Til ungdommen (English: "To the Youth"), also known by the words of the first line Kringsatt av fiender ("Surrounded by Enemies"), is a poem from 1936 by Norwegian poet and writer Nordahl Grieg (1902–1943) .
The poem was written in 1936 by Nordahl Grieg at Ny-Hellesund in Søgne for use by the Norwegian Students' Society after a request by Trond Hegna (1898–1992) who was a Member of Parliament.
However, on this album it was called 682 A rather than Til Ungdommen, a reference to the song's listing in the Danish folk high school songbook.
Kim Larsen also included the song on his live album Kim i Cirkus (1985), and on the live CD and DVD En Lille Pose Støj on YouTube (2007), on these two occasions titling it by the first line in the Danish version of the poem, Kringsat af Fjender.
Til Ungdommen was sung by Norwegian singer Torhild Ostad on 23 November 2003 in Kleinmachnow near Berlin, Germany, as the memorial stone was unveiled at the site where the poet Nordahl Grieg died when the Lancaster bomber in which he was flying as a war correspondent hit the ground on 2 December 1943.
[3][4][5] On 24 July 2011, under enormous worldwide media coverage, the song was sung by the congregation of the Oslo Cathedral memorial service in relation to the 2011 Norway attacks.
[6] It was also sung at Denmark's official Memorial Service at Vor Frue Kirke in Copenhagen on 27 July 2011.
Herborg Kråkevik's 2000 version of the song was re-released in 2011 immediately after the attacks, reaching #1 on VG-lista, the official Norwegian Singles Chart, in its first week of release.
Sissel Kyrkjebø sang the song as the concluding performer during the Norwegian National Memorial Ceremony on 21 August 2011 in the Oslo Spektrum arena, which was held to remember those killed in the 2011 Norway attacks.
Elsk – og berik med drøm – alt stort som var!
Ubygde kraftverker, ukjente stjerner – skap dem, med skånet livs dristige hjerner!
Den som med høyre arm bærer en byrde, dyr og umistelig, kan ikke myrde.
Unbuilt powerplants, unknown stars – Create them with spared lives' bold minds!