Help Needed with Two Danish Songs
March 15th, 2010

I got these questions over two days, so I figured I may as well post them together…

1) The first question is from Dr. Mike Mruzik who’s trying to help his Mom:

Hello,

Any assistance (with the question below) would be appreciated… Thanks

-Dr. Mike Mruzik

Here’s the letter from Mike’s mother:

This is what I remember of the song that Mr. Thygeson (originally Mr. Tierson from Denmark) taught Scoot and me, sung to a lovely Danish melody. It could be a nursery rhyme. I first memorized it around 1920 and it was an old classic even then.

It is years since I sung it with my buddy.

Dan an Saxon, Dan skul verdonder,
Fra and a and tilda nonder,
Dad o shay, dad o shay,
Dad o skatlat
Day day shay

I apologize if I have butchered this – but it has been a long long time.

Good luck in the translation.

Love, MOM

2) The second question is by Diane McCurdy:

I need some help with a Danish song that my Mom was sung to as a child. My Mom didn’t know any Danish even tho her mother came from Denmark. My grandma died when Mom was only 12. What we have as the song is written as it sounded to her in English, (so it isn’t correct English or Danish spelling). I tried to get it translated and think we may have one line of 6. Here is the song as she wrote down what she how it sounded in English:

1. Hest ver vian sloer in booked ( long e sound on Hest)
2. Leg er der it whosta smooked
3. Leg a mella skava sto ( long a sound on skava)
4. Rooder (Ruder) nee er gangsta smo
5. Owner tagget svaller quethra
6. Solan sinker ousta vethra

We were told that the 2nd line is something like – Ligger der et hus sa smukt ( Lies a house so beautiful)

I’ve searched for several years and couldn’t find anything close to it. I came across your site today and had high hopes! Any help someone can give us would be greatly appreciated. Thanks so much for doing such great work.

Cordially,
Diane

If anyone can help with either of these questions – with the original lyrics and/or translations – please let us know in the comments below.

Thanks!

Mama Lisa

This article was posted on Monday, March 15th, 2010 at 9:23 pm and is filed under Children's Songs, Countries & Cultures, Danish, Danish Children's Songs, Denmark, English, Languages, Mama Lisa, Questions, Readers Questions. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.

One Response to “Help Needed with Two Danish Songs”

  1. Simon Stampe Says:
    March 15th, 2010 at 11:43 pm

    In response to number 2.
    This song is originally a poem by Hans Christian Andersen, with the title “Hist, hvor vejen slår en bugt”. I found the full danish lyrics at http://www.ugle.dk/hist_hvor_vejen.html

    Hist, hvor vejen slår en bugt,
    ligger der et hus så smukt –
    hist, hvor vejen slår en bugt,
    ligger der et hus så smukt,
    væggene lidt skæve stå,
    ruderne er ganske små,
    døren synker halvt i knæ,
    hunden gøer, det lille kræ,
    under taget svaler kvid’re,
    solen synker og så vid’re.

    I den røde aftensol
    sidder moder i sin stol –
    i den røde aftensol
    sidder moder i sin stol,
    kinden luer dobbelt rød,
    barnet har hun på sit skød,
    drengen er så frisk og sund,
    æblekinden rød og rund,
    se, hvor hun i spøg ham banker
    på de søde pusselanker!

    Katten står og krummer ryg,
    men forstyrres af en myg –
    katten står og krummer ryg,
    men forstyrres af en myg,
    barsk han den med poten slår
    og igen som hofmand står,
    moder klapper barnets kind,
    se, hvor sødt det sover ind,
    drømmer om de engle smukke
    i sin lille, pæne vugge.

    Here is my best translation:

    Over where the road makes a turn
    There lies a house so beautiful
    Over where the road makes a turn
    There lies a house so beautiful
    the walls stand a little crooked
    the windows are very small
    the door sags
    the dog barks, that little creature
    under the roof swallows twitter
    the sun sets and so on

    In the red evening sun
    sits mother in her chair
    In the red evening sun
    sits mother in her chair
    the cheek burns twice as red
    the child she has on her lap
    the boy is so fresh and healthy
    apple-red cheeks and round
    see, how she in jest hits him
    on his cute legs

    The cat stands and bends its back
    but is interrupted by a mosquito
    The cat stands and bends its back
    but is interrupted by a mosquito
    harshly he hits it with his paw
    and again stands regally
    mother pats the child’s cheek
    see, how nice it falls asleep
    dreams about the beautiful angels
    in his small, pretty cradle.

Leave a Reply