This hymn has a deep history in Scandinavia reaching back long before the Reformation. The earliest surviving version is in Swedish, found in a fifteenth-century manuscript from Vadstena Abbey, the motherhouse of the Bridgettine nuns; originally, it consisted of ten stanzas of morning prayers. It was rewritten for Hans Thomissøn’s 1569 hymnal to reflect Lutheran theology, where it was titled “the ancient Christian morning hymn.” In 1709, Thomissøn’s version was placed as the very first hymn in a collection of 1,010 hymns. In 1826, the Danish hymn writer N. F. S. Grundtvig prepared a new version for the millennium of Christianity in Denmark, adding a stanza referring to Pentecost. Magnus Brostrup Landstad then placed the hymn in the Pentecost section of his 1870 Norwegian hymnal, where it has remained ever since. The prominent imagery of brilliant light held special meaning for believers in Nordic lands, where the lengthening, bright days of spring coincided with Pentecost, adding a profound dimension to this song of light and grace.
Sung at Our Saviour
2026