Magnus Brostrup Landstad

Magnus Brostrup Landstad (born October 7, 1802 in Måsøy, Norway and died October 8, 1880 in Kristiania) was a Norwegian minister, psalmist and poet who published the first collection of authentic Norwegian traditional ballads in 1853. This work was criticized for unscientific methods, but today it is commonly accepted that he contributed significantly to the preservation of the traditional ballads.

Landstad lived with his father Hans Landstad (1771–1838) who was also a minister, first in 1806 to Øksnes, to Vinje in 1811 and to Seljord in 1819. He took a theological degree (cand. theol) in 1827, and worked after that as the resident chaplain in Gausdal for six years. After that he worked in different parishes in Telemark, Østfold before he became minister of Sandar in Vestfold in 1859. He married Wilhelmine Margrete Marie Lassen, in 1828. He is well known for introducing popular, contemporary Norwegian language into the hymns he wrote, contributing significantly to the spirit of Norwegian romantic nationalism which grew in Norway in this period.

His greatest single achievement was the Landstad Hymnbook (Kirkepsalmebog), which with later revisions was used in Norwegian (bokmål) parishes from 1869 until 1985. The current official church hymnbook contains a lot of his hymns and his translations of foreign hymns.

He was the cousin of Hans Peter Schnitler Krag.

The Landstad-institute, which lies in Seljord, is named after him.

He was a great grandfather of Magny Landstad, also a famous writer.

Publications

• 1852: Norske Folkeviser. 3 vols. Christiania: C. Tönsberg, [1852-]1853.
• 1869: Kirkesalmebok: efter offentlig Foranstaltning. Kristiania: J. W. Cappelens Forlag, 1871

Links in Norwegian

• Utstilling om Landstad, Karin Helene Hognestad, UBiT.

Persondata
Name	Landstad, Magnus
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Date of birth	October 7, 1802
Place of birth
Date of death	October 8, 1880
Place of death