Kongehusets digitale julekalender 2021.
Dansk
Med kun to uger til juleaften har Nissefar mere end travlt, for der er stadigvæk 800 års historie, som skal falde på plads før han kan fejre jul med resten af nissefamilien på Amalienborg. Således er Nissefar og Juleenglen kommet til Danmarks ældste by, Ribe, hvor de to venner lander i området, hvor det gamle kongeslot Riberhus engang lå. Det er dog mange, mange år siden, at konger og dronninger boede her, men Juleenglen kan fortælle, at der i middelalderen var høj aktivitet på slottet.
”Du skal forestille dig, at du er tilbage i Valdemarernes storhedstid,” fortæller Juleenglen og peger ud over området med sine små papvinger. Tidsperioden, som englen lærer Nissefar om, omhandler de år i Danmarkshistorien, hvor kongerne Valdemar 1. den Store og hans to sønner Knud 4. og Valdemar 2. Sejr regerede over landet og hvor riget voksede betydeligt. Omkring år 1220 var det danske kongerige blevet så stort, at Kong Valdemar 2. fik tilnavnet ”Sejr”, og et sagn fortæller, at kongen som et sejrsvarsel så et blodrødt Dannebrog dale ned fra himlen over det nordlige Estland.
Nissefar hopper lidt rundt for sig selv på slotsbanken, hvor det gamle Riberhus lå, og hvor Valdemar Sejr også skulle have boet af og til. Et vindpust tager fat i den lille nisse og blæser ham op på en statues arm. ”Hvem er du?”, spørger Nissefar statuen, men han kommer hurtigt i tanke om, at statuer jo ikke kan svare. ”Det er en statue af Dronning Dagmar. Hun var Valdemar Sejrs første hustru,” fortæller Juleenglen. ”Men Dronningen døde ganske ung. Faktisk lige her, hvor vi står nu!”.
Nissefar tænker så det knager. Han har nemlig fået en melodi og sang på hjernen – eller i huen, som han plejer at kalde det, og pludselig synger Nissefar af karsken bælg "Dronning Dagmar ligger i Ribe syg". Faktisk når Nissefar at synge samtlige 22 vers af folkevisen om den unge dronnings død i barselssengen, inden han med tårer i øjnene igen ser hen på Juleenglen.
”Valdemar Sejrs sønner og deres efterkommere var ikke de bedste venner,” svarer englen og fortæller, at Danmark efter Valdemar Sejrs regeringstid gik en svær tid i møde.
English
With only two weeks left until Christmas Eve, Elf Father is more than busy, because there’s still more than 800 years of history that must fall into place before he can celebrate Christmas with the Elf Family at Amalienborg. Thus, Elf Father and the Christmas Angel have arrived in Denmark’s oldest city, Ribe, where the two friends land in the area where the old royal castle Riberhus once stood. It was many, many years ago that kings and queens lived here, but the Christmas Angel says there was a high level of activity at the castle in the Middle Ages.
“You have to imagine that you’re back in The Great Age of the Valdemars,” says the Christmas Angel, as she points out over the area with her small cardboard wings. The time period the angel teaches Elf Father about deals with the years in Denmark’s history when the kings Valdemar I (Valdemar the Great) and his two sons, Knud IV and Valdemar II (Valdemar the Victorious), reigned over the land and when the realm expanded considerably. Around the year 1220, the Danish kingdom had become so large that King Valdemar II got the nickname “Victorious”, and, according to a legend, the king saw, as a good omen of victory, a blood-red Dannebrog descend from the sky over northern Estonia.
Elf Father hops around a bit on what’s left of the rise where the old Riberhus stood and where Valdemar the Victorious is said to have lived from time to time. A gust of wind gets hold of the little elf and blows him up on a statue’s arm. “Who are you?”, Elf Father asks the statue, but he quickly comes to realize the statue cannot answer. “That’s a statue of Queen Dagmar. She was first wife of Valdemar the Victorious,” says the Christmas Angel. “But The Queen died quite young. In fact, right here where we now stand!”
Elf Father thinks very thoroughly about that. In fact, a melody and song have popped up in his brain – or his hat, as he likes to call it – and suddenly Elf Father sings out in full voice, “Queen Dagmar lies in Ribe ill”. In fact, Elf Father goes on to sing all 22 verses of the folk ballad before he, with tears in his eyes, once again looks at the Christmas Angel.
“The sons of Valdemar the Victorious and their descendants were not the best friends,” answers the angel, adding that, after the reign of Valdemar the Victorious, Denmark went through a difficult period.