Grundtvig in the TV Christmas Calendar

Danmarks Radio sends 24 episodes of "The Pact"

The tradition of the TV Christmas Calender for children began on DBC TV in 1962. Ever since then, 24 episodes of a new calendar have been shown every year from December 1st to the 24th. Other TV channels have since taken over the tradition, and some of the series have been hugely successful. But rarely do they have any religious content. So when the series, Jesus and Josefine, was a smash-hit in 2003 it came a s a big surprise - Josefine was unhappy about sharing her birthday with Jesus, so she got in touch with him about changing his.

This year it is the turn of the great Danish theologian, poet and pastor Grundtvig

Grundtvig’s view of man

"It’s a story about being part of a community," says the producer Katrine Vogelsang to Vejle Amts Folkeblad, "about accepting one another in spite of our diversity, about taking responsibility and using your imagination. Central to the story is Grundtvig’s view of man and the strange experiences that the children undergo are closely linked to Grundtvig’s songs and ideas about having the spirit and the heart in the right place"

The Pact

is set in the village of Thyregod because that is where Grundtvig really did go to school from 1792 to 1798. He lodged with Pastor Feld in the vicarage and was confirmed in the church in 1798.(1783-1872) to be included in the drama. According to the plot he once made a secret written pact with an old female elf called Saia, but the pact has been lost and disaster threatens. It is up to Malte, a 12-year-old boy in the 6th grade at Thyregod School to find it. But then he meets the elf-girl Lyda, and together they set out to find the lost pact by passing a series of magic tests and fighting an evil ice-witch.

By: Edward Broadbridge

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