Ljus af ljus o morgonstjerna

Author: Martin Opitz

Opitz, Martin, son of Sebastian Opitz, butcher at Bunzlau in Silesia, was born at Bunzlau, Dec. 23, 1597. He entered the University of Frankfurt a. Oder in 1618, and in 1619 went to Heidelberg, where he acted as a private tutor, and studied literature and philosophy at the University, paying also short visits to Strassburg and Tübingen. When the University was threatened by the Spanish troops (they sacked the town under Tilly in Sept. 1622), Opitz left Heidelberg in Oct. 1620, and with his friend, H. A. Hamilton (a member of a Danish noble family, travelled through Holland, Friesland and Jutland. In the spring of 1621 he returned to Silesia through Lübeck, and at Easter, 1622, became Professor of Philosophy and Poetry in the Gymnasium, fo… Go to person page >

Translator: Anonymous

In some hymnals, the editors noted that a hymn's author is unknown to them, and so this artificial "person" entry is used to reflect that fact. Obviously, the hymns attributed to "Author Unknown" "Unknown" or "Anonymous" could have been written by many people over a span of many centuries. Go to person page >

Alterer: Johan Olof Wallin

Johan Olaf Wallin was born at Stora Tuna, in 1779, and early displayed his poetical powers. In 1805, and again in 1809, he gained the chief prize for poetry at Upsala. In the latter year he became pastor at Solna; here his ability as a preacher was so striking that he was transferred to Stockholm, in 1815, as "pastor primarius," a title for which we have no exact equivalent. In 1818 he was made Dean of Westeras, and set about the task of editing a revised hymn-book for the whole of Sweden. This task he completed in 1819, and published it as, Den Swenska Psalmboken, af Konungen gillad och stadfästad (The Swedish hymn-book, approved and confirmed by the King). To it he contributed some 150 hymns of his own, besides translations and recasting… Go to person page >