmaster at the Heino Eller Tartu Music College. In 2002–2005 he worked as a concertmaster for singers at the Estonian Academy of Music. In 2007 Andres Mutso was a scholarship holder of the International Wagner Society.
* Estonian version
* Sa vana, vaba ja mõõtmatu Põhjamaa
* oma sõnatus ja karges ilus!
* Ma tervitan Sind, kauneim paik maa peal,
* 𝄆 Tervitan Sinu päikest, taevast, aasu haljaid! 𝄇
* Sind mäletatakse juba muistsetest aegadest,
* kui Sinu auline nimi sai teatavaks üle kogu maailma.
* Ma tean, et Sa oled ja jääd selleks, kes olid.
* 𝄆 Jah, ma tahan elada ja surra Põhjamaal! 𝄇