Grundtvig and the abolition of slavery

Grundtvig and the abolition of slavery[Grundtvig og ophævelsen af slaveriet]Af K. E. BuggeI efteråret 1839 indtrådte N. F. S. Grundtvig i en lille komite, hvis formål var at arbejde for slaveriets endegyldige ophør på de dansk vestindiske øer. Grundtvig deltog i arbejdet gennem alle de år, komiteen eksisterede, dvs. til og med 1848. Komiteen var blevet til efter opfordring fra engelske “abolitionister”, dvs. kredse og enkeltpersoner, der arbejdede for slaveriets ophævelse.Dermed indledes en næsten ukendt fase af Grundtvigs liv og virke. Formand for slavekomiteen var Grundtvigs mangeårige ven, botanikeren professor J. F. Schouw. I årene op mod forfatningsændringen i 1849 ansås han for en af landets førende politikere. Endvidere førte slavesagen til et samarbejde ikke blot med den siden så berømte statsmand D. G. Monrad, men indirekte også med Grundtvigs tidligere teologiske modstander, professor H. N. Clausen, en af tidens mest indflydelsesrige liberale politikere. Arbejdet i slavekomiteen indgik således blandt de personlige erfaringer, der i 1848 motiverede Grundtvig til at lade sig vælge til den grundlovgivende rigsforsamling. (Bugge 2003, bagsidetekst)

The International Dissemination of Grundtvig’s Educational Ideas. I: Motivation and Interpretation

The International Dissemination of Grundtvig ’s Educational Ideas: I: Motivation and Interpretation[Den internationale udbredelse af Grundtvigs uddannnels es tanker: I: Motivation og forståelse]Af K. E. BuggeI vore dage har Grundtvigs høj skoletanke bredt sig til en lang række lande uden for Danmark. I bidraget rettes opmærksomheden mod den forståelse af Grundtvigs tanker, der har været den motiverende drivkraft i denne udbredelse.Tre faser kan iagttages, idet man kan lægge vægt på udvikling af henholdsvis landbrug, menneskeligt potentiale eller social-politisk retfærdighed. Der er her tale om de overordnede motiver, der dog i praksis ofte forbindes med hinanden. Til belysning af disse faser fremdrages eksempler fra Nordamerika, Afrika, Bangladesh og England. Det viser sig, at Rider Haggard, forfatteren til den i sin tid så berømte eventyrroman Kong Salomons Miner, har spillet en hidtil ukendt rolle i udviklingen

The International Dissemination of Grundtvig’s Educational Ideas. II: A World Map of Folk High Schools

The International Dissemination of Grundtvig’s Educational IdeasII: A World Map of Folk High Schools[Den internationale udbredelse af Grundtvigs uddannelsestanker:II: Folkehøjskolernes Verdenskort]Af K. E. BuggeUdbredelsen af Grundtvigs skoletanker til lande uden for Skandinavien var i 1980’erne og 1990’erne genstand for betydelig interesse. På den baggrund besluttedes i årene omkring årtusindskiftet at registrere så mange som muligt af de foreliggende undersøgelser. I 2003 offentliggjordes en rapport, der omfattede (1) en skematiseret oversigt, som på engelsk betegnes som Report 1, (2) en verbaliseret dansksproget redegørelse, på engelsk Report 2; under titlen Folkehøjskolernes Verdenskort blev denne udgivet af Grundtvig-museet i Udby, og (3) et vægkort, der illustrerer den globale fordeling af de dengang registrerede 695 institutioner.Da interessen for emnet fornyedes i 2011-2012, var tiden inde til at offentliggøre den verbaliserede rapport (Report 2) på engelsk i Grundtvig-Studier. Her redegøres for tilblivelsen, herunder for de anvendte udvælgelseskriterier. Endvidere omtales en række af de problemer, man mødte undervejs, samt de uventede gennembrud, man også oplevede. Supplerende er tilføjet to ekskurser, der belyser udviklingen henholdsvis i Indien og i Australien

