Lina Sandell

Lina Sandell [1]
Born Karolina Wilhelmina Sandell
(1832-10-03)3 October 1832
Fröderyd, Sweden
Died 27 July 1903(1903-07-27) (aged 70)
Stockholm, Sweden
Occupation hymnwriter
Spouse(s) Carl Oscar Berg, m. 1867

Lina Sandell (full name: Karolina Wilhelmina Sandell-Berg) (3 October 1832–27 July 1903) was a Swedish poet and author of gospel hymns.[2]

Background

The daughter of a Lutheran minister, Sandell grew up in the rectory at Fröderyd parish in the Diocese of Växjö in Småland, Sweden. At the age of 26 she accompanied her father, Jonas Sandell, on a boat trip across Lake Vättern, during which he fell overboard and drowned in her presence. The tragedy inspired some of her first hymns as she poured out her broken heart in many of her songs.[3]

Career

Sandell went on to write over six hundred hymns, including Tryggare kan ingen vara (Children of the Heavenly Father) [4] and Blott en dag (Day by day).[5]

Sandell’s popularity owed much to the performances of Oscar Ahnfelt, who set many of her verses to music. He played his guitar and sang her hymns throughout Scandinavia. Of him she once said, "Ahnfelt has sung my songs into the hearts of the people". The "Swedish Nightingale" Jenny Lind also promoted Sandell's hymns by singing them in concert and financing their publication.[4]

“ It was in the midst of the Rosenius movement that Lina Sandell became known to her countrymen as a great songwriter. Rosenius and Ahnfelt encountered much persecution in their evangelical efforts. King Karl XV, ruler of the united kingdoms of Sweden and Norway, was petitioned to forbid Ahnfelt’s preaching and singing. The monarch refused until he had had an opportunity to hear the “spiritual troubadour.” Ahnfelt was commanded to appear at the royal palace. Being considerably perturbed in mind as to what he should sing to the king, he besought Lina Sandell to write a hymn for the occasion. She was equal to the task and within a few days the song was ready. With his guitar under his arm and the hymn in his pocket, Ahnfelt repaired to the palace and sang:

Who is it that knocketh upon your heart’s door
   In peaceful eve?
Who is it that brings to the wounded and sore
   The balm that can heal and relieve?
Your heart is still restless, it findeth no peace
   In earth’s pleasures;
Your soul is still yearning, it seeketh release
   To rise to the heavenly treasures.

The king listened with tears in his eyes. When Ahnfelt had finished, the monarch gripped him by the hand and exclaimed: “You may sing as much as you like in both of my kingdoms!” [4]

 ”

Personal life

She was married in 1867 to wholesale merchant and future member of the Swedish Parliament, Oscar Berg (1839–1903). They established their residence in Stockholm. In 1892, she became ill with typhoid fever. Their only child died at birth. Lina Sandell died in 1903 at the age of seventy and was buried at Solna Church in greater Stockholm. Oscar Berg died due to complications caused by diabetes in October that same year.[6]

References

  1. ↑ Twice-Born Hymns by J. Irving Erickson, (Chicago: Covenant Press, 1976) pp. 113-114.
  2. ↑ Scandinavian Hymnody ccel.org. Retrieved: 8 May 2013
  3. ↑ Per Hardling. "Lina Sandell" (PDF). augustanaheritage.org. Retrieved April 15, 2016.
  4. 1 2 3 The Story of Our Hymns by Ernest Edwin Ryden (Rock Island, IL: Augustana Book Concern, 1930) pp. 176-180.
  5. ↑ Inspiring Hymn Stories for Daily Devotions google. com. Retrieved: 8 May 2013
  6. ↑ Lina Sandell findagrave. com. Retrieved: 8 May 2013

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