Talk:Kong Christian

A few comments on the changes:

  Hennes Værje hamrede svå fast,

If you write "Hennes" instead of "Hans", it no longer scans. Also, what is the deal with "svå" instead of "så"? Were the sound changes from Old Norse different than here, or did Riksmål standardize on archaising spellings? Arj 14:16, 25 Jun 2005 (PDT)

I'm not sure what you mean by "no longer scans". The word Hennes refers to the battleship Kong Christian (and not to the king himself). As is normal in maritime terminology, the feminine is used to refer to ships.

As for svå: The orthographic reform took place at the height of the Nordic romanticist period, so Riksmål orthography was based on the etymological principle with Old Norse as the arbiter. It is not meant to be a spoken language as much as a written one. One reads and writes Riksmål but speaks in a dialect. Notice also igegnem instead of "igennem". Boreanesia 10:07, 27 Jun 2005 (PDT)

What I meant is that "Hennes" adds an extra syllable, so it no longer fits with the melody. Also, would the feminine also be used for ships with male names? Arj 13:12, 28 Jun 2005 (PDT)

Sure it does! The one extra syllable does not matter. What's important is not the number of syllables, but the number of beats that the lyrics will contribute to the musical metre (i.e., the musical measure of stressed and unstressed beats). Both "Hennes" and "Hans" provide one stressed beat in the measure. Any melody can become a template for the lyrics, but it is never a strait-jacket. Many songs have an extra syllable or two here and there, serving the song and communication over the metre. There is often a pickup extra word or variation from verse to verse. Just open any songbook of songs and you'll often see this.

As for the use of feminine. Yes, ships with male names are still refered to in the feminine. It's tradition. Boreanesia 23:25, 28 Jun 2005 (PDT)