Nuna asiilasooq
Ethnic anthem of the Kalaallit Inuit Co-national anthem of  Greenland | |
| Lyrics | Jonathan Petersen, c. 1920 |
|---|---|
| Music | Jonathan Petersen, c. 1920 |
| Adopted | 1979 |
| Audio sample | |
Orchestral vocal version
| |
"Nuna asiilasooq" (Danish: "Et vældigt klippeland", English: "A Huge Rocky Land") is a Greenlandic song used as an ethnic anthem by the self-governing Kalaallit Inuit people of Greenland. It was officially recognised by the government in 1979. Both lyrics and melody were composed by Jonathan Petersen, who wrote the musical score for Greenland's 1916-adopted national anthem "Nunarput utoqqarsuanngoravit."[1]
History[]
The song was written by Greenlandic organist and piano teacher Jonathan Petersen, probably during or after a stay in Denmark in 1910–1911, during which he passed his organ exam with distinction. It was originally set to the tune of the Danish national anthem, "Der er et yndigt land". Petersen wrote an original composition for the song around 1920, which retained the repetition of the third line of each verse, as in "Der er et yndigt land".[2]
In 1979, when home rule was granted to Greenland, the song was adopted as a national anthem, alongside "Nunarput, utoqqarsuanngoravit". In 1985, it was translated into Danish by theologian Mads Lidegaard. Both the Greenlandic and Danish versions have been published in the Højskolesangbogen.[2]
Lyrics[]
| Greenlandic lyrics[3] | IPA transcription[a] | Danish translation (by Mads Lidegaard)[3] |
English translation[4] |
|---|---|---|---|
I |