I know that my Redeemer

At the time when Praise! was published, this was still (for most editors and churches) a hymn waiting to be discovered. Yet the Icelandic original predates Watts; in 1982 Wesley Milgate called it ‘famous’ and even Charles Pilcher’s translation is over 50 years old. Hallgrimur Petersson (or Hallgrimm Pjetursson) began the full 104 lines of his Christian burial text with a expanded quotation from Job 14:2, ‘Even as a little flower …’ The full version was republished in Reykjavik in 1947, and the translation of 7 stzs appeared in Melbourne, 1950. The 3 stzs used here are from the end of the original, and this slightly adapted text is that of The Australian Hymn Book/With One Voice of 1977. As well as other Scriptures reflected throughout, its climax draws on 1 Corinthians 15:55, though the final lines go boldly beyond anything in traditional Christian hymns.

The choice of RUTHERFORD as the tune may seem to pre-empt 909 (qv), which gave it its name. But the somewhat eccentric French composer Chrétien Urhan wrote it long before the appearance of The sands of time are sinking; in Chants Chretien (Paris 1834) it was set to Eternel, O mon Dieu, j’implore ta clémence. It was published in England in Psalms and Hymns for Divine Worship, ed E F Rimbault, 1867. WOV sets the words to CRÜGER (484), but the French tune brings with it not only a quieter subtlety but also a kind of borrowed glory from Anne Cousin’s words.

b Gröf, nr Hólar, Iceland 1614, d Sourby, Iceland 1674. The son of a farmer and cathedral bellringer, expelled from the attached school for his satirical verse and sharp tongue. He was sent (or ran away) as a lad to Copenhagen where Brynjolf Sveinsson, a future Lutheran bishop in Iceland, found him working in a blacksmith’s shop and swearing eloquently, but recognised his other talents. He was placed in school in the city, and 4 years later chosen to teach the Christian faith to 38 ransomed slaves seized by corsairs from Algiers in 1627 and now been returned to Denmark. These pupils included Gudred Simonardottir, an older lady with whom he returned to Iceland, marrying her and fathering her child after her husband’s death. They lived in poverty on the Reykjanes Peninsula in the SW region, supported by his labouring and fishing, until Sveinsson (now bishop of Skálholt) accepted Hallgrim’s penitence and ordained him in the Lutheran Ch. From 1644 he ministered at Hvalsnes in his home region, but in 1651 moved to Saurbær (Sourby) on the Whalefirth where his hymnwriting began. His masterpiece (1656–59) was the greatest literary work was the Passíusálmar; 50 hymns on the passion of Christ’s suffering and death, reprinted some 70 times, by which he became one of Iceland’s greatest poets and the father of Icelandic hymnody, the Shakespeare and Watts of his native land. Much of the verse takes narrative form, leading into an application in spiritual teaching or adoration; many of the texts suggest the work of a preacher. He also came to be known for his concern for ‘the poor common people’. But in 1662 his house was burned down; later he contracted the leprosy which effectively ended his ministry and hastened his death, at the home of his son with whom he spent his last years. See also David G Hill in HSB211 (April 1997); and Bp Sigurbjörn Einarsson’s 1978 introduction to the translation by Arthur C Gook (of the Christian Brethren, 1883-1959) of Hymns of the Passion. One drawback of Gook’s posthumously-published versions is that his ingenuity sometimes affects their impact on their readers or singers. Translations have also appeared in Latin, Danish and Chinese. No.907.

b Oxford 1879, d Sydney, NSW, Australia 1961. Charterhouse Sch; Hertford Coll Oxford (BA, MA, BD). Ordained in 1903, he was a curate in Birmingham before becoming chaplain to Bp Handley Moule of Durham (qv, 1905) and principal of the Bishop’s Hostel. In 1906 he moved to Toronto, Canada, where he stayed for 30 years, first teaching Gk at Wycliffe Coll, then as curate of St James’s Cathedral, 1910–16. For 10 years he played bass clarinet in the Toronto Symphony Orchestra. Overlapping with a period as precentor of the Church of the Resurrection, he again taught at Wycliffe Coll (Prof of OT Literature 1919–23, and of NT Language and Literature 1923–26), and served as canon and precentor of St Alban’s Toronto from 1931 until 1936 when he became Bishop-Coadjutor of Sydney, Australia. During his 20 years there he lectured at Moore Theological Coll and was a member of the Board of Studies in Divinity at the Univ of Sydney. He was also a pioneer specialist in Icelandic studies, publishing standard translations of Icelandic works in 1913 (as Passion Hymns of Iceland, see also under H Petersson), 1923 (meditations on Christ’s passion) and 1950 (other Christian classics). In 1938, 3 of his translated texts and 4 tunes appeared in Canada’s Book of Common Praise, and he was secretary of the committee planning an Australian Church Hymn Book in the wartime conditions of 1943–45. What emerged in 1947 was an Australian Supplement to the Canadian book, which included 13 of his hymns and 12 tunes. One text and two translations were chosen for the book known outside Australia as With One Voice. As with many translations from Welsh hymns, it appears hard to catch in English the full poetic flavour of the original. No.907.