DENMARK. 



foreign, tuid 100 millions of domestic debt, including 

 two recent loans in Hamburg and London. The 

 value of bank-bills in circulation, in 1823, a little ex- 

 ceeded 21,325,000 rix dollars banco. Paper money 

 is worth about forty per cent, in comparison with 

 specie ; and a bank dollar in silver is worth L Ham- 

 burg marks banco. The land force consisted, in 

 1823, of 30,838 men, exclusive of the militia. The 

 marine is subject to a board of admiralty, or com- 

 iiiissiriate. In 1826, the navy consisted of four 

 ships of the line, seven frigates, four corvettes, 

 five brigs, one schooner, and eighty gun-boats. 



Danish Language, Literature, and Arts. The 

 Danish language is derived from the Low German 

 and the original Norman, which was, in the tenth 

 century, driven to Iceland. It is believed by many, 

 tl ;it the Anglo-Saxon language is, in fact, the Dan- 

 ish, and that it has been retained in its purity by the 

 Irish. The first cultivators of this language in Den- 

 mark, as in Sweden and Norway, were the Scalds, 

 who wrote poems in the pure German dialect, and, 

 following their princes and generals, sung in rhyme- 

 less verse the deities and exploits of their nation. 

 After the introduction of Christianity (about 1000), 

 historical poems only continued to be composed (till 

 1265). For the introduction of this religion into 

 Denmark, at the same time with the art of writing, 

 the foundation was laid by the German missionary, 

 Anschar. (See Ansgar.) Canute the Great (1015 

 1036), inspired by his wife, Emma, with zeal for 

 Christianity, and a liberal spirit towards the clergy, 

 sent Anglo-Saxon teachers to Denmark, established 

 the bishoprics of Schonen, Zealand, and Fuhnen, 

 and spread Christianity tlirough all the rest of the 

 North. He sought to promote trade and commerce, 

 coined new money, and established more fixed 

 laws. 



Immediately after Christianity, chivalry, also, was 

 introduced into Scandinavia, particularly by the 

 French crusades, and found an easy reception among 

 the inhabitants, who were extremely fond of bold 

 adventures. Tournaments were so common at the 

 Danish court, that every stranger who visited it 

 was obliged to break a spear with some of the cour- 

 tiers. The Danes engaged in the first crusade. 

 This new spirit of chivalry had necessarily a favour- 

 able influence on poetry. The oldest Danish poetry 

 exUir.t is the epic of the Skyldingians, first published 

 complete by Thorkelin (De Danorum rel. Gest. 

 Seoul. III. et IV, Poema Dan. Dialect. Anglo-Saxon, 

 etc. Copenhagen, 1815, 4to). Of a much later 

 ilute (sixteenth century) is the collection of the heroic 

 ballads and romances of love (Kjempeviser and Els- 

 kovsviser), published by Wedel and Syv, and latest 

 by Abrahamson, Nyerup, and Rahbeck, 1812 14, in 

 five vols., which has been translated into German by 

 W . L. Grimm, who lias done much for the northern 

 poetry (Altdaenische Heldenlieder, Balladcn, und 

 Maerc/ien, Heidelburg, 181 1). Nyerup and Rahbeck 

 likewise published, some years ago, a selection from 

 the manuscript Danish poems of the middle ages, 

 with valuable commentaries. Their poetical value, 

 indeed, is very unequal ; but most of them contain 

 genuine poetry, and much national spirit. The 

 latest Danish dramatists have drawn much from 

 these storehouses. Among the heroic poems, 

 many illustrate the cycle of the old Heldenbuck 

 (<] v.). 



