Anders Hovden (April 6, 1860 – November 26, 1943) was a Norwegian Lutheran clergyman,

hymn A hymn is a type of song, and partially synonymous with devotional song, specifically written for the purpose of adoration or prayer, and typically addressed to a deity or deities, or to a prominent figure or personification. The word ''hymn'' d ...

writer poet and author.

Education and career

Anders Karlsen Hovden was born in

Ørsta Municipality is a List of municipalities of Norway, municipality in Møre og Romsdal Counties of Norway, county, Norway. It is part of the Sunnmøre Districts of Norway, region of Western Norway. The administrative centre of the municipality is the Ørsta (v ...

Romsdalen Romsdalen is a valley in the western part of Norway. The long valley runs from the Romsdalsfjorden through Rauma Municipality in Møre og Romsdal county and into Lesja Municipality in Innlandet county. It is the valley of the Rauma (river), Rau ...

county, Norway. His parents were Karl Rasmussen Hovden and Johanne Andersdatter Velle. His father died when he was 16, but fellow Ørsta native

Ivar Aasen Ivar Andreas Aasen (; 5 August 1813 – 23 September 1896) was a Norwegian philologist, lexicographer, playwright, and poet. He is best known for having assembled one of the two official written versions of the Norwegian language, Nynorsk, from ...

helped him get an education: first the teachers' training college in Volda, then examen artium at the

University of Oslo The University of Oslo (; ) is a public university, public research university located in Oslo, Norway. It is the List of oldest universities in continuous operation#Europe, oldest university in Norway. Originally named the Royal Frederick Univ ...

. Hovden became cand.theol. in 1886 and then worked some years as a teacher. From 1891 he was a Lutheran minister in a number of different places in Norway: Lista Municipality, Son Municipality, Sande Municipality, Vanse Municipality, Krødsherad Municipality, Melhus Municipality and Østre Toten Municipality.

Hymnwriter

Hovden was the author of over 250 hymns. He debuted in the mid-1890s with a couple of poetry collections, however, it was in 1897 with his third collection, ''Tungalda'' that he received popular acclaim in wider circles. His breakthrough came in 1901 with the poetry cycle ''Bonden''. He was also on the revision board for '' Landstads kirkesalmebog'' which was the main hymnal for the

Church of Norway The Church of Norway (, , , ) is an Lutheranism, evangelical Lutheran denomination of Protestant Christianity and by far the largest Christian church in Norway. Christianity became the state religion of Norway around 1020, and was established a ...

prior to 1926. From 1928, he was co-editor the Norwegian hymnal, '' Nynorsk salmebok'', which contained 23 original hymns by Anders Hovden and 16 translations from

nynorsk Nynorsk (; ) is one of the two official written standards of the Norwegian language, the other being Bokmål. From 12 May 1885, it became the state-sanctioned version of Ivar Aasen's standard Norwegian language (''Landsmål''), parallel to the Da ...

. Most notable among his compositions was the Norwegian national hymn ''Fagert er landet'' ("Fair is the country"). He retired from his ministry in 1931.

Author

Hovden also wrote a number of books, of which his autobiography ''Attersyn'' (1926) is best known. He also wrote ''Per Sivle – ei livssoge'' (1905), the first biography of Norwegian poet and novelist, Per Sivle. Published one year after his death, it contributed to the then obscure Sivle's increasing national popularity.

Bibliography

* ''Sunnmøringen'' (1894) * ''Sviv'' (1895) * ''Heimhug'' (1896) * ''Tungalda'' (1897) * ''Bonden'' (1901) *''Per Sivle – ei livssoge'' (1905) * ''Gate og grend'' (1905) * ''Stormfugl'' (1906) * ''Solhov'' (1907) * ''Liv og lagmand'' (1908) * ''Attersyn'' (1926)

Personal life

Anders Hovden was married twice and was the father of ten children. His first wife Lina Marie Devold (1865–1895), died after only four years of marriage and the birth of two children. Two years later Hovden married with Kari Huglen (1879–1963). They had eight children together.

References

External links

Digitized books by Hovden
in the National Library of Norway {{DEFAULTSORT:Hovden, Anders 1860 births 1943 deaths People from Ørsta 20th-century Norwegian Lutheran clergy Norwegian autobiographers Norwegian writers Norwegian Lutheran hymnwriters Norwegian songwriters University of Oslo alumni 19th-century Norwegian Lutheran clergy