The Loveliest Rose in the World in Danish with translation

Verdens dejligste Rose

Hans Christian Andersen

From the collection “Andersen's Fairy Tales”

The Loveliest Rose in the World is a short fairy tale by Hans Christian Andersen. A mighty queen can be saved from death only by the rose that is the symbol of the highest and purest love, and people young and old bring her the finest roses from their gardens. The tale can be read in a single evening. In Danish, Andersen's long listing sentences and simple, repeated words carry a rhythm that is easy to lose in retelling — and many of the words are close cousins of English ones.

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Language: Danish
First published: 1905
Levels: A2 · B1 · B2
Original: C1
Pages: 4

Languages you can read it in: 22

The opening, phrase by phraseExcerpt adapted to B1

Der var en mægtig dronning,¹There was a mighty queen,og i hendes haveand in her gardenfandtes de dejligste blomster²were found the loveliest flowersfra alle årstiderfrom all seasonsog fra alle verdens lande,³and from all the world's lands,men hun elskede især roserne,⁴but she loved especially the roses,og derfor havde hunand therefore she hadmange forskellige slags,many different kinds,lige fra den vilde hækright from the wild hedgemed blade,with leaves,der duftede af æbler,⁵that smelled of apples,til Provences skønneste rose;to Provence's most beautiful rose;de voksede op ad slottets mure,they grew up the castle's walls,snoede sig om søjlernewound themselves around the pillarsog vindueskarmene,and the window frames,ind i gangeneinto the corridorsog hen ad loftet i alle sale,and along the ceiling in all halls,og roserne var forskelligeand the roses were differenti både duft, form og farve.in both scent, form and color.

Whole sentenceThere was a mighty queen, and in her garden were found the loveliest flowers from every season and from all the lands of the world, but she loved the roses best of all, and therefore she had many different kinds, from the wild hedge with leaves that smelled of apples to the most beautiful rose of Provence; they grew up against the castle walls, wound themselves around the pillars and the window frames, into the corridors and along the ceilings of every hall, and the roses varied in fragrance, form, and color.

Men der var sorgBut there was sorrowog tristhed herinde,and sadness in here,for dronningen lå sygfor the queen lay sicki sin seng,in her bed,og lægerne sagde,and the doctors said,at hun skulle dø.⁶that she was going to die.

Whole sentenceBut there was sorrow and sadness within, for the queen lay sick in her bed, and the doctors said that she was going to die.

»Der findes dog⁷"There is howeveren redning for hende!«a rescue for her!"

Whole sentence"Yet there is a remedy for her!"

sagde den viseste af dem.⁸said the wisest of them.

»Bring hende verdens dejligste rose,"Bring her the world's loveliest rose,den som er et symbolthe one which is a symbolpå den højesteof the highestog reneste kærlighed;and purest love;hvis hun ser den,if she sees it,før hendes øjne lukker sig,⁹before her eyes close,så dør hun ikke.«then she will not die."

Whole sentence"Bring her the world's loveliest rose, the one that is the expression of the highest and purest love; if it comes before her eyes before they close, then she will not die."

Og både unge og gamleAnd both young and oldkom fra alle stedercame from all placesmed de smukkeste roser,with the most beautiful roses,som blomstrede i deres haver,which bloomed in their gardens,men det var ikkebut it was notde rigtige roser;the right roses;blomsten skulle hentes¹⁰the flower had to be fetchedfra kærlighedens egen have,from love's own garden,men man vidste ikke,¹¹but one did not know,hvilken rosewhich roseder var symboletthat was the symbolpå den højesteof the highestog reneste kærlighed.and purest love.

Whole sentenceAnd both young and old came from all around with the most beautiful roses that bloomed in every garden, but those were not the right roses; the flower had to be fetched from the garden of love itself, but which rose was the expression of the highest, the purest love?

Phrase notes

¹Der var en mægtig dronning, — There was a mighty queen,
LiterallyThere was a mighty queen
WhyDer var works exactly like English there was, and mægtig is a cousin of mighty.
²fandtes de dejligste blomster — were found the loveliest flowers
Literallywere found the loveliest flowers
WhyDanish makes the passive with an ending: fandtes is finde "find" + -s. English needs were found.
³og fra alle verdens lande, — and from all the world's lands,
Literallyfrom all the world's lands
WhyThe genitive -s comes before the noun, as in English the world's lands, but Danish writes it without an apostrophe.
⁴men hun elskede især roserne, — but she loved especially the roses,
Literallybut she loved especially the roses
WhyThe definite article is a suffix: roser "roses" → roserne "the roses".
⁵der duftede af æbler, — that smelled of apples,
Literallythat smelled of apples
WhyHere der is a relative pronoun, "that", and af matches English of: dufte af, "smell of".
⁶at hun skulle dø. — that she was going to die.
Literallythat she was going to die
WhySkulle is related to English shall; here it marks what is bound to happen.
⁷»Der findes dog — "There is however
LiterallyThere is however
WhyDog is not the animal (that is hund): it is an adverb, "after all, however" — a classic false friend.
⁸sagde den viseste af dem. — said the wisest of them.
Literallysaid the wisest of them
WhyVis is "wise" and viseste "wisest" — the superlative ending works as in English.
⁹før hendes øjne lukker sig, — before her eyes close,
Literallybefore her eyes close
WhyLukke sig is reflexive, literally "close themselves"; English drops the pronoun.
¹⁰blomsten skulle hentes — the flower had to be fetched
Literallythe flower had to be fetched
WhyHente means "fetch", and -s again makes the passive: skulle hentes, "had to be fetched".
¹¹men man vidste ikke, — but one did not know,
Literallybut one did not know
WhyMan is the impersonal "one" (like German man), and the negation ikke comes after the verb.

In the reader, every phrase has a breakdown: what it means and why.

About the text and the author

The text comes from the 1905 centenary edition of Andersen's tales (Gyldendal; edited by Sophus Bauditz, illustrated by Vilhelm Pedersen and Lorenz Frølich), from an Internet Archive scan. The book keeps the spelling of 1905: capitalised nouns (Dronning, Have) and aa for å (laa paa for lå på). The excerpt on this page is the first page retold at level B1 in modern spelling.

The description and phrase notes were written by AI and checked by a second model, November 13, 2026.

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The Loveliest Rose in the World in Danish with translation

About the text and the author

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