The first Danish historians are Sueno (Svend), 

 Aagesen (about 1188), and the celebrated Saxo- 

 Grammaticus, properly Lang, of Schonen (who died 

 in 1204), both of whom, by the suggestion of Absa- 

 lon, archbishop of Lund, wrote, the former a concise 

 history of the Danish kings from 300 to 1186 (Sueno- 

 ms Aggonis Opuscztla, ed. Stephan. Sora, 1642), the 



latter a complete history of Denmark (Hietorite, 

 xvi. ed. Stephanius Sora, 1644; Klotzius, 1771, 

 4to), to the year 1186, in sixteen vols. in a correct 

 Latin style. 



The reformation, introduced in 1527, and still more 

 the extension of trade, had a great influence on the 

 intellectual progress of Denmark. In consequence 

 of the reformation, the Germans obtained an impor- 

 tant influence over the church and the literature of 

 Denmark. The Danes studied in Germany. Ger- 

 man was tin- language of the court, and Latin the 

 language of the learned. The attempts of author, 

 in their vernacular tongue were as yet insignificant. 

 A Danish translation of the New Testament \v;is 

 made in 1524, on the model of Luther's. Danish 

 became the language of literature, partly in the 

 sixteenth, and still more in the seventeenth century, 

 and was distinguished for its softness and euphony, 

 and for the expressiveness of its abstract terms. Vie 

 language of poetry seems, at present, to have left. 

 prose far in the rear. 



The first Danish grammar was edited by Erich 

 Pontoppidan (Copenhagen, 1668). Many useful 

 grammars were afterwards prepared by James Baden 

 and others, and, in the sixteenth century, some Dan- 

 ish-Latin dictionaries. (See the Literatura antiquis- 

 sima, of Olaf Worm, a Dane (Copenhagen, 1651), 

 and others.) The Danish is the only Teutonic lan- 

 guage which has a real passive voice. 



In regard to prose, the Danish language has been 

 highly enriched by Holberg (q. v.), who, in one 

 view, may justly be called the father of modern Da- 

 nish literature, having applied it to many branches 

 of literature, and particularly to the drama. Much 

 has been done for the improvement of the public taste 

 by J. Wielandt (died 1730), J. Sch. Sneedorf (died 

 1764), in their Journals, and by J. Baden (died 1804), 

 who paid particular attention to the purity of the 

 language, and discharged with success the office of 

 a critic. Literary institutions were, moreover, esta- 

 blished and supported by Frederic V. and Christian 

 VII., which greatly promoted the native literature of 

 the country. T. Rothe, P. F. Suhm (a Danish his- 

 torian, who died in 1799), Ciiud Lyne Rahbeck 

 (knight of the order of the Danebrog, who published 

 various literary works, 1785 93, in three parts, con- 

 sisting of dramatic works and narratives, and who 

 exerted no small influence upon the Danish national 

 taste, as editor of the Northern Minerva and Danish 

 Spectator), J. Ch. Bastholm, Birkner, Rasmus, 

 Nyerup, Anders Gamborg, Frederic Munter, and 

 Baggesen, have well founded claims to the reputa- 

 tion of clear, strong, and agreeable writers. 



In practical science and natural philosophy, the 

 Danes have distinguished themselves most. We 

 must not omit the renowned astronomer, Tycho di; 

 Brahe,and the mineralogist, Olaf Worm, who died in 

 1654. 



Much has been done for the cause of education in 

 Denmark, in modern times, by the establishment of 

 schools, universities, and literary societies. There 

 are also institutions for instruction in gymnastic exer- 

 cises, such as swimming, for instance, well worthy of 

 general imitation. Geography and practical astro- 

 nomy are under great obligations to Thomas Bugge 

 (q. v.), who was invited to Paris in 1798, by the 

 French directory, to take part in the establishment 

 of the new system of weights and measures. Many 

 learned men, whom he drew from obscurity, have con- 

 tributed to give value to the Transactions of the Sci- 

 entific Society at Copenhagen (now amounting to 

 twenty-four vols. : the latest series is called Dei 

 Kongelige Danske Vidensz. Selskaber Skrifter). 



The fate convulsed state of Europe excited in Den. 

 mark much attention to the military art, and all the 



