Uploaded January 2016 | Updated September 2026, 3 weeks ago
"Lofsöngur" ("Hymn"), also known as "Ó Guð vors lands" ("O, God of Our Land"), is the national anthem of the Republic of Iceland ( Lýðveldið Ísland). The lyrics are by Matthías Jochumsson and the music by Sveinbjörn Sveinbjörnsson. It was adopted in 1944.
In Iceland, nation-wide celebrations were held throughout 1874 to mark the 1000th anniversary of the first Norse settlement of the island. (This is the “Iceland’s thousand years” that are referenced in the anthem.) To mark the occassion, the Bishop of Iceland decreed that church services on August 2 of that year were to be held based on the anniversary, and the text to be presented was Psalm 90. The Rev. Matthías Jochumsson then decided to write a poem based on the Biblical text and the millennial anniversary. While abroad in Edinburgh, Scotland, he met up with Sveinbjörn Sveinbjörnsson, who Jochumsson asked to compose music for his poem.
While popular, it was not considered a national anthem. Icelandic independence was still over 40 years away. At the time that “Ó, Guð vors lands” (O, God of Our Land) was written, Icelanders usually sung “Eldgamla Ísafold” by Bjarni Thorarensen as a national anthem. However, that song had anti-Danish (the colonial power) lyrics and was set to the tune of the British national anthem. Therefore “Ó, Guð vors lands” (O, God of Our Land) was played as the national anthem when soverignity was proclaimed in 1918. The anthem has three verses, but the first is usually the one sung.
"Lofsöngur" ("Hymn"), also known as "Ó Guð vors lands" ("O, God of Our Land"), is the national anthem of the Republic of Iceland ( Lýðveldið Ísland). The lyrics are by Matthías Jochumsson and the music by Sveinbjörn Sveinbjörnsson. It was adopted in 1944.
In Iceland, nation-wide celebrations were held throughout 1874 to mark the 1000th anniversary of the first Norse settlement of the island. (This is the “Iceland’s thousand years” that are referenced in the anthem.) To mark the occassion, the Bishop of Iceland decreed that church services on August 2 of that year were to be held based on the anniversary, and the text to be presented was Psalm 90. The Rev. Matthías Jochumsson then decided to write a poem based on the Biblical text and the millennial anniversary. While abroad in Edinburgh, Scotland, he met up with Sveinbjörn Sveinbjörnsson, who Jochumsson asked to compose music for his poem.
While popular, it was not considered a national anthem. Icelandic independence was still over 40 years away. At the time that “Ó, Guð vors lands” (O, God of Our Land) was written, Icelanders usually sung “Eldgamla Ísafold” by Bjarni Thorarensen as a national anthem. However, that song had anti-Danish (the colonial power) lyrics and was set to the tune of the British national anthem. Therefore “Ó, Guð vors lands” (O, God of Our Land) was played as the national anthem when soverignity was proclaimed in 1918. The anthem has three verses, but the first is usually the one sung.
![National Anthem: Czech Republic - Kde domov můj [Remastered]](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/e12rGRO4JuA/mqdefault.jpg "National Anthem: Czech Republic - Kde domov můj [Remastered]
Kde domov můj is the national anthem of the Czech Republic (Czechia) , written by the composer František Škroup and the playwright Josef Kajetán Tyl.
The piece was written as a part of the incidental music to the comedy Fidlovačka aneb Žádný hněv a žádná rvačka (Fidlovačka, or No Anger and No Brawl). It was first performed by Karel Strakatý at the Estates Theatre in Prague on December 21, 1834. The original song consists of two verses (see below). Although J. K. Tyl is said to have considered leaving the song out of the play, not convinced of its quality, it soon became very popular among Czechs and was accepted as an informal anthem of a nation seeking to revive its identity within the Habsburg Monarchy.
Soon after Czechoslovakia was formed in 1918, the first verse of the song became the Czech part of the national anthem, followed by the first verse of the Slovak song Nad Tatrou sa blýska. The songs reflected the two nations concerns in the 19th century when they were confronted with the already fervent national-ethnic activism of the Germans and the Hungarians, their fellow ethnic groups in the Habsburg Monarchy. Because of the linguistic and ethnic diversity of the First Republic, official translations were made into Hungarian and German as well.")
