ABSTRACT
The first plays written in the Danish language date to the end of the fifteenth Century and use Medieval Morality and scholastic plays as their model. During that same period, however, most of Europe was already moving away from ecclesiastical traditions and beginning to develop newer dramatic forms. From this single example, it becomes clear that there has long been a delay in mainstream European culture reaching this small Scandinavian country in the northwest corner of Europe, with the peninsula Jylland (Jütland) the only fixed link to the continent. Composed of more than 500 islands, of which Fyn and Sjaelland (Zealand) are the lar gest, Denmark (and its theatre) - though Con tinental traditions have always been obvious - has at the same time developed original features which have made it more than just a miniature version of larger and more dominant cultures.
