To celebrate the Christmas 2012, Faroe Islands issued the third series of Christmas Carol stamps on September 24, 2012. These two stamps feature the Christmas carol written by the two famous Faroese song writer, Kristin í Geil and Fríðrikur Petersen.
Kristin í Geil and Fríðrikur Petersen - two very different men - and two very different songs on the same topic. But at least they had one thing in common - they both enriched Faroese culture and language with their talent.
”It is Christmas Eve – ring, bell, ring, Bing, bang, bing – bing, bang, bing. Soon the tree is lightened, make a ring, Dance and hum and sing!” There is hardly any Faroese who does not immediately recognize the cheerful chorus of the song "Hví man tað vera so hugnaligt í kvøld?" (Why is everything so cozy tonight?). The song was written by Christian Holm Isaksen (1877-1935), commonly known as Kristin í Geil.
The song, whose original title is "Stille Nacht", was presented for the first time on December 24th 1818 in Nikolaus-Kirche in Oberndorf, Austria. It was written two years earlier by the priest Joseph Mohr - and for the service in 1818, he had asked the head master and composer Franz Xaver Gruber to compose a melody for the poem.
In 1850 B.S. Ingemann translated it into Danish and in 1859 the American Bishop John Freeman Young translated the song into English under the title Silent Night - which today is the most familiar version.
Fríðrikur Petersen was known as an eloquent speaker and competent preacher, and wrote some of the most beautiful songs and hymns of the national-romantic era. Among others the patriotic song "Eg oyggjar veit", which for a while was the unofficial national anthem. He translated the Lord's Prayer and the Articles of Faith into Faroese . (Source: Faroe Islands Post News)
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