Drømte mig en drøm i nat

Drømte mig en drøm i nat is the oldest secular song in the Nordic countries. It is written in Old Danish and is included in Codex Runicus, a transcript of Scanian Law, as a final note written in runes, like the law itself, and an old type of musical notes. The text of the song is

:"Drømde mik en drøm i nat ":"um silki ok ærlik pæl"

The meaning of the words "silki" and "ærlik pæl" is obscure. Common interpretations in the literature are variants of "last night I had a dream about silk and a good fur coat" and "last night I had a dream about silk and expensive cloth". However, since the song appears to be written down by the same hand that must have spent days of scribbling the runes of the law on the parchment, it would be more natural if the lyrics of the song had something to do with the content of the document.Fact|date=April 2008 One would expect something about law and order, rather than a luxury life.Fact|date=April 2008 Interpretations that fit better with this expectation is "tonight I had a dream about justice and fair play" or "today I had a dream about equality and honest measure". Fact|date=April 2008

The word "silki" might be related to the old word "slik" - the same as. The word is still used in Norwegian, with a similar meaning. "Ærlik pæl" could be "honest measure", since "päla", and the related forms "pæl" and "pel", are old words for "measure". It comes from "pegel" in latin. "Ærlik" is used meaning "honest" ("ærlig" in modern Danish) on the very first page of the Codex Runicus.

Musical notes

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There are different interpretations also on the musical notes of the song. Tobias Norlind believed it was an early version of Staffansvisan, a song found in many versions about Saint Stephen and used in yearly rites. Norlind however did not attempt to interpret the rhythmical structure of the song. Another version was for several years the tune used to fill out breaks between radio programmes in Danmarks Radio. Here, the first half of the tune has been interpreted as iambs.

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Considering how traditional tuned, carried in oral tradition since the middle ages usually are structured, it is also quite possible to interpret the song as a typical dance tune consisting of four plus four bars.

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References

* [http://www.hum.ku.dk/ami/dream.html Drømte mig en drøm i nat] (html) Retrieved on 2006-09-27. Photo of the parchment, and a suggested interpretation of the lyrics en icon