Renæssanceforum 12

The article discusses the title "Father of Danish literature" traditionally bestowed upon Ludvig Holberg (1684-1754). It can be traced back to 1810 when Adam Oehlenschläger declared that "our immortal Holberg laid the foundation of our modern literature". From here it is only a change of metaphor to "the father of our modern literature" (Jens Møller 1815) and eventually "father of Danish literature" (C.W. Smith 1858). Even if the metaphor was hyperbolic from start and lingers on in popular literary history, it should be discarded in favour of the older (since 1743), simpler and more affectionate title of "Father Holberg".