N.F.S.
Grundtvig was a scholar, poet, hymnwriter, teacher, and pastor. Growing
up in rural Denmark at the end of the eighteenth century, his faith
was nurtured by pious parents and an old-fashioned Lutheran church.
As a first-rate medievalist and theologian, he fought against the
preeminent rationalism of his time, preferred the language of images,
and emphasized the interconnectedness of faith and culture. His writings
have had far-reaching implications, especially in education, and his
hymns remain favorites in many circles.
Education
was one of Grundtvig's major concerns. He wrote advocating the creation
of a unique school that would serve the Danish people at all levels
in society, proposing originally to call it the "folkelig
højskole"
(meaning loosely a school that would be "of and for the people").
His special passion was that these schools would give dignity to the
life of the farmer. They would awaken in rural men and women not only
a pride in the national culture but a love of learning that would
continue long after a student had finished the formal course of study.
Grundtvig's positive feelings for the working farmer were equaled
only by his contempt for those he referred to scathingly as "the
learned." |