Grundtvig i 1867 belyst ved aktstykker og digte fra sygdomsåret
Authors: Høirup Henning 
Published: September 2020

Grundtvig in 1867 (in the light of contemporary documents and poems written during his mental crisis in that year). By Henning Høirup. In the course of his life Grundtvig passed through several periods of mental crisis, the first of these being in the winter of 1810—11, when through his “ grave insanity” (his own expression) he found his way to a personal acceptance of the orthodox Lutheran conception of Christianity. Among later crises were those in 1844 and 1853, and the most serious of them all in 1867, when a strong maniac psychosis manifested itself during the service in Vartov Church on Palm Sunday. The psychiatrist Hjalmar Helweg (in his book on N. F. S. Grundtvig’s insanity, 2nd edition, 1932) asserts that Grundtvig like several other religious geniuses, e. g., Luther and Kierkegaard, was of a maniodepressive constitution. In former times many writers (even F. Rønning, the author of the greatest extant biography of Grundtvig) were inclined to pass lightly over the psychoses already referred to (and especially the last) as painful parentheses in Grundtvig’s life; now it is generally understood that they should rather be regarded as psychic foci of central importance for his spiritual development. In 1810—11 all his old world went to pieces, together with his optimistic belief in the possibility of reforming himself and society and the Church. From then onwards Christianity meant no longer to him a refuge in his own effort of redemption, but unmerited salvation; and his hope was placed no longer in his own reforming activity, but in the intervention of the Holy Spirit. In his later crises this fundamental Christian experience of man’s own powerlessness, and the faith that comes when his own strength lies dead, was renewed: “ Sin and Death and Hell’s torment All our strength against them is in vain, Even if one of them be called weak Yet it swiftly overcame us; The Hero under the sign of the Cross — He alone bound the mighty ones” . Without the hours of “ the torture of hell” , when Grundtvig felt himself “ beaten off the field” and all his strength swept away (as he writes in “ New Year’s Morning” , stanza 39 ff.), he could not have created the essential myth of “ the peerless Hero of the Cross” which is found in his Christian poetical writings; he gained it in the ordeals of his own crises. — At the same time, according to H. Brun, his Norwegian biographer, Grundtvig’s illness in 1867 led to a development of character inasmuch as it “ promoted his growth in personal gentleness and love to all and in humble thankfulness to the great “ physician of Israel” ” . Our sources of information about his illness are numerous; the autobiographies of Professor F. Hammerich and Dr. H. P. B. Barfod, a number of letters from well-known disciples of Grundtvig, including T. Skat Rørdam who was later Bishop of Sjaelland, etc., together with the documents preserved by the Ministry for Ecclesiastical Affairs. Besides these, we have a detailed contemporary account by Niels Lindbevg and also several letters which have recently been published by Carl Weltzer (in “ Kirkehistoriske Samlinger” , 1951, P. 211-60). In addition to these, a very large number of manuscripts in Grundtvig’s own handwriting, dating from the year of his illness, have been preserved, though most of them have not yet been published or investigated. For instance, just before the outbreak of his illness he wrote a large number of epigrams! and aphorisms in metrical form, a collection of which, entitled “ Rhyming Apophthegms” , is here published on P. 54—64. During his illness, too, his literary productivity continued in full spate, although he was told that what he wrote would probably be put into the stove; and the story goes that he was so compliant that he actually put what he had written into the stove himself! It is all the more surprising that there has recently come to light a great mass of manuscripts (over 880 large folio pages in all) dating from the poet’s five months’ stay in Frederiksdal (North Sjaelland), whither he was taken after heart-rending scenes in his home, and placed under the care of a mental specialist. Among these papers is a notebook containing 107 pages, entitled “ Danish Apophthegms” , in which Grundtvig, immediately after his arrival at the country house, began to write poetry with unparalleled rapidity. It contains twelve long poems, which in part reveal his delusions and in part give us a glimpse of his despair at his detention. The poem “ Frederiksdal” which describes the natural beauty surrounding the old mansion’s garden, within whose high stone walls he must remain, ends with a lament that “ the master of the forest’s bards” is now buried alive “ in a hut, in a garden” . Other poems are historico-philosophical surveys, e. g., “ The Roman Empire” , “ The People of Greece” and “ The High North” . In addition, there are about 775 loose pages filled with so-called “Observations” , i. e., rhymed comments on the course of history and on questions of vital importance to the Church, often of very great length and treating of themes with which he had previously dealt. Reminiscences from the former domains of his shattered mind are strangely blended with moods arising from the period of his illness. Several poems are personal in character, e. g., one about the “ Book of Exeter” which he had brought to light in 1829—31 while visiting England, where he laid the foundations for the study of Anglo-Saxon and Early English. Two poems entitled “My Career” are autobiographical. As an example which shows his hope of recovery we may quote: “ For I was born to be a fighter, And to be a fighter I was made. It is for this that God has chosen me, And never yet have I lost a fight, And — I dare to engrave it with Runic characters — I shall not lose the last fight either: The fight against our common Enemy Which we never can win by ourselves, But win only through faith in Him, Him, Who bore our sin and shame.” The most valuable are a set of “ Observations” on Church History dating from midsummer, 1867, all composed in 6-lined stanzas, about Ambrosius, Benedict, Gregory the Great and Villibrord. They show that he is winning back his poetic powers in regard both to content and to form. In the period directly after this Grundtvig wrote a long and well-constructed poetic cycle: “ Rhyming Chronicle of the High North” (composed in “ the dog-days of 1867” , i. e., between July 24th and August 24th), consisting of 47 mythologica and historical poems — an achievement of which the ailing poet might well be proud. This last-named poetic cycle was first published in 1930 (Poetiske Skrifter, Vol. VIII, P. 495—607). The poems from the period of his illness reveal Grundtvig’s conscious life as flowing on the whole in its accustomed direction, only that it overflows its normal limits. With the dropping of inhibitions the main elements in his poetry come strongly to the fore: the Christian, the mythological, the historical, the Danish (including his views on education and on freedom), and the feminine. Even during his illness his poetry retains its own well-marked tendency. As a background for the study of Grundtvig’s poetic output in 1867 five documents are reproduced on P. 21—36, which throw light on the character of his illness: 1) Grundtvig’s resignation notice of 15/* 1867. While still in church, after that remarkable baptismal service, Grundtvig said in a lucid moment to his curate: “ It is clear that I cannot hold my office any longer; I must send in my resignation to morrow.” His resignation, however, was not accepted, but he was prevented from preaching his farewell sermon and carrying out his functions; in the latter part of the year he took up his work as a clergyman again. 2) The newspaper “ Dagbladet” on April 17th published a report on the sensational Palm Sunday Service, which with confession, sermon, baptism, and Holy Communion lasted from 9.30 a. m. till 2.30 p. m. After the absolution Grundtvig said to the congregation, “Are there no more? Come I The beadles must turn away those who do not come to confession when the Holy Communion begins!” Some people then realised that Grundtvig was not in full possession of his senses, but many came crowding forward for confession, and by his express invitation — and contrary to the usual practice — even some who had not yet been confirmed came forward, among others his son Frederik who was barely 13 years old (“ Come, my boy, it is quite all right!” ). To Her Majesty the Queen Dowager Caroline Amalie, Grundtvig said, after repeating the words of absolution in accordance with the ritual: “ Therewith are Denmark’s sins forgiven; now peace is given unto Denmark — let the King of Prussia come with his army!” Before the sermon he expounded the text, “When thou prayest, go into thy secret chamber and shut thy door” as follows: “You must fold your hands, for then the Devil cannot by any means force his way in; then a barrier is put in his way.” In the sermon he spoke strangely of the “ signs of the times” being at hand, since the conversion of the Jews was near and the prince of the heathen, Wilhelm I, was on the point of making his entry into “ the capital of the world” (Paris?). In Grundtvig’s written copy of the sermon, which has been preserved, he exhorted the Christians to trust in “ the King of Glory” , Christ, Whose return was near. During the baptismal service which followed, Grundtvig spoke to the infant about the petitions in the Lord’s Prayer and the sign of the Cross. 3) This report was sent to Grundtvig by the Archdeacon, with a request for an explanation. In a report in his own handwriting, dated April 18th, Grundtvig admits that he was “ out of his mind” in the church, and that in his unprepared address at confession he had applied the Lord’s words from St. John’s Gospel, XI: “ If thou wilt believe, thou shalt see the glory of God” , to the whole congregation and therefore invited them all, and not only those who had given in their names beforehand, to partake of the Holy Communion. To the Queen Dowager he had said, “Where is the Queen of Denmark? The Queen of the South came to hear the wisdom of Solomon, and here there are more than Solomon” . Concerning the baptism of the child he states: “After I had in the name of Jesus bestowed upon the child the holy sign of the Cross, which I now for the first time saw to be inseparably connected with the renunciation of sins, just as baptism with water is connected with the confession of faith, I spoke to the child itself about what the Lord has said concerning the little children, to whom the Kingdom of God belongs” . The fact that the child cried afterwards was “ probably due to her hip going out of joint like Jacob’s when he received the eternal blessing in the heavenly bath” . After getting this report, the Archdeacon was no longer in any doubt about Grundtvig’s frame of mind. 4 & 5) Finally a letter is quoted from Grundtvig’s warm-hearted but uncritical friend, the clergyman Gunni Busck, reproaching Grundtvig’s son, Svend Grundtvig, the eminent editor of folk ballads and a reader in the