Editing Du gamla, du fria (section)

== History ==
The original lyrics were written by [[Richard Dybeck]] in 1844, to the melody of a variant of the ballad "{{lang|sv|italic=no|Kärestans död}}" ({{Lit|Death of a loved one}}). The ballad type is classified as D&nbsp;280 in [[The Types of the Scandinavian Medieval Ballad]]; the variant from [[Västmanland]] that Dybeck reproduced is classified as [[Sveriges Medeltida Ballader|SMB]]&nbsp;133&nbsp;G.<ref>''[[Sveriges Medeltida Ballader]]'', vol. 4:1, pp. 16–17</ref> It was recorded by Rosa Wretman at the beginning of the 1840s. Dybeck published the traditional text in ''Folk-lore I'', and the melody in 1845 in his ''Runa'', where he also published his new text "Sång till Norden" (Song for/to the North).

Dybeck himself originally wrote the beginning as "{{lang|sv|italic=no|Du gamla, du friska}}" ({{lit|You ancient, you healthy}}), but in the late 1850s, he changed the lyrics to "{{lang|sv|italic=no|Du gamla, du fria}}". The song was already published in several song books and sung with "{{lang|sv|italic=no|Du gamla, du friska}}", but a priest who had known Dybeck took the opportunity to inform the singer most associated with the song, opera singer {{ill|Carl Fredrik Lundqvist|sv}}, about the change in the year 1900. From that point on, printings of the "{{lang|sv|italic=no|friska}}" version ceased to be seen in song books, but a recording from 1905 where it is sung with "friska" still exists.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://cylinders.library.ucsb.edu/search.php?queryType=@attr%201=1016&query=Arvid+Asplund&num=1&start=2&sortBy=&sortOrder=ia|title=Cylinder Preservation and Digitization Project|last=Collections.|first=University of California, Santa Barbara. Library. Department of Special|date=2005-11-16|website=cylinders.library.ucsb.edu|language=en|access-date=2017-06-03|archive-date=2017-10-20|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171020063904/http://cylinders.library.ucsb.edu/search.php?queryType=@attr%201=1016&query=Arvid+Asplund&num=1&start=2&sortBy=&sortOrder=ia|url-status=live}}</ref> The Swedish composer [[Edvin Kallstenius]] made an orchestral arrangement of the song in 1933.<ref name="Holm" />

By the early 20th century, many{{who|date=August 2024}} regarded the song unsuitable as a national anthem. From the 1890s, it was included in the "patriotic songs" section of song books, but up to the 1920s it was occasionally published just as "folk music". In 1899, a contest to produce a national anthem was held. It led to [[Verner von Heidenstam]] writing "Sverige", but did not lead to a new national anthem.{{Sfn|Reinhammar|2013|p=152}}

Patriotic sentiment is notably absent from the text of the original two verses, due to their being written in the spirit of [[Scandinavism]] popular at the time.{{efn|{{lang|sv|Norden}} in general refers to the [[Nordic countries]] in Swedish, Norwegian, and Danish}} After the song started to acquire its informal status as the national anthem, various people wrote additional verses to increase the "Swedish-ness" of the song. The aforementioned Lundqvist wrote his own third verse beginning with "{{lang|sv|italic=no|Jag älskar dig Sverige}}" ({{lit|Thee I Adore, Sweden}}); {{ill|Frans Österblom|sv}} wrote four verses beginning with "{{lang|sv|italic=no|Jag älskar min hembygd}}" ({{lit|I Adore My Homestead}}); and [[Louise Ahlén (songwriter)|Louise Ahlén]] with two verses. However, these are not accepted as part of the anthem, and are not normally published or sung.