Caring for continence in stroke care settings: a qualitative study of patients’ and staff perspectives on the implementation of a new continence care intervention

Objectives: Investigate the perspectives of patients and nursing staff on the implementation of an augmented continence care intervention after stroke. Design: Qualitative data were elicited during semi-structured interviews with patients (n = 15) and staff (14 nurses; nine nursing assistants) and analysed using thematic analysis. Setting: Mixed acute and rehabilitation stroke ward. Participants: Stroke patients and nursing staff that experienced an enhanced continence care intervention. Results: Four themes emerged from patients’ interviews describing: (a) challenges communicating about continence (initiating conversations and information exchange); (b) mixed perceptions of continence care; (c) ambiguity of focus between mobility and continence issues; and (d) inconsistent involvement in continence care decision making. Patients’ perceptions reflected the severity of their urinary incontinence. Staff described changes in: (i) knowledge as a consequence of specialist training; (ii) continence interventions (including the development of nurse-led initiatives to reduce the incidence of unnecessary catheterisation among patients admitted to their ward); (iii) changes in attitude towards continence from containment approaches to continence rehabilitation; and (iv) the challenges of providing continence care within a stroke care context including limitations in access to continence care equipment or products, and institutional attitudes towards continence. Conclusion: Patients (particularly those with severe urinary incontinence) described challenges communicating about and involvement in continence care decisions. In contrast, nurses described improved continence knowledge, attitudes and confidence alongside a shift from containment to rehabilitative approaches. Contextual components including care from point of hospital admission, equipment accessibility and interdisciplinary approaches were perceived as important factors to enhancing continence care

