The Story of a Holiday Hymn
| Welcome, welcome, fah who rahmus Welcome, welcome, dah who dahmus Christmas Day is in our grasp So long as we have hands to clasp |
Dores, dores, fa Hu ramus Dores, dores, da'u damus Kris mas tha se am 'ur yus Wedur 'i 'u reus paune ein lius |
Of all the carols of Christmas, "Welcome Christmas" is one of the most joyful. This hymn inspires the most Grinch-like among us to welcome the Holidays with jubilant hearts. Yet few know the history behind this song. It became widely known only in the mid 1960s, when Dr. Seuss and Albert Hague penned the popular partial-English translation. However, "Welcome Christmas" has existed for many hundreds of years as the beloved hymn of a tiny, forgotten village in northern Norway, the village of Hu (Whoville).  Photo: The village of Hu in Northern Norway, as it appears today. The inhabitants of this isolated community, nestled in a deep glacial valley of a tributary of the Tana river, call themselves the Hu. Their language, Huvian, has an unknown origin. It is certainly unrelated to the Norse languages of the region, and, like the Huvians themselves, seems to have developed in extreme isolation.  Photo: Huvian maid in traditional costume. Hu was not entirely without visitors. Sometime during the Roman Pax, early Christian missionaries located the village and converted its inhabitants. Then war and pestilence came to the rest of the world, and the Hus were mercifully left alone throughout the dark ages, the renaissance and much of the modern age -- it wasn't until the late 1800s when the village was rediscovered. When Norwegian officials found themselves unable to communicate with the Hus, they sent for famed linguist and anthropologist Allistair McGuinn of Scotland. After many years of living with and studying the Hus, McGuinn translated many of their myths, legends and hymns. Yet, after a few years of worldwide curiosity in this inexplicable community, the Hus were soon all but forgotten as the Industrial age forged on. Except, that is, for the Hu's lasting legacy. The hymn "Welcome Christmas" is presented here in three versions. First is the partial translation by Seuss and Hague, then the original Hu language transcription, then the complete English translation by McGuinn.
Fah who foraze, dah who doraze
Fah who foraze, dah who doraze
Fah who foraze, dah who doraze
Fah who foraze, dah who doraze
Fah who foraze, dah who doraze
Fa Hu fores, da'u dores
Fa Hu fores, da'u dores
Fa Hu fores, da'u dores
Fa Hu fores, da'u dores
Fa Hu fores, da'u dores
All Hus faithful, we welcome you
All Hus faithful, we welcome you
All Hus faithful, we welcome you
All Hus faithful, we welcome you
All Hus faithful, we welcome you |
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