Greenland (Denmark) / All works
Poetry
Nunarput utoqqarsuanngoravit
Not translated into English
Henrik Lund · 1912
Synopsis
Our country, you have grown old: in five stanzas, the poem greets the very old country as a nurturing mother who has sheltered her people, and tells of the Greenlanders grown up on this land, full of respect for its great age. It then calls for its resources to be developed and for people to march towards new goals, taking the more advanced nations as an example and seeking strength in books and knowledge, and finally urges the people to emerge from their passivity and believe in their own abilities.
Context
Written in 1912, the poem was adopted as the national anthem in 1916, the year William Thalbitzer translated it into Danish; it was first sung to the tune of the Swedish anthem, before Jonathan Petersen composed a melody for it. Den Store Danske notes that it was perhaps written as a contribution to public debate rather than to become an anthem. The passage describing Greenlanders as half-grown children is now regarded as controversial. Since 1979 Greenland has also recognised a second anthem, Nuna asiilasooq.
Who it is for
A short poem, sung by an entire country, readable in Danish; no French translation has been recorded.
Prizes and reception
Den Store Danske counts its author among the most important poets Greenland has known.