Menneske først - Grundtvig og hedningemissionen

First a Man - then a Christian. Grundtvig and Missonary ActivityBy K.E. BuggeThe aim of this paper is to clarify Grundtvig’s ideas on missionary activity in the socalled »heathen parts«. The point of departure is taken in a brief presentation of the poem »Man first - and then a Christian« (1838), an often quoted text, whenever this theme is discussed. The most extensive among earlier studies on the subject is the book published by Georg Thaning: »The Grundtvigian Movement and the Mission among Heathen« (1922). The author provides valuable insights also into Grundtvig’s ideas, but has, of course, not been able to utilize more recent studies.On the background of the revival movement of the late 18th and early 19th century, The Danish Missionary Society was established in 1821. In the Lutheran churches such activity was generally deemed to be unnecessary. According to the Holy Scripture, so it was argued, the heathen already had a »natural« knowledge of God, and the word of God had been preached to the ends of the earth in the times of the Apostles. Nevertheless, it was considered a matter of course that a Christian sovereign had the duty to ensure that non-Christian citizens of his domain were offered the possibility of conversion to the one and true faith. In the double-monarchy Denmark-Norway such non-Christian populations were the Lapplanders of Northern Norway, the Inuits in Greenland, the black slaves in Danish West India and finally the native populations of the Danish colonies in West Africa and East India. Under the influence of Pietism missionary, activity was initiated by the Danish state in South India (1706), Northern Norway (1716), and Greenland (1721).In Grundtvig’s home the general attitude towards missionary work among the heathen seems to have reflected traditional Lutheranism. Nevertheless, one of Grundtvig’s elder brothers, Jacob Grundtvig, volunteered to become a missionary in Greenland.Due to incidental circumstances he was instead sent to the Danish colony in West Africa, where he died after less than one year of service. He was succeeded by his brother Niels Grundtvig, who likewise died within a year. During the period when Jacob Grundtvig prepared himself for the journey to Greenland, we can imagine that his family spent many an hour discussing his future conditions. It is probable that on these occasions his father consulted his copy of the the report on the Greenland mission published by Hans Egede in 1737. It is a fact that Grundtvig imbibed a deep admiration for Hans Egede early in his life. In his extensive poem »Roskilde Rhyme« (1812, published 1814), the theme of which is the history of Christianity in Denmark, Grundtvig inserted more than 70 lines on the Greenland mission. Egede’s achievements are here described in close connection with the missionary work of Bartholomäus Ziegenbalg in Tranquebar, South India, as integral parts of the same journey towards the celestial Jerusalem.In Grundtvig’s famous publication »The Church’s Retort« (1825) he describes the church as an historical fact from the days of the Apostles to our days. This historical church is at the same time a universal entity, carrying the potential of becoming the church of all humanity - if not before, then at the end of the world. A few years later, in a contribution to the periodical .Theological Monthly., he applies this historicaluniversal perspective on missionary acticity in earlier times and in the present. The main features of this stance may be summarized in the following points:1. Grundtvig rejects the Orthodox-Lutheran line of thought and underscores the Biblical view: That before the end of time the Gospel must be preached out into all comers of the world.2. Our Lutheran, Biblically founded faith must not lead to inactivity in this field.3. Correctly understood, missionary activity is a continuance of the acts of the Apostles.4. The Holy Spirit is the intrinsic dynamic power in the extension of the Christian faith.5. The practical procedure in this extension work must never be compulsion or stealth, but the preaching of the word and the free, uninhibited decision of the listeners.We find here a total reversion of the Orthodox-Lutheran way of rejection in principle, but acceptance in practice. Grundtvig accepts the principle: That missionary activity is a legitimate and necessary Christian undertaking. The same activity has, however, both historically and in our days, been marred by unacceptable practices, on which he reacts with forceful rejection. To this position Grundtvig adhered for the rest of his life.Already in 1826, Grundtvig withdrew from the controversy arising from the publication of his .Retort.. The public dispute was, however, continued with great energy by the gifted young academic, Jacob Christian Lindberg. During the 1830s a weekly paper, edited by Lindberg, .Nordisk Kirke-Tidende., i.e. Nordic Church Tidings, became Grundtvig’s main channel of communication with the public. All through the years of its publication (1833-41), this paper, of which