Can Someone Help with 2 Danish or Swedish Nursery Rhymes? We Have a Recording of Them!
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Can Someone Help with 2 Danish or Swedish Nursery Rhymes? We Have a Recording of Them!
Tuesday, May 26th, 2009Lori wrote:
Dear Mama Lisa,
I am so excited to find this website because I have been searching for many years to find out about two Danish or Swedish nursery rhymes (you can listen to them by clicking the link). My mother’s beloved grandfather, Lars Christensen, used to bounce her on his knee and recite these rhymes. She then passed them on to me…and neither one of us know what they mean. Lars’ parents were both from Denmark: His father from the Brenderup, Odense, area and his mother from Lynge, Juteland area. So we think the rhymes may be Danish and probably date from the early 1800’s. However, Lars’ wife’s parents were from Sweden: Her father from Vallby, Kirkedinge area and her mother from Sallerup, Malmohus area. So there is a possibility that they are Swedish.
They might be so distorted coming from the mouth of an old Danish man through the memory of a small American girl and passed on to another generation, but I am hopeful that someone may recognize them.
My dear mother’s 80th birthday is coming up and I would love to surprise her with a written version or reading of the original, an English interpretation, or any information about any one of these two nursery rhymes. No matter how silly, they are very important to us because they are a link to our sacred, and loved ancestral roots.
Thank you so much,
Lori
If anyone can help out Lori, please let us know in the comments below.
Thanks!
Mama Lisa
PS We know the first rhyme is a version of Ride ride ranke, and Lori checked the versions posted on the blog in the past, but couldn’t find it there.
Danish Kids Songs Sites plus a Danish Children’s Song
Thursday, February 19th, 2009Richard wrote to me recommending a Danish kids song site…
Hi
On this web page Rimogremser.dk there are several Danish kids songs with midi files.
Thanks for a good a good web-site ;)
Best regards
Richard
Thanks for the recommendation Richard. The site is nice! It has cool line drawings to go with most of the songs and tunes – though no English translations.
I picked one of the songs on the site that’s in the public domain (possibly 100 years+ old) and tried my hand at translating it. Below you’ll find the lyrics in Danish, the illustration from the site, a link to the midi and my translation…
Når vi sejler op og ned
Når vi sejler op og ned,
ser vi fisken svømme.
Ære, være, du er min.
Lise, Lise, hvor vi elsker dig.Når vi sejler op og ned,
ser vi fisken svømme.
Ære, være, du er min
Michael, Michael, hvor vi hader dig.Midi of Når vi sejler op og ned
Rough English Translation:
When we sail up and down,
We see the fish swim.
Glory, be, you are mine,
Lisa, Lisa, we love you.When we sail up and down,
We see the fish swim.
Glory, be, you are mine,
Michael, Michael, we hate you.I welcome improvements to my translation!
I searched around some more and found another nice Danish site called Dansk Folkemindesamling (the link here is for the kids song section of the site). This one had a different version of the same song (also in Danish only). This one also had a Quicktime recording of children singing it. It’s where I learned that the song goes back to at least 1900. It’s a circle game. One goes “swimming” under the “circles” raised arms. At the end of each verse one joins the circle. One joins them to walk around so that together they form a chain which gets longer and longer.
Here’s the second version of the song…
1 Når vi sejler op og ned
så ser vi fisken svømme
ære være vi er her
for Mia, Mia hvem elsker du?2 Når vi sejler op og ned
så ser vi fisken svømme
ære være vi er her
for Per, Per hvem elsker du?3 Når vi sejler op og ned
så ser vi fisken svømme
ære være vi er her
for Ebbe, Ebbe hvem elsker du?This version is friendlier. Here’s the English translation I came up with:
1 When we sail up and down,
We see the fish swim.
We are honored to be here
For Mia, Mia, who loves you?2 When we sail up and down,
We see the fish swim.
We are honored to be here
For Per, Per, Who loves you?3 When we sail up and down,
We see the fish swim.
We are honored to be here
For Ebbe, Ebbe, Who loves you?Once again, I welcome improvements to my translation!
Mama Lisa’s World also has some Danish kids songs with English, French and Spanish translations and midis. We always welcome more songs if anyone would like to contribute any and also if anyone would like to sing any for us… Feel free to comment below or email me!
Mama Lisa
The Itsy Bitsy Spider Around the World
Monday, October 13th, 2008Shirley emailed me looking for different versions of The Itsy Bitsy Spider. Here’s what she wrote:
I am desperately seeking 3-4-5 versions (songs) of Itsy Bitsy Spider for an around the world float.
Shame on me I left that chore until last and now I am having trouble. I’ve gotten English and Spanish. Please let me know if this is even remotely possible so I can make other arrangements.
