How Grundtvig Became a Nation Builder

• Published in: Building the Nation pp. 192 - 209
• Main Author: Korsgaard, Ove
• Format: Book Chapter
• Language: English
• Published: Montreal MQUP 01.10.2014; McGill-Queen's University Press
• Subjects: Age of Revolution; Applied sociology; Behavioral sciences; Churches; Common good; Countries; Democracy; Elites; French Revolution; Government; Government officials; Heads of state; Historical periods; History; Human geography; Human societies; Kings; Legislative bodies; Legislatures; Liberalism; Lower class; Modern Era; Monarchs; Nobility; Parliaments; Peasant class; Political geography; Political ideologies; Political philosophy; Political regimes; Political science; Political systems; Social classes; Social sciences; Social stratification; Social structures; Social welfare; Sociology; Sociology of religion; Upper class
• DOI: 10.1515/9780773596313-011
• ISBN: 0773544054; 9780773544055

Nikolai Frederik Severin Grundtvig is rightly regarded as the single individual who has had the greatest importance in the formation of the Danish nation. In arguing this I make two claims that run as red threads through what follows. First, the building of a nation is a process of both creation and formation; second, the building of the Danish nation takes place in Grundtvig’s lifetime, with he himself laying the foundation. In his younger days Grundtvig had no ambition to be a nation builder. He was convinced that it was only a matter of time before the society into which