ABSTRACT
The Danish word Stemning (mood) is the verbal noun corresponding to the verb at stemme (which includes, among others, the following meanings: to tune, to sound harmonious; to be in agreement with, to make one’s voice be heard, to suit; to bring someone to, or to place someone in, a certain mood-partly derived from the Old Saxon stemn(i)a, in Old High German stimna, seen in the corresponding German forms Stimme, stimmen).1 Kierkegaard uses the term Stemning specifically for a state or frame of mind that is provisional, but relatively lasting, and characterized by an identifiable predominant feeling, or a propensity in a definite direction.2