Thanks Shirley
These are the ones we have on Mama Lisa’s World (you can click the link to get to the song page and to access the English, French and Spanish translations of the songs):
Denmark – Lille Peter Edderkop – The Itsy Bitsy Spider
Mexico – La pequeña araña – The Little Spider
Mexico – Itzi, bitzi araña – The Itsy Bitsy Spider
Philippines Ilongo – The Itsy Bitsy Spider – And Dutay Nga Damang
Spain – Itsy Bitsy Spider – Araña arañita
USA – The Itsy Bitsy Spider
France – L’araignée Gypsy – The Gypsy SpiderIf you would like to share the version of The Itsy Bitsy Spider from your country, please feel free to post the lyrics in the comments below or email a recording to me.
Thanks!
Lisa
Can anyone help with a Danish Nursery Rhyme?
Friday, August 29th, 2008Tim wrote:
Can anyone help with a Danish Nursery Rhyme called “Madiesen”? I am unsure about the spelling.
Apparently it is about a young boy riding a pig and falling through the ice.
Thanks,
Tim
If anyone can help with the Danish lyrics, and/or an English translation, please comment below.
Thanks!
Lisa
Multilingual Kids Books on the Web
Thursday, January 3rd, 2008I’ve been asked twice in the past week for free multilingual books.
Here’s a link I found called Books in Multiple Languages. They have English children’s books with translations in Spanish, French, Polish, Italian, Romanian, German, Chinese, Finnish, Swedish, Maori, Greek, Dutch, Farsi (Persian), Afrikaans, Croatian, Turkish, Russian, Japanese, Ukrainian, Portuguese, Arabic, Hebrew, Pennsylvania Dutch, Sloven, Indonesian, Malaysian, Hungarian, Dari, Hindi and Filipino.
If anyone knows of any other good multilingual book links, feel free to let us know about it in the comments below.
Someone was also looking for children’s books with animal sounds around the world. There’s one called Who Says a Dog Goes Bow Wow? by Hank de Zutter. You can click the link to see it on Amazon.
-Mama Lisa
Can Anyone Help with the Danish Song “Hun ska leve”?
Friday, June 22nd, 2007Doug wrote:
Mama Lisa,
I am in USA but our family still sings a song called hun ska leve. This is a traditional Danish song.
Does anyone know where to get lyrics and music for this traditional song? Please let me know.
Thanks,
Doug Hansen
If anyone can help out with this song, please comment below or email me.
Thanks!
-Lisa
Free Online Language Dictionaries
Friday, December 22nd, 2006While I have this link at hand, I’d like to recommend www.freedict.com. It’s a site devoted to free online language dictionaries. You can translate between English and the following languages:
Afrikaans
Danish
Dutch
Finnish
French
Hungarian
Indonesian
Italian
Japanese
Latin
Norwegian
Portuguese
Russian
Spanish
Swahili
SwedishI find that it can usually succeed at translating the words I need.
Feel free to recommend other language dictionaries that you like in the comments below.
-Lisa
The Origins of Some Scandinavian Toe Naming Rhymes
Wednesday, December 13th, 2006Julie and Beth wrote looking for the origins of two Scandinavian rhymes that are played with little kids while touching their toes. We’re wondering if anyone’s ever heard of these rhymes and perhaps knows what country they’re from and/or anything else about their origins. Here’s what Julie wrote:
I have been searching for the origin of a nursery rhyme that my friend said to her kids. The child has his/her shoes off and starting with the little toe, she names the toes:
Little Pea (little toe)
Peter Lou (next toe)
Oosey Nossey (next toe)
Toosey tossey (next toe)
And a Great Big Oppososso (big toe)I am not sure of the spelling. However, the University of Wisconsin Children’s Library assures me that this toe rhyme has Scandinavian roots. They said: Scandinavia is known for naming toe rhymes.
Please help me, I have been searching the origin of this toe playing game for years with my friend’s blessing. My friend is Scandinavian and she doesn’t remember where she heard this toe playing game. I assume that she heard it as a child.
Julie
Beth Bookschlepper wrote in looking for the origin of a similar rhyme:
I know this as…
Little Pea,
Penny Rou,
Judy Whistle,
Mary Tossle,
And Big Tom Bumble.I am also interested in its origins.
If anyone can help, or would like to share other similar rhymes, please comment below.
Thanks!
Lisa
Recipe for Pebernodder Cookies plus a Kids Game called Mouse
Monday, December 11th, 2006Pfeffernüsse is a traditional German Christmas cookie. Pfeffernüsse literally translates into English as pepper-nut. That’s because most traditional recipes for these cookies are spicy and call for pepper. I believe the “nut” part is because they were traditionally shaped like little balls or nuts. That’s where you get peppernut.
