Writing with the Dead – N.F.S. Grundtvig’s Use of Historical Sources

The project builds on thorough pilot investigations of Grundtvig’s interactions with international, historical texts and proposes that his authorship is largely a result of how he translated, evaluated, reshaped, and politicized these sources. By the project title, Writing with the Dead, we wish to argue that Grundtvig in his writings both used sources from the past and, simultaneously, engaged in a dialogic relationship with their authors. The governing hypothesis is that it is possible to demonstrate:

• How Grundtvig in his writings engages previous texts and how his choice of genre, subject matter, and style is inextricably intertwined with his treatment of these sources;
• How Grundtvig should be interpreted as a disseminator of European cultural heritage from antiquity to the 18th century.

To pursue these objectives, the researchers of the project will work individually with Grundtvig’s sources from specific historical periods and collaboratively as a team by:

1. Making shared use of the research infrastructure “Grundtvig’s Manuscripts Online”;

2. Sharing the theoretical and methodological strategies offered by Rhetorical Genre Studies and general insights from hermeneutics and conceptual history.

Late Antiquity: Grundtvig and the Early Church

PhD-Student, NN

Researchers have claimed that Grundtvig’s view of Early Church writings did not spring from source studies. Other researchers emphasize his deep dependence on the Eastern theology. A substantial group of previously unnoticed fascicles shows that Grundtvig intensively studied Western theology (e.g. Justin Martyr, Hippolytus, and Augustin) and clearly preferred it to Eastern theology. Grundtvig also read numerous foreign patristics. 

The Anglo-Saxon Period: Grundtvig and Old English Literature           

Co-I, Mark Bradshaw Busbee

In English literary studies, Grundtvig is known as a pioneer in the study of the Old English epic Beowulf. Research on his commentaries, editions, and translations of Old English poetry has made some use of the approximately 1,500 handwritten pages of unpublished writings about Old English literature in the archive. Many manuscripts remain unexplored and can provide substantial new insights – e.g., how Grundtvig understood the place of Anglo-Saxons in world history. The project will Investigate the Old English material including transcriptions and English translations. 

The Middle Ages: Grundtvig and Medieval Chronicles        

Postdoc, Lea Grosen Jørgensen

Grundtvig’s work with Old Norse literature (i.e. Saxo and Snorri) is well known. However, the archive provides new information about the many other medieval sources he also studied (i.e. the chroniclers William of Tyre, G. Villani, and Ericus Olai) and insights about his participation in interpretative debates with Enlightenment historians and Romantic thinkers (e.g. J.C. Gatterer, J.L.S. de Sismondi, and F. Schlegel). The project aims to reorientate research on Grundtvig’s view of medieval history. 

Reformation and Early Modern: Grundtvig and Luther and Lutheranism

PI, Anders Holm

Research has provided several specialized articles on Grundtvig’s disposition towards Luther and the Reformation, but no comprehensive scholarly study exists. To date, it has been unclear which sources of reformers and their successors Grundtvig used and which Danish and German literature he polemicized against. Analysis of more than 200 unexplored fascicles about Luther and the Reformation in the archive will help answer these questions.

Enlightenment: Grundtvig and the 18th Century                                 

Postdoc, Nanna E. Nissen

A trove of unexplored manuscripts contradicts claims of most Grundtvig research by showing that Grundtvig was also strongly influenced by new ideologies in the 18th century. The fascicles make it obvious that Grundtvig adopted his understanding of human consciousness from 18th century psychology, which, like Pietism and Enlightenment thinking, bears witness to a new view of humanity. This project aims to shed light upon Grundtvig’s combined criticism of and dependence on Die Neuzeit. 

Grundtvig’s Hymns and Their Historical Sources

CO-Pi, Sune Auken

Grundtvig regarded his hymns as more a record of the collective voice of the faithful through history than an expression of his own creativity. Consequently, many of Grundtvig’s 1600 hymns are translations and adaptations of previous religious poetry and therefore dialogic in their use of sources. This project analyzes the hymns as an exchange between Grundtvig and his many historical sources. The project will make use of a new GMO register of all available hymn drafts. 

Grundtvig’s Sermons and Their Historical Sources

PhD-Student, Cathrine Zander Ebdrup

Using of digital facsimiles and transcriptions of his sermons, this project examines Grundvig’s writing processes, revisions, and genre experiments to analyse how he drew upon vast numbers of historical and biblical sources. By combining genre theory and homiletics the study aims at offering new perspectives on Grundtvig’s preaching and nineteenth-century Lutheran sermon culture. 

Grundtvig’s Sources Related to Jews and Judaism

Co-I, Kim Arne Pedersen

The scholarly assessment of N.F.S. Grundtvig's relationship with the Jews has swung from idealisation to condemnation. Both assessments, however, have neglected his sources. If one holds his unpublished manuscripts together with his printed texts, threads can be traced back to older Lutheranism, the Early Church, and New Testament eschatology, which together shed new light on pro- as well as anti-Jewish statements in his writing. 

Grundtvig and the Bible

Grundtvig’s main source is the Bible. Research has shed light on how his use of the Bible developed after 1825. However, numerous unexplored fascicles in the archive contain information that will challenge existing research. An investigation of Grundtvig’s use of the Bible as a source is essential for the project but requires many scholarly perspectives. Therefore, we will organise a conference in fall 2027 that will result in an anthology with contributions from the research team and invited speakers. Prior to the conference, all participants will be asked to join three online training sessions in GMO, and they will be provided with unexplored material for the conference proceedings.

Sources and Genres

This international conference will add an overarching perspective to Grundtvig’s use of sources and genres. The conference will be held in the Fall of 2028.  Prior to the conference, participants will be asked to join three online training sessions in GMO and all will be provided with previously unexplored material. A main purpose of this conference is to create a more stable international network in Grundtvig research.

• Professor Heather MacNeil, Toronto University Canada.
• Professor Jeanine Brown, Bethel Seminary, USA
• Professor Gisli Magnusson, University of Iceland
• Director Peter Buhrmann, Verband der Bildungszentren, Germany
• Research librarian Jakob K. Meile, Royal Danish Library
• Associate Professor Jes F. Møller, University of Copenhagen