[2] Grundtvig wrote the hymn with inspiration from Martin Luther's "Vom Himmel hoch da komm’ Ich her".
The current version of the hymn with nine stanzas is the result of several modifications, for instance by Bernhard Severin Ingemann, and was first published in a supplement to the 1877 edition of Fest-Psalmer.
Notable recordings have been made by Swedish singer Sven-Olof Sandberg (1905–1974) and Norwegian soloist Olav Werner (1913–1992).
The earliest, entitled "The Bells of Christmas Chime Once More", was translated by Charles P. Krauth in 1867.
A later adaptation bore the title "O Fir Tree Dark", and was recorded by Bing Crosby in 1947.