These cookies are also traditional at Christmastime in Denmark. In Danish they’re called pebernødder. They can also be found in English speaking countries. In the U.S. they’re called pfeffernuesse.
Laurel Skelton was nice enough to send me a recipe. Here’s what she wrote:
I have several recipes, but some call for baking soda, and produce a fluffier cookie – NOT what I consider classic Pebernodder. Following is the recipe that produces the smallest, nut-like cookie, but it doesn’t call for much spice. So I make the cookies with a combination of the recipes I have, adding spices from the others to this basic recipe:
PEBERNODDER (Peppernuts)
2 1/2 cups Flour
1 cup Sugar
1 cup Butter
2 Eggs
1 teaspoon Cardamom
1 teaspoon Cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon White Pepper
Grated Lemon RindTake out butter early to soften.
Sift dry ingredients into large mixing bowl. Add butter and eggs and grated lemon rind. Mix well. Kneed with hands until dough is smooth.
Let rest about 1 hour. Then roll out into ropes the thickness of a pencil, and cut into pieces about the size of a pea. Bake on greased cookie sheet in 325 degree F oven until golden brown (about 10 to 12 minutes).
(I omit the lemon rind, add 1 Tablespoon of Molasses and use the following spices: 4 t. Cardamom, 2 t. White Pepper, 2 1/2 t. Ginger, 3/4 t. Cloves.)
Laurel had asked me about a game that kids play with pebernødder. I posted her question on my blog. The first person to respond said that pebernødder were used like tokens for payment when playing games.
More recently, we got a response by Karin Parnis, who used to play a game called Mouse (Mus in Danish), with these cookies. Here’s what Karin wrote:
I used to play a game called “mus” or “mouse” with my grandmother. You must have at least 3 people to play. You line up 10 or so pebbernodder on the table and point one of them out while the person who is “it” closes his eyes. He can then eat the pebbernodder one by one until he touches the “mouse” and the other players shout “MOUSE”. You keep taking turns to be “it” until you’re sick of eating pebbernodder or until there are none left!
Many thanks to Karin and Laurel for writing!
If anyone would like to share other holiday recipes or traditions, please feel free to comment below or email me.
Lisa
UPDATE: I made these cookies both ways. I found both to be very tasty. My children liked the 1st recipe best, but my husband preferred the spicier ones.
*****
The pfeffernuesse that you see in the US are often made with baking soda and even baking powder. They’re also made into 3/4″ balls before baking – so that they’re a larger, fluffier cookie. When they cool off a little, they’re coated with powdered sugar.
The version above, especially the first version of the recipe, is pretty mild. They’re sort of like a slightly spicy tasting, crunchy, sugar cookie. Yum-my!
In the second version above, you taste white pepper mixed with sweet cookie.
You can tell in the photo above that most of mine came out a little bigger than they were supposed to. My kids helped roll them – so they were all sorts of sizes. But it was a great project to do with kids. For my 5 year old daughter, it was like playing with play dough. It was fun for her, yet she was a big help!
Question about a Game Called “Pfeffenusse” or “Pebernodder”
Friday, May 12th, 2006Here’s a question I received about a game played with a pepper nut cookie called pfeffernüsse, pfeffenusse or pebernodder…
I have no idea if that is the way you spell it, but it is a little spicy cookie, shaped like a ball and about the size of a pea. I think it might have originated in another country (Germany maybe?), but the Scandinavians adopted it. I have several recipes for it… but here is my question:
My Dad said there used to be games you played with them. Do you (or does anyone) know anything of these?
Thanks,
Laurel
I found out that these are Christmas cookies. They’re called pfeffernüsse in German. They also seem to be called pebernodder, peppernotter or perrarnotter – in various Scandinavian languages (I welcome help with the names!).
If anyone knows about this game, please comment below. I’d also be happy to post a recipe for them.
Thanks!
Lisa
UPDATE: Come visit my later entry where I post the Recipe for Pfeffernüsse, Pfeffernuesse, or if you prefer, Pebernodder, Plus the Rules to the “Mus” Mouse Game That’s Played with these Cookies!
A Song about The Sandman, who is also known as The Dream God and Ole Lukoie
Monday, March 6th, 2006David wrote me looking for a song. In the process of trying to find it, I learned a little about The Sandman. It all started when David wrote me…
I REMEMBER THIS SONG WHEN I WAS A CHILD. ALL I REMEMBER IS:
THE LITTLE OLEY
WITH HIS UMBRELLA
HE COMES ON TIPTOES
THIS FRIENDLY FELLOWTHAT IS ALL I CAN REMEMBER OF IT
DAVID BAUM
After searching a little I was able to discover that “Oley? should really be spelled “Ole?. Ole Lukoie is a character in a Hans Christian Anderson tale. He’s known as the Dream God and also the Sandman.
