Johan Nordahl Brun (21 March 1745 – 26 July 1816) was a Norwegian-Danish poet, dramatist, bishop of the Diocese of Bjørgvin (1804–1816), and politician who contributed significantly to the growth of national romanticism in Norway, contributing to the growing national consciousness.

Johan Nordahl Brun was born in Byneset, just outside the city of Trondheim in Søndre Trondhjem county, Norway, on 21 March 1745.

[1][2] After leaving the university, Brun worked for a time as a secretary to Bishop Johan Ernst Gunnerus in Trondheim.

[1][2] In literary history, Brun found his place when he wrote the first Norwegian romantic nationalistic play, Einer Tambeskielver (1772).

He also wrote many poems, including Norway's first (unofficial) national anthem, "For Norge, Kiempers Fødeland" (1771), and published a book of Lutheran Hymns (1786).