University, for having opposed the use by his father of the text from St. Matthew, XVI, 3, about “ the signs of the times” as a motto for the second edition of the first volume of his “ Handbook of World History” which was on the point of completion when his illness began, and the proofs of which Grundtvig was allowed to read at Frederiksdal (while Svend Grundtvig was responsible for revising them before the final printing). In his reply Svend Grundtvig upbraids Gunni Busck severely for not having supported him in having Grundtvig sent away from home before the distressing incidents occurred, and points out that this motto was connected in the most unfortunate way with the outbreak of Grundtvig’s insanity; during Holy Week Grundtvig had got the idea that this (as being the word of Jesus concerning the true nature of history) should be the motto on the title-page of the book, and in a distracted “ verbal note” to the Foreign Minister (saying that the Prussians would attempt a landing in Sjaelland on Maundy Thursday (observed as a holiday in Denmark)) he had quoted this text. Svend Grundtvig also complains that Busck had discussed the question of secession from the National Church with the sick man (to which Grundtvig had humorously replied, “ I have never wished to do that unless the best people in the Church followed along with me, for I have never had any wish to go out with the refuse” ). Svend Grundtvig conjectures that this deep humiliation has come upon his father not on his own account, but caused by the sin of his blind followers (the sin of idolizing Grundtvig, but, on the other hand, a sin atoned for by redemption), in order that they should learn that he was dust and ashes, and not make an idol of him. The poems printed on P. 51—64 and written during Grundtvig’s illness are introduced by a poem for the birthday of his youngest son, Frederik, on May 15th, 1867, in which the poet expresses his expectation that the son of his old age will experience “ the fair days of Jubilee” i. e. the fulfilment of his father’s hope for a national and Christian renewal in Denmark, which will come to pass when the heart of the Danes humbly receives “ the dew of the Church” . On the same day Grundtvig wrote a belated birthday poem to his daughter Asta, who had recently celebrated her seventh birthday, in which his hope of yet being able to write many more poems finds expression (P. 53). Last comes the collection of rhymed aphorisms already mentioned: “ Rhyming Apophthegms on the Tomb of Still-born Enlightenment” (by which Grundtvig meant partly the contemporary secondary school system with its encroaching teaching of Latin, and partly German philosophy). These poems, numbering twenty-seven in all, seem, except for the last one, to have been written during the early stages of his illness. They are written on the back pages of a foliosized notebook, which Grundtvig had used a long time before for historical philological notes, among other things; at different periods he had also jotted down epigrams in it, for instance, nine translated from Pindar, and aphorisms, including a very interesting one (P. 40—41) which is directed against Goethe’s statement that the art of music is the fundamental source (“ das wahre Element” ) from which all poetry springs forth and to which it returns. Grundtvig sees in these words the key not only to Goethe’s poetry but to all German poetry right onwards from the days of the Minnesingers. Music is undeniably the fundamental element of the nature which lacks spiritual qualities; but in Grundtvig’s opinion it is the function of art to unite it with the spirit in the word, which is the true source of poetry. German art does aim at something of the kind, to be sure, but its fatal mistake is to regard music or form as the fundamental and the only living element in poetry, while the spirit is conceived as merely reflection, a dead idea which is helped by music to appear alive. The notebook also contains several aphorisms of a Christian character; as an example here is a translation of the fourth of those printed on P. 41 f.: “ Love saves us by faith and faith by love; for if God had not loved us first, then faith would avail nothing, as it is written: So God loved us, that whosoever believes shall have eternal life; but if we love not Him again Who loved us first, then faith avails not at all, for only in love do we pass from death to life.” When Grundtvig during the year of his illness re-read these earlier attempts at writing aphorisms (others were published in an English translation in “ Grundtvig-Studier” , 1949, P. 96—98), he felt prompted to take up this work again. Like another Danish poet, Jens Baggesen, he often uses words with two meanings, for instance, the word “ rimelig” (in the title of the collection of aphorisms) means both “ in rhyme” and “ in accordance with common sense” . As an example of the shorter epigrams may be cited No. 12 (P. 55) which briefly expresses Grundtvig’s views on the aim of education: If you know German, know French, and even know Russian, So that you completely possess the higher education, If you do not know Danish much better still You are only a deformed and undeveloped creature. His criticism of the grammar schools, which neglected the inheritance of vernacular language and tradition, though indispensable in public education,, also found expression in Aphorism No. 24 (P. 62): As in the ruins of Carthage Salt was strewn in ancient days, So for salt-seed now we plough The bank of the Tiber and the hills of Rome; Do not expect, to cheer the school, A golden harvest from such