ICELANDIC LYRICS

Ó, guđ vors lands! Ó, lands vors guđ!
Vér lofum ţitt heilaga, heilaga nafn!
Úr sólkerfum himnanna hnýta ţér krans
ţínir herskarar, tímanna safn.
Fyrir ţér er einn dagur sem ţúsund ár
og ţúsund ár dagur, ei meir:
eitt eilífđar smáblóm međ titrandi tár,
sem tilbiđur guđ sinn og deyr.
Íslands ţúsund ár, 
Íslands ţúsund ár,
eitt eilífđar smáblóm međ titrandi tár,
sem tilbiđur guđ sinn og deyr.

Ó, guđ, ó, guđ! Vér föllum fram
og fórnum ţér brennandi, brennandi sál,
guđ fađir, vor drottinn frá kyni til kyns,
og vér kvökum vort helgasta mál.
Vér kvökum og ţökkum í ţúsund ár,
ţví ţú ert vort einasta skjól.
Vér kvökum og ţökkum međ titrandi tár,
ţví ţú tilbjóst vort forlagahjól.
Íslands ţúsund ár 
Íslands ţúsund ár 
voru morgunsins húmköldu, hrynjandi tár,
sem hitna viđ skínandi sól.

Ó, guđ vors lands! Ó, lands vors guđ!
Vér lifum sem blaktandi, blaktandi strá.
Vér deyjum, ef ţú ert ei ljós ţađ og líf,
sem ađ lyftir oss duftinu frá.
Ó, vert ţú hvern morgun vort ljúfasta líf,
vor leiđtogi í daganna ţraut
og á kvöldin vor himneska hvíld og vor hlíf
og vor hertogi á ţjóđlífsins braut.
Íslands ţúsund ár 
Íslands ţúsund ár
verđi gróandi ţjóđlíf međ ţverrandi tár,
sem ţroskast á guđsríkis braut.

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ENGLISH TRANSLATION

Our country's God! Our country's God!
We worship Thy name in its wonder sublime.
The suns of the heavens are set in thy crown
By thy legions, the ages of time!
With Thee is each day as a thousand years,
Each thousand of years, but a day.
Eternity's flow'r, with its homage of tears,
That reverently passes away.
Iceland's thousand years!
Eternity's flow'r, with its homage of tears,
That reverently passes away.

Our God, our God, we bow to Thee,
Our spirits most fervent we place in thy care.
Lord, God of our fathers from age unto age,
We are breathing our holiest prayer.
We pray and we thank Thee a thousand years
For safely protected we stand;
We pray and we bring Thee our homage of tears
Our destiny rest in Thy hand.
Iceland's thousand years
The hoarfrost of morning which tinted those years,
Thy sun rising high, shall command!

Our country's God! Our country's God!
Our life is a feeble and quivering reed;
We perish, deprived of Thy spirit and light
To redeem and uphold in our need.
Inspire us at morn with Thy courage and love,
And lead through the days of our strife!
At evening send peace from Thy heaven above,
And safeguard our nation through life.
Iceland's thousand years!
O, prosper our people, diminish our tears
And guide, in Thy wisdom, through life!


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Iceland
"Lofsöngur" (Song of Praise)

Words by:Matthías Jochumsson
Music by:Sveinbjörn Sveinbjörnsson
Adopted:1944

Much like the United_States anthem, the Icelandic national anthem is originally
written for a particular occasion and it probably did not occur to either the
poet or the composer that the song was destined to become a national anthem.

In Iceland, nation-wide celebrations were held throughout 1874 to mark the
1000th anniversary of the first Norse settlement of the island. (This is the
"Iceland's thousand years" that are referenced in the anthem.) To mark the
occassion, the Bishop of Iceland decreed that church services on August 2 of
that year were to be held based on the anniversary, and the text to be
presented was Psalm 90. The Rev. Matthías Jochumsson then decided to write a
poem based on the Biblical text and the millennial anniversary. While abroad in
Edinburgh, Scotland, he met up with Sveinbjörn Sveinbjörnsson, who Jochumsson
asked to compose music for his poem.

While popular, it was not considered a national anthem. Icelandic independence
was still over 40 years away. At the time that "Ó, Guđ vors lands" (O, God of
Our Land) (also known as "Lofsöngur" (Song of Praise)) was written, Icelanders
usually sung "Eldgamla Ísafold" by Bjarni Thorarensen. However, that song had
anti-Danish (the colonial power) lyrics and was set to the tune of the British
national anthem. Therefore "Ó, Guđ vors lands" (O, God of Our Land) was played
as the national anthem when soverignity was proclaimed.
Special thanks to:Josh Lim for some of this information.
