Gjendines bådnlåt
Key: A minor~60 BPMGuitar & Piano chordsTraditional · Norway
Gjendines Bådnlåt Lyrics. According to Norwegian folk tradition, this lullaby takes its name from Gjendine Slålien, the mountain shepherdess whose singing Edvard Grieg heard and wrote down in 1891 in the Jotunheimen mountains — a melody he later included in his piano pieces. Here you will find the lyrics, translation, and chords.
Sing & play
Lyrics & chords
The original Norwegian words, with guitar & piano chords above each line.
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Traditional verse
Am E Am
Å, sove du barn, å, sove du snill,
Am E Am
ute er det kaldt og stilt.
Am G E
Sov til dagen kommer fram,
Am E Am
sov du barn i mors fang.
In English
What the words mean
“Oh, sleep now child, oh, sleep now dear, outside it is cold and still. Sleep until the day comes, sleep, child, in your mother’s arms.”
Play it
Chords — guitar & piano
Am
Guitar
Piano
G
Guitar
Piano
E
Guitar
Piano
Good to know
What “Gjendines Bådnlåt” Means
Gjendines bådnlåt (Gjendine’s cradle song) is a Norwegian mountain melody, famously written down by Edvard Grieg after he heard a young dairymaid, Gjendine, singing it to soothe a child high in the mountains. Its bare, haunting line carries the stillness of a cold northern night — and a mother’s promise to keep watch until morning.
More songs to sing & play
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← All nursery rhymesSources & rights
- A traditional song. It comes from oral tradition and has no single known author. We credit the tradition and its country.
- Recording and arrangement: real instruments played by hand, no AI music, by Relax In No Time.
- Chords: written by us for guitar and piano.
- Translation: our own meaning-for-meaning translation, written for understanding. The sung words stay in the original language.
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