Scandinavian abstract

Da Nordahl Grieg arbeidet på Norge i våre hjerter (1929), skriver han i et brev hjem at samlingen er fylt av «pene, bent frem gudelige» vers moren nok vil like, og fortsetter så: «Kanskje jeg blir salmedikter før du vet ordet av det» (i Vold, 1983: 62). Han skulle bare visst at i 2011 mente et flertall både i Kirkerådet og i bispekollegiet at «Til ungdommen», et bestillingsdikt fra hans mest stalinistiske periode, egnet seg for innlemmelse i nettopp Den norske kirkes salmebok.

English abstract

The History of «Til ungdommen»

Nordahl Grieg wrote «Til ungdommen» (1936) in his Stalinist period, in order to raise political support for what he believed in. After the terror attacks on 22 July 2011, the poem was sung at memorial events, and the Church of Norway decided to include it in the new Hymn Book. The discussion this decision created did not relate to the poem’s original political context, but questioned whether the text – containing no perception of God – was appropriate for the church and whether it did not actually ‘belong’ to The Norwegian Humanist Association (Human-Etisk Forbund). What happens if we study «Til ungdommen» from the perspective of book history and trace its sociology, the poet’s project and the uses it has been put to? Actually, the reception history of the text demonstrates the whole history of texts, as it was written for oral performance, then printed in a magazine to be read and later repeatedly anthologized. It was set to music, has been recorded numerous times and may now be read and heard on the Internet. Because of its emotional appeal, «Til ungdommen» has fulfilled many and contradictory functions.

Keywords:Nordahl Grieg,«Til ungdommen»,Veien frem,book history