Grundtvig was also an avid reader, brought numerous articles and reports on missionary activity. Among the reasons for this editorial practice we find some personal motives. Quite a few of Grundtvig’s and Lindberg’s friends were board members of the Danish Missionary Society. Furthermore, one of Lindberg’s former students, Christen Christensen Østergaard was appointed a missionary in Greenland.In the present paper the articles dealing with missionary activity are extensively reported and quoted as far as the years 1833-38 are concerned, and the effects on Grundtvig of this incessant .bombardment. of information on missionary activity are summarized. Generally speaking, it was gratifying for Grundtvig to witness ho w many of his ideas on missionary activity were reflected in these contributions. Furthermore, Lindberg’s regular reports on the progress of C.C. Østergaard in Greenland has continuously reminded Grundtvig of the admired Hans Egede.Among the immediate effects the genesis of the poem »First the man - then the Christian« must be mentioned. As already observed by Kaj Thaning, Grundtvig has read an article in the issue of Nordic Church Tidings, dated, January 8th, 1838, written by the Orthodox-Lutheran, German theologian Heinrich Møller on the relationship between human nature and true Christianity. Grundtvig has, it seems, written his poem in protest against Møller’s assertion: That true humanness is expressed in acceptance of man’s fundamental sinfulness. Against this negative position Grundtvig holds forth the positive Johannine formulations: To be »of the truth« and to hear the voice of the Good Shepherd. Grundtvig has seen a connection between Møller’s negative view of human nature and a perverted missionary practice. In the third stanza of his poem Grundtvig therefore inserted some critical remarks, clearly inspired by his reading of Nordic Church Tidings.Other immediate effects are seen in the way in which, in his sermons from these years, Grundtvig meticulously elaborates on the Biblical argumentation in favour of missionary activity. In this context he combines passages form the Old and New Testament - often in an ingenious, original manner. Finally must be mentioned the way in which Grundtvig, in his hymn writing from the middle of the 1830s, more often than hitherto recognized, interposes stanzas dealing with the preaching of the Gospel to heathen populations.Turning from general observations and a study of immediate impact, the paper considers the effects, which become apparent in a longer perspective. In this respect Grundtvig’s interpretation of the seven churches mentioned in chapters 2-3 of the Book of Revelation is of crucial importance. According to Grundtvig, they symbolize seven stages in the historical development of Christianity, i.e. the churches of the Hebrews, the Greeks, the Romans, the English, the Germans and the »Nordic« people. The seventh and last church will reveal itself sometime in the future.This vision, which Grundtvig expounds for the first time in 1810, emerges in his writings from time to time all through his life. The most impressive literary monument describing the vision is his great poem, »The Pleiades of Christendom« from 1856-60.In 1845 he becomes convinced that the arrival of the sixth stage is revealed in the breakthrough of a new and vigourous hymn-singing in the church of Vartov. As late as the spring of 1863 Grundtvig voices a contented optimism in a church-historical lecture, where the Danish missions to Greenland and to Tranquebar in South India are characterized as .signs of life and good omens.. Grundtvig here refers back to his above-mentioned »Roskilde Rhyme« (1812, 1814), where he had offered a spiritual interpretation of the names of persons and localities involved in the process. He had then observed that the colony founded in Greenland by Hans Egede was called »Good Hope«, a highly symbolic name. And the church built by the missionaries in Tranquebar was called »Church of the New Jerusalem«, a name explicitly referring to the Book of Revelation, and thus welding together his great vision and his view on missionary activity. After Denmark’s humiliating defeat in the Danish-German war of 1864, the optimism faded away. Grundtvig seems to have concluded that the days of the sixth and .Nordic. church had come to an end, and the era of the seventh church was about to commence. In accordance with his poem on »The Pleiades« etc. he localizes this final church in India.In Grundtvig’s total view missionary activity was the dynamism that bound his vision together into an integrated process. Through the activity of »Denmark’s apostle«, Ansgar, another admired mis-sionary, the universal church had become a locally rooted reality. Through the missions of Hans Egede and Ziegenbalg the Gospel was carried out to the ends of the earth. The local Danish church thus contributed significantly to the proliferation of a universal church. In the development of this view, Grundtvig was inspired as well as provoked by his regular reading of Nordic Church Tidings in the 1830s

