Originally a patriotic song, it became commonly regarded as the de facto national anthem of Norway in the early 20th century after being used alongside "Sønner av Norge" since the 1860s.

In 2011, the song "Mitt lille land" featured prominently in the memorial ceremonies following the 2011 Norway attacks and was described by the media as "a new national anthem".

"Ja, vi elsker dette landet" is now most often recognised as the anthem, but until the early 20th century, "Sønner av Norge" occupied this position.

"Sønner av Norge" was written by Henrik Anker Bjerregaard (1792–1842) and the melody by Christian Blom (1782–1861) after the Royal Norwegian Society for Development had announced a competition to write a national anthem for Norway in 1819.

"Ja, vi elsker dette landet" was written by Bjørnstjerne Bjørnson and composed by Rikard Nordraak between 1859 and 1868, and gradually came to replace "Sønner av Norge" as the most recognised national anthem.

"[8] In addition, Norway has an unofficial royal anthem, "Kongesangen", based on "God Save the King" and written in its modern form by Gustav Jensen.

Written Bokmål has since been altered in a series of orthographic reforms intended to distinguish it from Danish and bring it closer to spoken Norwegian.

Bønder sine økser brynte hvor en hær dro frem; Tordenskjold langs kysten lynte, så den lystes hjem.

Kvinner selv stod opp og strede som de vare menn; 𝄆 andre kunne bare grede, men det kom igjen!

Fienden sitt våpen kastet, opp visiret fór, vi med undren mot ham hastet, ti han var vår bror.

Ja, vi elsker dette landet, som det stiger frem, furet, værbitt over vannet, med de tusen hjem.

[ˈbœ̀n.nər ˈsiː.nə ˈœk.sər ˈbryn.tə] [vur eːn hæːr druː frɛm ‖] [ˈtur.dən.ʂɔl lɑŋs ˈçys.tən ˈlyn.tə] [sɔː dɛn ˈlys.təs jɛm ‖] [ˈkʋɪn.nər sɛl stuː ɔpː ɔ ˈstreː.də |] [sɔm diː ˈʋɑː.rə mɛnː ‖] 𝄆 [ˈɑn.dre ˈkʉn.nə ˈbɑː.rə ˈgreː.də |] [mɛn deː kɔm ɪ.ˈjɛn ‖] 𝄇

All the fights fathers have fought, and the mothers have wept, 𝄆 the Lord has quietly eased so we won our rights.

Norway, thine is our devotion, Land of hearth and home, Rising storm-scarr'd from the ocean, Where the breakers foam.

Men of Norway, be your dwelling Cottage, house or farm, Praise the Lord who all compelling Sav'd our land from harm.

Wars our fathers' aims unfolded, Tears our mothers shed, Roads of them for us He molded, To our rights they led.

The original version of "Ja, vi elsker" included a verse hailing Charles IV, who succeeded his father as king of Norway in July 1859.

However, after the divisive international events of the spring of 1864, including the Second Schleswig War, when the ideal of a unified Scandinavia became shattered, Bjørnson went from monarchist to republican, and the tribute to the reigning sovereign was stricken from the song.

The unilateral declaration by the Norwegian Storting of the union's dissolution on 7 June provoked strong Swedish reactions, bringing the two nations to the brink of war in the autumn.

In Sweden, pro-war conservatives were opposed by the Social Democrats, whose leaders, Hjalmar Branting and Zeth Höglund, spoke out for reconciliation and a peaceful settlement with Norway.

Swedish socialists sang "Ja, vi elsker dette landet" to support the Norwegian people's right to secede from the union.

In May 2006, the multicultural newspaper Utrop proposed that the national anthem be translated into Urdu, the native language of one of the most numerous groups of recent immigrants to Norway.

[15] The editor's idea was that people from other ethnic groups should be able to honour their adopted country with devotion, even if they were not fluent in Norwegian.

[16] One proponent of translating the anthem received batches of hate mail calling her a traitor and threatening her with decapitation.