Rasmus Nyerup

Rasmus Nyerup (12 March 1759–28 June 1829) was a Danish literary historian, philologist, folklorist and librarian.

After graduating from Odense Lærde Skole, Nyerup studied philology and theology and took exams in resp.

Together With Rasmus Rask (1787–1832), he published a Danish translation of the Prose Edda in 1808, and with Jens Edvard Kraft (1784–1853) a general literary history of Denmark, Norway and Iceland (1818/9).

Together with Knud Lyne Rahbek (1760–1830) and Werner Abrahamson (1744-1812), Nyerup was also responsible for the publication of folk songs from the Middle Ages in Udvalgte Danske Viser fra Middelalderen (Copenhagen: J. F. Schulz, 1812–14).

As secretary of the Royal Commission on the Preservation of Antiquities (Den kongelige Commission til Oldsagers Opbevaring), Nyerup also helped Christian Jürgensen Thomsen (1788–1865) initiate the foundation of the National Museum of Denmark.