N. F. S. Grundtvigs Fond. Beretning om virksomheden 1983-87

N. F. S. Grundtvigs Fond. Report on the company 1983-87By K. E. Bugg

En upåagtet dimension i Grundtvigs tanker om “Anskuelsen”

En upåagtet dimension i Grundtvigs tanker om “Anskuelsen ”[An unnoted dimension in Grundtvig’s deliberations on “lifephilosophy”]By K. E. BuggeIn the introduction to his Northern Mythology (1832) Grundtvig outlines an ideological platform as a basis for rapport and cooperation with his contemporaries. Grundtvig suggests that a broad agreement should be possible on those elements of a life-philosophy, which in theological language are usually termed creation and fall. As far as the ideas of salvation are concerned, however, no unanimity is possible.The following study focuses on the basic assumptions of Grundtvig's argumentation. How could he be absolutely certain that his readers would readily accept his contention that every one of them, believers and non-believers alike, would agree that the ideas of the divine creation and the fall of man are basic realities of human existence? Such a presumption would certainly not be valid in the secularized cultural context of the following century. In order to answer this question attention is here directed towards the teaching aids used in Danish schools in the subject of Christian Education, especially those, which we know have been used in Grundtvig's own schooling, and which he later comments upon.The first of these books was published by Grundtvig's father, Johan Grundtvig under the title Catechismi Forklaring (1779), i.e. a thorough elucidation of Luther's catechism. Quite a number of such explanatory teaching aids were published during the centuries of Lutheran orthodoxy. Usually they were much too voluminous to be directly used by children. On this background Grundtvig's uncle, the prominent bishop N. E. Balle in 1791 published a new Lærebog i den evangelisk-christelige Religion, i.e. A textbook of evangelicalchristian religion, a booklet of 104 pages. As this book was officially authorized, it was widely distributed. By 1830 it had been reprinted ten times.In order to make the ideas of God's creation of the world evident to the children, both these books present the same argument: That just as a house is unable to build itself, in the same manner the world as such must have been built by a creator. Noteworthy is here that the argument in both cases is not rooted in holy scripture but in common sense and everyday experience.Also the argument in support of the idea of the fall of man is notable. Johan Grundtvig in his book combines biblical narrative with common sense. He raises the question, whether the sinfulness of Adam and Eve was inherited by their descendants. His answer is affirmative.Because they were unable to procreate children that were better than themselves, then, of course, their sinfulness was also inherited by their present day descendants. Balle goes directly into an argumentation based on experience and common sense: “Experience makes it clear that men are not as good, as they ought to be. All have some error.”Because of the authorization of the book, Balle's formulation gained a wide influence during the first half of the century. In the grammar schools preparing the young for university studies the dominating teaching aids in the subject were compendia of two extensive dogmatic expositions published by Ove Hoegh-Guldberg. A compendium by Mathias Galthen (1784, 2nd ed., 1793) was used at the grammar school in Aarhus, which Grundtvig attended during the years 1798-1800. Concerning creation Galthen underscores that the world cannot have created itself, and that “sound reason” convinces us that the world cannot have emerged by coincidence. On the theme of the fall of man he first reiterates the argument forwarded by Johan Grundtvig: That Adam and Eve could not have procreated children that were less sinful than themselves. He then continues: “Experience and Holy Scripture confirms that all men are imperfect”. Notable are here not only the smooth continuation from reason to scripture, but also the order of priority. Everyday experience and “sound reason” provide the intellectual basis necessary for understanding the biblical message.Arguments such as these were inculcated by merciless rote and were, therefore, firmly lodged in the minds of Grundtvig's readers. On this background he could safely assume that the ideas of creation and fall were readily at hand as preconditions for an understanding of what he had to say. The ideas were imprinted in the minds of his readers as self-evident truths based on experience and common sense and were, therefore, independent of any particular religious conviction. In this way a study of the books used in the Christian Education of his time provide a useful and hitherto unheeded tool for understanding Grundtvig's argumentation

