Danish folklore

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.

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.

[2] In the 17th and 18th centuries, music in Denmark could only be performed in most areas by officially appointed town musicians (stadsmusikanter) who played together with their apprentices at family gatherings, local festivities and even in churches.

But by the beginning of the 20th century, when there was renewed interest in the national heritage, a number of groups began to revive the music, the dances and the costumes.

The upper part of the body was covered by a fabric jacket or blouse, A close-fitting bodice fastened by hooks or laced at the front was worn in some regions.

Skirts, jackets and bodices were edged and decorated with flat or patterned silk tape while light scarves were worn around the neck to cover the shoulders and throat.

[2] The artist Frederik Christian Lund, who had travelled across Denmark as a soldier in the First Schleswig War, took an interest in sketching people in local costumes in various parts of the country.

He travelled around the country, recording and writing up legends, attracting the support of influential figures such as the literary historian Rasmus Nyerup, who wrote a foreword emphasizing the multifaceted significance of the enterprise.

[9] Indeed, it laid the foundations for Denmark's Modern Breakthrough and the regional literature movement that dominated elite literary circles later in the 19th century.

The nisse is a particularly well-known legendary figure in Danish folklore, apparently dating back to pre-Christian times when it was believed there were household gods.

The creatures would be helpful if treated properly, for instance by giving them a bowl of porridge with a clump of butter at night, but, failing such treatment, they could also be troublesome.