Next I was able to determine that the song that David was looking for was most likely a Danish song. The name of the song that I believe David is looking for is Den lille Ole med paraplyen, in English it’s called The Little Sandman (Ole) with the Umbrella.
I remembered that this song is on the Mama Lisa’s World Denmark page. Here’s what I found there…
Den Lille Ole med Paraplyen
by Peter Lemche
(Danish)Den lille Ole med paraplyen
ham kender alle småfolk i byen;
hver lille pige, hver lille dreng
han genner skælmsk i sin lille sengThe Little Sandman with the Umbrella
by Peter Lemche
(English)The little sandman with the umbrella
The friend of Snow White and Cinderella
When you are sleepy, he takes your hand
And guides you gently to fairyland.Upon further study, I found that there are more lyrics to this song. It was written by Peter Lemche in 1873 and Ole Jacobsen wrote the melody the same year.
Here are the full lyrics to this song in Danish.
Den lille Ole med paraplyen
(Danish)Den lille Ole med paraplyen,
ham kender alle småfolk i byen,
hver lille pige, hver lille dreng,
han lægger sødt i sin lille seng.Så vil han ud paraplyen brede
og uskylds hygge om lejet sprede,
da vil i drømme den lille fyr
fortælle dejlige eventyr.Han vil fortælle om stjerner klare,
og om den dejlige engleskare,
og om den yndige lille fe,
som alle børn vil så gerne se.Og har om dagen de artig’ været,
og kærlig fader og moder æret,
da kan så glade til sengs de gå,
og drømme smukt om Guds engle små.Og når om morgenen solen skinner,
da vågner de med små røde kinder,
og takke Gud for, hvad de har drømt,
og kysse fader og moder ømt.If anyone could provide an English translation to this song, please comment below, it might help answer David’s question. Thanks in advance for any help you can give!
Listen to the tune to this song
Read the Hans Christian Anderson tale about Ole Lukoie
Question about the Danish, Swedish and Norwegian Nursery Rhyme “Ride Ride Ranke”
Saturday, December 31st, 2005Pamela wrote me about a rhyme that I’ve been asked about many times. Here’s what she wrote…
Hello,
I am interested in finding a nursery rhyme in the Danish language which I learned as a child and have passed on to my children as well. I hope you can help me locate this rhyme. It is about an alligator or crocodile sneaking up on someone sitting on a log at the edge of a lake. I am probably not remembering the Danish words correctly, and I don’t speak Danish at all, but it sounds something like this:
A rita, rita, runkin
Demile hans hoose,
Devoon yemoon
Kot on a moose
On little wahoon
Syin on a bankin
Slick upon a slick a sow
Woof! Woof! Woof!I have probably completely ruined the rhyme with my bad memory, but I am very interested in learning it correctly. The Woof! Woof! Woof! Part is where the alligator eats the person.
Thank you!
If anyone knows this rhyme, many people out there would be grateful for the corrrect words. Please comment below or email me with the correct version!
Thanks!
Lisa
UPDATE: I posted one Swedish version of Rida rida ranka on my Swedish Song Pages, one Danish version of Rida rida ranke, and 2 Norwegian Versions of Rida rida ranke on Mama Lisa’s World’s Norway pages.
More versions in the comments below…
Question About a Danish and Swedish Rhyme Called “Tumble Tot”
Tuesday, September 27th, 2005Bill wrote me…
Perhaps you can suggest a source for me to confirm or renew a bit of Danish folklore that came from my mother. Mom’s mother had been a farmer girl near Haderslav in Schleswig-Holstein, and (around 1910) taught mom a finger game poem.
One counts off the fingers, from thumb, index finger, on through small finger, naming them in (I gather) whimsical Danish as…
Tumble Tot
Tumble tot
Longa mon Schlik-a-pot
Gulda-bron
Lille pate spille monWhich I understand to mean…
Tumble tot (infant, rug rat)
Tall man Licker of the pot (as after preparing frosting)
Gold bearer (ring finger)
Little Peter PlayboyWho could confirm this for me or give me improved spelling or pronunciation? It’s time to tidy up my memory for passing to the grandchildren.
-Bill
If anyone can help with this rhyme, please write me or comment below.
For Danish children’s songs, visit Mama Lisa’s World’s Denmark Page!
UPDATE: Linda is looking for the Swedish spelling of this rhyme. If anyone can help her out, please comment below. Thanks in advance! -Lisa
________
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