Grundtvigs tale ved det udvidede landemøde i juli 1812

Addresses Read by Grundtvig at Diocesan Meatings.By K. E. Bugge.The years from 1813 to 1820 were deseribed by Grundtvig as "seven Iean years", and not without reason. At that time he was regarded by his scholarly colleagues as a fanatical visionary, and among his fellow-clergy he also stood alone. An essential cause of this was the bold and provocative attitude adopted by him at the supplementary dioecesan meetings. The institution of dioecesan meetings was introduced into Denmark in 1618, and from then onwards the meetings were held twice yearly, and in later times only once yearly. Here the Bishop gatbered together the deans of the diocese to discuss matters affecting the clergy. In 1809 Bishop Munter had a regulation put into force in accordance with wich all the clergy in the diocese were invited to take part in the so-called "supplementary diocesan meeting" which took place after the regular meeting was finished. The purpose of this gathering was to hear papers read on theological subjects. Grundtvig took part in these supplementary diocesan meetings during the period when he was curate for his father, Pastor Johan Grundtvig, at Udby (1811-13) , and again a couple of times in 1814. He read a paper on each occasion. The first time was in October, 1811, when he read a paper "On Scolarship among the Clergy". The original paper , the manuscript of which has been preserved , has not yet been published; it is directed against the excessive worship of reason by the "enlightened" school of theology. Grundtvig himself , however, published a revised version of his address in 1813. - The manuscript of Grundtvigs second paper contributed to a diocesan meeting - in July, 1812 - first came to light in the autumn of 1951. It is a long essay on "Enlightenment". Grundt vig here draws a distinction between three kinds of enlightenment : the inter­ pretation of the word given by the Bible Christianity of his forefathers, Kant's interpretation, and finally, the most widespread type of "enlightenment", which directly breaks down everything connected with Christianity of olden times. Of this last type of enlightenment he declares: "I venture to say that the present age takes pride in its shame ... for its enlightenment consists in the pursiut of earthly things ... To be absorbed in the confusion of the earth or to rove through the empty air, that is what people eaU enlightenment". True enlightenment , on the other hand, is "that which is given from above". Grundtvigs third contribution to a diocesan meeting (in the autumn of 1812) was the wellknown "Roskilde-Riim" which he published in 1814 with many additions and alterations. The main purpose of these verses is to set forth the crushing verdict of history upon the interpretation of Christianity offered by the "enlightened" school of theology. Grundtvig's fourth address read to a diocesan meeting - in July, 1813 - has not yet been published. Accor­ ding to a statement by Grundtvig him self, it dealt with biblical interpretation; and in the Grundtvig arehives there are at least two essays which , in accor­ dance with their subject and external criteria, could be this address. Here Grundtvig attacks the methods of biblical interpretation used by the "en­ lightened " school of theology, which allow human reason to judge whether the sayings of the Bible are worthy of belief or not. In his fifth addre.ss to a diocesan meeting - which, unlike the others, was read at the diocesan meeting at Maribo - Grundtvig describes how we are ju stified in expecting that the Church of Christ, in spite of the present times of tribulation, will renew itself again . This essay was published in "Dansk Kirketidende", 1876, with moder­ nised spelling. In his sixth and last address to a diocesan meeting Grundtvig attacks one of the shibboleths of the Age of Enlightenment: tolerance. The address, which gave so much offence that the Bishop forbade Grundtvig to show himself at the diocesan meetings any more, is printed in the edition of Grundtvigs works by Hal Koch and Georg Christensen.lt is characteristic of Grundtvigs addresses to diocesan meetings that they all had a very definlte obj ect: to contend against the excessive worship of reason by the "enlightened" school of theology, "which", as he says, "like a devouring worm daily eats its way into the heart of the people." This is of fundamental importance for an understandin g of Grundtvig's educational ideas as they were expressed in his writings of the 1830's and later. Here the key­ word is precisely "true enlightenment". In the addresses to the diocesan mee­ tings we have the first violent polemics against "false enlightenment". Both in these addresses and in his later educational writings Grundtvig stresses the point that true enlightenment is the light shed upon our human life by what the Bible - not reason - has to say about the human lot.

Det Chinesiske Examens-Væsen

Det “Chinesiske” Examens-Væsen[The “Chinese’’examination system]By K. E. BuggeGrundtvig's assaults on the educational practices of his time include attacks on “the Chinese examination system”. This surprising figure of speech is encountered in the initial sections of the third volume of his World History (1842), in which he deals inter alia with the first European sea-voyages to China in the early 16th century. In this context he describes the ponderous and exaggerated thoroughness in which the Chinese officials “examined” the Portuguese ships on their way to the harbour of Canton. Grundtvig, however, does not reveal any knowledge of the educational systems of China.According to Grundtvig’s footnotes his account is based on a comprehensive Portuguese publication, the Italian translation of which was accessible to him at the Royal Library in Copenhagen. The book is Fernando Lopes di Castagneda, Historia dell’ Indie Orientali (Venezia 1578). In this way we learn that Grundtvig was able to read Italian, a competence that of course was based on his supreme mastery of Latin

