Danish folklore

Danish folklore consists of folk tales, legends, songs, music, dancing, popular beliefs and traditions communicated by the inhabitants of towns and villages across the country, often passed on from generation to generation by word of mouth. As in neighbouring countries, interest in folklore grew with an emerging feeling of national consciousness in 19th century Denmark. Researchers travelled across the country collecting innummerable folktales, songs and sayings while observing traditional dress in the various regions. Folklore today is part of the national heritage, represented in particular by national and local traditions, songs, folk dances and literature.

As in the rest of Europe, interest in Danish folklore was a result of national and international trends in the early 19th century. In particular, the German Romanticism movement was based on the belief that there was a relationship between language, religion, traditions, songs and stories and those who practiced them. Common roots encouraged a country's inhabitants to share the concept of a modern nation. The approach spread to smaller, oppressed countries whose politicians and intellectuals worked towards developing the population's awareness of a common ethnicity. This applied to Denmark after the Napoleonic Wars and the loss of Norway in 1814 and above all after the loss of Schleswig to Germany in 1864. A new awareness of common origins was born, encouraging researchers to investigate the everyday lives of countryfolk, at a time when folktales, poetry, songs and beliefs were beginning to disappear. By documenting folk culture, these intellectuals believed they had safeguarded an asset which had been passed on by oral tradition since the Middle Ages or even earlier.

Today it is recognized that only a fraction of the sources can be traced back further than the Renaissance. Furthermore, traditions changed with time while new trends were born. The research and archives compiled in the 19th century by Svend Grundtvig, Henning Frederik Feilberg and Evald Tang Kristensen have nevertheless contributed to a better appreciation and understanding of Danish folklore.

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