Dorothe Engelbretsdotter

Dorthea or Dorthe Engelbretsdatter ( born January 16, 1634 Bergen, † February 19, 1716 ) was a Norwegian writer of the Baroque. She wrote religious poems and hymns.

Life

Engelbretsdatters parents were Engelbret Jørgensen, who until 1647 Rector of Bergen Cathedral School and then pastor at the Cathedral of St. Olav, and his wife Anna Wrangel. She grew up in mountains on which the largest town in Norway was at that time, but also spent three years in Copenhagen. On October 24, 1652 she was married to Ambrose Hard Beck, who succeeded him as pastor after the death of her father. The couple had nine children; but died within a few years all of these, and also the husband.

Their first release was in 1678 Siælens Sang- Offer (German Sangesopfer of the soul), a collection of religious songs, which is also regarded as her masterpiece. In 1985, two years after her husband's death, was published with the poem cycle Andægtige Taareoffer for bodfærdige Syndere (German devout tears sacrifice for repentant sinners ), which is based on a book Heinrich Müller, her second major work. Her songs were easy to learn and to sing, which contributed to the broad anchoring their music in worship in Scandinavia.