
Henning Frederik Feilberg (6 August 1831 in
Hillerød
Hillerød () is a Danish town with a population of 35,357 (1 January 2022)[Askov
Askov is a city in Pine County, Minnesota, United States. The population was 364 at the 2010 census.
Minnesota State Highway 23 serves as a main route in the community, and Interstate 35 is nearby.
History
The village was originally within t ...]
), was a Danish pastor, author and
folklorist
Folklore studies, less often known as folkloristics, and occasionally tradition studies or folk life studies in the United Kingdom, is the branch of anthropology devoted to the study of folklore. This term, along with its synonyms, gained currenc ...
. His research and publications represent significant contributions to the field of
Danish folklore
Danish folklore consists of folk tales, legends, songs, music, dancing, popular beliefs, myths and traditions communicated by the inhabitants of towns and villages across the country, often passed on from generation to generation by word of mouth ...
.
Biography
Feilberg moved with his family to southern
Jutland
Jutland ( da, Jylland ; german: Jütland ; ang, Ēota land ), known anciently as the Cimbric or Cimbrian Peninsula ( la, Cimbricus Chersonesus; da, den Kimbriske Halvø, links=no or ; german: Kimbrische Halbinsel, links=no), is a peninsula of ...
as a small child, later becoming a pastor there, following in his father's footsteps. In 1856, his interest in
philology
Philology () is the study of language in oral and written historical sources; it is the intersection of textual criticism, literary criticism, history, and linguistics (with especially strong ties to etymology). Philology is also defined as ...
and folklore was encouraged by the time he spent working as a curate with Eiler Henning Hagerup in
Store Solt to the south of
Flensburg. In 1869, when he was a pastor in
Brørup
Brørup is a railway town, with a population of 4,516 (1 January 2022),[Eilert Sundt
Eilert Lund Sundt (8 August 1817 – 13 June 1875) was a Norwegian theologist and sociologist, known for his work on mortality, marriage and other subjects among the working class. He was an early pioneer of the field of sociology in Norway.
Ea ...](_blank)
. He married in 1860 and had six children to Louise Anna Andersen von Nutzhorn (1831-1897).
In 1891, on his retirement, he moved to Askov where he worked on a voluntary basis as a high school teacher while devoting the rest of his life to folklore. His collection and research was based on material from Jutland although he treated the subject from an international viewpoint, modelling his work on that of the Norwegian Eilert Sundt and
Andrew Lang
Andrew Lang (31 March 1844 – 20 July 1912) was a Scottish poet, novelist, literary critic, and contributor to the field of anthropology. He is best known as a collector of folk and fairy tales. The Andrew Lang lectures at the University ...
and
Edward Tylor
Sir Edward Burnett Tylor (2 October 18322 January 1917) was an English anthropologist, and professor of anthropology.
Tylor's ideas typify 19th-century cultural evolutionism. In his works '' Primitive Culture'' (1871) and ''Anthropology'' ...
from England. His extensive library of some 4,000 volumes provided comprehensive, international coverage of ethnology. By leaving his collection to a public institution, he can be credited for playing a significant role in the creation of the Danish Folklore Archives. He also helped founding the Danish Folklore Society (''Danmarks Folkeminder'') but he declined
Axel Olrik
Axel Olrik (3 July 1864 – 17 February 1917) was a Danish folklorist and scholar of mediaeval historiography, and a pioneer in the methodical study of oral narrative.
Olrik was born in Frederiksberg, the son of the artist Henrik Olrik. Artis ...
's invitation to become a member of the board.
["Præsten der blev sprogforsker og folklorist"]
, ''Dansk Folkemindesamplings arkiv''. Retrieved 29 November 2011.
Works
His two main areas of interest were
dialectology Dialectology (from Greek , ''dialektos'', "talk, dialect"; and , '' -logia'') is the scientific study of linguistic dialect, a sub-field of sociolinguistics. It studies variations in language based primarily on geographic distribution and their asso ...
and folklore, both of which were evidenced by his posthumous papers. His "Contribution to a Dictionary of Rural Jutlandic" (''Bidrag til en ordbog over jyske almuesmål'') (1886–1914) is so wide-ranging that it is virtually a Nordic encyclopedia of folklore, folk poetry, and folk beliefs. As a folklorist, he was particularly interested in researching basic phenomena, establishing relationships and providing general overviews (for example of peasant culture). His international approach is reflected in his collection of manuscripts, excerpts and records of foreign literature and his extensive correspondence with foreign scholars. His unpublished collection of some 250,000 references to the 19th and early 20th century literature of folklore is still considered an important reference work.
[
His most significant works on folklore are ''Dansk Bondeliv'' (Danish Farm Life, 1889–99) and ''Jul'' (Christmas, 1904)."H. F. Feilberg"]
''Den Store Danske''. Retrieved 29 November 2011.
See also
*
Danish folklore
Danish folklore consists of folk tales, legends, songs, music, dancing, popular beliefs, myths and traditions communicated by the inhabitants of towns and villages across the country, often passed on from generation to generation by word of mouth ...
References
External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Feilber, Henning Frederik
1831 births
1921 deaths
Danish folklorists
Danish male writers
19th-century Danish philologists
Danish ethnologists
Henning Frederik Feilberg
People from Hillerød Municipality