Grundtvig-samlingen på Instituttet for dansk kirkehistorie

The Grundtvig Collection at the Institute of Danish Church History.By K. E. Bugge.In the autumn of 1956 a new Institute for Danish Church History was inaugurated under the auspices of the University of Copenhagen. Shortly afterwards there appeared several articles by the Head of the Institute, Prof. Hal Koch, in which, among other things, he called attention to the exceptionally fine Grundtvig collection belonging to the Institute. The purpose of the present article is to give a brief account of some of the rarities contained in the collection.The main part of it consists of the so-called “ Thorsen-Collection”, which was made by the late Inspector N. F. Thorsen, who died in 1946, and which was bought in 1947 by the University of Copenhagen with a view to its use by the proposed Institute for Danish Church History. The catalogue of the Thorsen Collection contains about 850 items, even if periodicals and works in several volumes are reckoned as single items. The size of the collection is partly due to the fact that Thorsen acquired not only one, but several copies of a single work of Grundtvig’s, if these were printed on different kinds of paper. Furthermore, he also endeavoured to get hold of uncut copies, copies with their original dust-jackets, and works containing dedications in Grundtvig’s own handwriting to members of his family or of his circle of friends. Finally, the collection also contains some copies of proof together with a small collection of books which belonged to Grundtvig.Besides books and articles the Thorsen collection also contains a series of cuttings from contemporary daily papers and periodicals. In addition, there is a fairly large collection of works dealing with Grundtvigianism and Grundtvig’s family. In 1950 the collection was supplemented by the purchase of a picture collection containing 83 pictures and with a collection of about 170 cuttings from newspapers and periodicals. Since then the collection has been further supplemented, partly by gifts and partly by purchases. The present article gives a survey of the way in which the Institute’s Grundtvig collection provides us with new information about Grundtvig’s life and literary work, and shows how on the basis of this material we can correct various things which had formerly been reckoned as facts.The most interesting feature of the part of the collection which is catalogued under the title, “Grundtvig’s ancestors and family” , is the books by and about F. L. Grundtvig. The Institute possesses a complete set of copies of the weekly “Brevduen” (“ The Messenger Dove” ) which F. L. Grundtvig issued as a boy together with Svend Høgsbro and the brothers Joakim and Niels Skovgaard. In addition, there are a good many books bearing the signature of F. L. Grundtvig; again, others have belonged to members of the inner family circle and are therefore adorned with dedicatory poems in F. L. Grundtvig’s own handwriting. Unfortunately none of these poems was known in 1955, when Høirup’s book on F. L. Grundtvig appeared.In the part of the collection which is catalogued under the title, “Grundtvig’s collection of books” , there are two books in particular which arouse our interest. The first is Grundtvig’s own copy of the book, “Cathecismi Forklaring” (“Explanation of the Catechism” ), 1779, by his father, Johan Grundtvig, which was presented to Grundtvig in January 1791. Here and there in the book various additions have been inserted in Grundtvig’s handwriting. Next may be named Ulfila’s Gothic translation of the Bible in the edition of 1805 by J. Christian Zahn. The book belonged to Grundtvig, and later to his son, Svend Grundtvig. Grundtvig provided the glossary in the latter part of the book with numerous notes, both in ink and in pencil. These notes give us an interesting insight into Grundtvig’s ideas about the etymology of different words. A real tit-bit for philologists!Finally we must mention two smaller sections of the Institute’s Grundtvig collection: first a collection of notes on Grundtvig’s hymns and poems, and then a collection of unpublished material concerning Grundtvig. The lastnamed collection contains, among other things, an unpublished letter, dated 28/4 1867, dealing “ inter alia” , with Grundtvig’s mental illness in 1867.The Institute’s Grundtvig collection is probably one of the three most complete Grundtvig collections which exist. Only the collections in the Royal Library and in the Grundtvig Library at Vartov can be compared with the one described here. These three great collections supplement each other admirably, since each of them contains Grundtvigiana which the two others do not possess