seed! In Aphorism No. 26 Grundtvig bluntly describes the contemporary fashion of “ turning boys into scholars” as “ cruelty to animals” which ought to be abolished, because the disproportionate importance attached to the writing of Latin exercises in the Classical school resulted in the neglect of oral practice in the mother-tongue. Aphorism No. 18 develops the idea that Gullveig, the mysterious goddess (in the Edda: Voluspå, stanza 21), is to be interpreted as “ gold weight” . The true “ gold weight” is the tongue “where words shall be weighed as gold” . Only the gold of “ the living word” , which unites spirit and heart, should be recognised as of full weight. Such “words of the mouth” are “ the spirit’s (ready) money” , whereas written words are only banknotes (Aphorism No. 25, P. 62). In No. 23 (“Women’s Education” ) Grundtvig insists that women as well as men have a full right to share in a comprehensive education in which the mother tongue and history and Christianity are central; such an education will be of inestimable significance for the rising generation. The last poem (No. 27, P. 64) is a very personal one, apparently composed after Grundtvig’s illness; he has realised that he has experienced an attack of the same kind as in the grave crisis of his youth in 1810: Out of possession of himself yesterday, Just as in the years of youth, In possession of himself to-day, Dull and faint and meek and gentle . . . The illness in itself is indeed neither to be blamed nor to be praised, but is humbling for the Christian, whose Hero and Lord never faltered on His way: Jesus Christ, Who was early foretold, Is for us to-day just as He was yesterday, As pure and as wise as ever, An example for His Church Which knows of nought else But to imitate its Lord, Love, thank and bless Him; Be it without or within It can always find Jesus, Through His Word it will always Tread in His shining footsteps! Through his latest illness Grundtvig experienced anew the reality of death as a constant threat to man’s spiritual life: “ Nearest is the kingdom of the dead, / Easy it is to travel thither” . Therefore the Christian must constantly turn to the Conqueror of Death and trust in God’s Word alone. His realization of this is expressed in two hymns dating from 1867 (Grundtvigs Sang-Værk, Vol. V, 1951, No.s 322 &. 328) which have for their subjects Jesus in Gethsemane and the temptation of Jesus in the wilderness. In their treatment of these subjects they are both quite unique among Grundtvig’s hymns. Grundtvig had earlier, in a Good Friday hymn dating from 1854 (“ Rise now, and let us go hence“ , Sang-Værk, Vol. IV, 1949, No. 373), warned his readers against Kierkegaard's summons to the Christian to make every effort to be present with Christ in His passion. It is a fruitless attempt to try “ to follow Him to Golgotha, I And share all the pain and anguish” . The disciple can only gradually grow into such a likeness to his Master, with the help of the Spirit; verse 3 refers to the words of Jesus (St. John, XIII, 36): “Where I go now thou canst not follow Me; but thou shalt follow Me hereafter” . Therefore we must not seek artificially to enter into the unfathomable depths of the Lord’s Passion; only in the same degree that we taste “ the power of Jesus’ resurrection” can we share in “ the fellowship of His sufferings” (St. Paul’s Epistle to the Philippians, III, 10). Although the two hymns from 1867 still maintain Grundtvig’s leading idea — that no man has the power to “ follow Jesus” in His conflict in Gethsemane —, still, more than any other hymns written by Grundtvig, they represent an attempt to enter emotionally into the Lord’s conflict with death during that night in Gethsemane, when He had to tread the winepress of suffering and His tender heart broke under the burden of the sins of all the world. He had to die, deprived of God’s Spirit and divine comfort: ”The Saviour was put under ban, / And God’s son forsaken by God” . He descended into the dark kingdom of death, to win the victory there: “With His pure soul / Jesus outmatches all the host of Hell”. In the hymn about the temptation in the wilderness we find the words: “ Thither, ah! I cannot follow Thee: / I cannot hide my terror, / Nor endure the long fast” . And to Christ the poet says: “ But it was actually because of my deep distress / That Thou wert driven by the heavenly Spirit / Out to meet Belial, I The prince of Darkness, the Father of Lies . . .” . When Grundtvig in these hymns, more than elsewhere, enters into the Passion of Jesus and attempts to follow Him in His forsaken state “ to the bottom of Hell” (an attempt which he otherwise advised against), the explanation undoubtedly is that we are not here confronted with a deliberate attempt to relive the Saviour’s spiritual conflict. The hymns mirror the deadly struggle in which the poet had been involved against his will, the “ long fast” he had not been able to endure, but through which the Saviour had fought His way to victory. These two hymns are the ripest fruit of that painful year, 1867, and give us an idea of what Grundvig meant when after his illness he said to his son Frederik: “ Now I have gone through my death-struggle, and death may come when God wills”. P. S. The photograph of Grundtvig (illustration No. 1) was taken two days before Palm Sunday. The facsimile inscription beneath it is an epigram about the poet himself which was composed much earlier (in 1838): There is not the least danger That he will burst with the praise he received: “ In poetry he excelled the host of the learned, In learning he excelled the poets!”