GRUNDTVIG, NIKOLAI FREDERIK SEVERIN. Nikolai Frederik Severin Grundtvig (1783–1872) was an influential Danish theologian, philosopher, historian, educationist, and writer. Each of his writings expresses one of his numerous professional voices, centered in his own heart. His childhood, the often turbulent course of his life, and his relationships with women, men, children, and diverse contemporary groups are all reflected in his authorial voices. His life was inseparably linked with the natural landscape, geography, and cultural milieu of Denmark-Norway, which he viewed from the perspective of a distinctive historical and universal consciousness. Grundtvig was founder of much that in the spheres of church, "folk," and politics is today perceived as characteristically Danish.

Biography

Born into a clerical family in Udby in eastern Denmark, Grundtvig was influenced by his upbringing in an orthodox Lutheran, pietistic parsonage. However, his theological studies (1800–1803) led him eventually to a rationalistic...