"" (; da, "Et vældigt klippeland" , en, "A Huge Rocky Land") is a

Greenland Greenland ( kl, Kalaallit Nunaat, ; da, Grønland, ) is an island country in North America that is part of the Kingdom of Denmark. It is located between the Arctic and Atlantic oceans, east of the Canadian Arctic Archipelago. Greenland i ...

ic song used as an

ethnic anthem An anthem is a musical composition of celebration, usually used as a symbol for a distinct group, particularly the national anthems of countries. Originally, and in music theory and religious contexts, it also refers more particularly to shor ...

by the self-governing

Kalaallit Kalaallit make up the largest group of the Greenlandic Inuit and are concentrated in Kitaa. It is also a contemporary term in the Greenlandic language for the indigenous people living in Greenland (Greenlandic ''Kalaallit Nunaat'').Hessel, 8 Th ...

of Greenland. It was officially recognised by the government in 1979. Both lyrics and melody were composed by

Jonathan Petersen Jonathan Petersen (7 May 1881 – 22 August 1961) was a Greenlandic songwriter.Tids ...

, who also wrote the musical score for Greenland's 1916-adopted national anthem "

Nunarput utoqqarsuanngoravit "" (; da, "Vort ældgamle land under isblinkens bavn", ; en, "You, Our Ancient Land") is the national anthem of Greenland, an autonomous state of the Kingdom of Denmark. Written by Henning Jakob Henrik Lund in 1912, it was officially adopte ...

.""Culture and Community."
''Greenland Home Rule.'' (retrieved 11 November 2009)

History

The song was written by Greenlandic organist and piano teacher

Jonathan Petersen Jonathan Petersen (7 May 1881 – 22 August 1961) was a Greenlandic songwriter.Tids ...

, probably during or after a stay in Denmark in 1910–1911, during which he passed his organ exam with distinction. It was originally set to the tune of the Danish national anthem, " Der er et yndigt land". Petersen wrote an original composition for the song around 1920, which retained the repetition of the third line of each verse, as in "Der er et yndigt land". In 1979, when home rule was granted to Greenland, the song was adopted as a national anthem, alongside " Nunarput, utoqqarsuanngoravit". In 1985, it was translated into Danish by theologian Mads Lidegaard. Both the Greenlandic and Danish versions have been published in the '' Højskolesangbogen''.

Lyrics

Notes

References

{{greenland-stub Greenlandic music Danish anthems North American anthems Regional songs National anthem compositions in F major