Mu isamaa, mu õnn ja rõõm

Mu isamaa, mu õnn ja rõõm is the national anthem (riigihümn or rahvushümn in Estonian) of the Republic of Estonia since 1920 (reinstated as national anthem in 1991).

The lyrics are by Johann Voldemar Jannsen[?], the music (1848) by Friedrich Pacius (also spelt Fredrik Pacius).

The song was first presented to the public as a choir song in the Grand Song Festival of Estonia in 1869 and became quickly a symbol of the Estonian awakening age[?].

Interestingly, the national anthem of the Republic of Finland shares the same music.

Mu isamaa, mu õnn ja rõõm

Mu isamaa, mu õnn ja rõõm,
Kui kaunis oled sa!
Ei leia mina iial tääl
See suure laia ilma pääl,
Mis mull' nii armas oleks ka
Kui sa, mu isamaa!

Sa oled mind ju sünnitand
Ja üles kasvatand;
Sind tänan mina alati
Ja jään sul truuks surmani!
Mul kõige armsam oled sa,
Mu kallis isamaa!

Su üle Jumal valvaku,
Mu armas isamaa!
Ta olgu sinu kaitseja
Ja võtku rohkest' õnnista'
Mis iial ette võtad sa,
Mu kallis isamaa!

Notes

In English-language mediums, the title is sometimes misspelt without the diacritical signs, so "Mu isamaa, mu õnn ja rõõm" becomes "Mu isamaa, mu onn ja room". Although Estonians can mostly recognize the incorrect form, it is usually considered humorous since it severely changes the meaning: while õnn ja rõõm means happiness and joy, onn ja room can roughly be translated as small hut and crawl.

External links

A presentation of the anthem (music only) is available from the official website of Estonia at http://www.riik.ee/et/rahvushy.wav (http://www.riik.ee/et/rahvushy.wav).