Valdemar Rørdam (23 September 1872 – 13 July 1946) was a Danish

national conservative National conservatism is a nationalist variant of conservatism that concentrates on upholding national and cultural identity, communitarianism and the public role of religion. It shares aspects of traditionalist conservatism and social conserva ...

poet and author. His most famous poem "Denmark in a thousand years" was a contender for becoming the Danish national hymn.

Career

In the 1920s and 1930s, he was a major poet of national conservative bent, and the Danish national community was his favorite theme. In 1937 he received the

Holberg Medal The Holberg Medal ( Danish: ''Holberg-Medaljen'') is an award to a Danish author of fiction or writer on science. It is awarded by the Danish association of authors, and is an appreciation of a literary or scientific work or of the award winner's a ...

, and in 1937 and 1938 he was nominated for the

Nobel Prize in Literature The Nobel Prize in Literature, here meaning ''for'' Literature (), is a Swedish literature prize that is awarded annually, since 1901, to an author from any country who has, in the words of the will of Swedish industrialist Alfred Nobel, "in ...

. As many other right wing intellectuals he was a strong opponent of

Soviet communism Before the perestroika reforms of Mikhail Gorbachev that promoted a more liberal form of socialism, the formal ideology of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union (CPSU) was Marxism–Leninism, a form of socialism consisting of a centralise ...

. His son Helgo Rørdam had emigrated to

Finland Finland, officially the Republic of Finland, is a Nordic country in Northern Europe. It borders Sweden to the northwest, Norway to the north, and Russia to the east, with the Gulf of Bothnia to the west and the Gulf of Finland to the south, ...

, where he participated as a volunteer in the

Winter War The Winter War was a war between the Soviet Union and Finland. It began with a Soviet invasion of Finland on 30 November 1939, three months after the outbreak of World War II, and ended three and a half months later with the Moscow Peac ...

, and was killed in battle against the Soviets. In 1941 Rørdam published the poem "Then came the day that we have long awaited", in which he praised

Adolf Hitler Adolf Hitler (20 April 1889 – 30 April 1945) was an Austrian-born German politician who was the dictator of Nazi Germany from 1933 until Death of Adolf Hitler, his suicide in 1945. Adolf Hitler's rise to power, He rose to power as the lea ...

's efforts to eradicate

bolshevism Bolshevism (derived from Bolshevik) is a revolutionary socialist current of Soviet Leninist and later Marxist–Leninist political thought and political regime associated with the formation of a rigidly centralized, cohesive and disciplined p ...

. Having tried in vain to have the poem published in the newspaper

Politiken ''Politiken'' is a leading Danish daily broadsheet newspaper, published by JP/Politikens Hus in Copenhagen, Denmark. It was founded in 1884 and played a role in the formation of the Danish Social Liberal Party. Since 1970 it has been indepe ...

, he published it in the

Nazi Nazism (), formally named National Socialism (NS; , ), is the far-right politics, far-right Totalitarianism, totalitarian socio-political ideology and practices associated with Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party (NSDAP) in Germany. During H ...

student magazine "Akademisk Aktion". The poem was not well received in German occupied Denmark, and Rørdam became a pariah. The fact that he later wrote a tribute to

Christian Frederik von Schalburg Christian Frederik von Schalburg (15 April 1906 – 2 June 1942) was a Danish army officer, the second commander of Free Corps Denmark and brother of Vera Schalburg. Biography Christian Frederik von Schalburg received a military education in the ...

, the leader of the Danish

Free Corps Denmark Free Corps Denmark (, ) was a unit of the Waffen-SS during World War II consisting of volunteers from Denmark. It was established following an initiative by the National Socialist Workers' Party of Denmark (DNSAP) in the immediate aftermath of t ...

who fell on the eastern front in German service, did not ameliorate matters. Rørdam retired to western

Zealand Zealand ( ) is the largest and most populous islands of Denmark, island in Denmark proper (thus excluding Greenland and Disko Island, which are larger in size) at 7,031 km2 (2715 sq. mi.). Zealand had a population of 2,319,705 on 1 Januar ...

, where he stayed for several years with his friend Sigurd Swane until his death in 1946.

Bibliography

* ''Sol og Sky'' (1895) * ''Tre strænge'' (1897) * ''Luft og land'' (1910) * ''Fugleviser'' (1924) * ''Tale fra Skafottet'' (1945)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Rordam, Valdemar 1872 births 1946 deaths Danish male poets Danish male novelists 20th-century Danish novelists 20th-century Danish poets 20th-century Danish male writers