ABSTRACT
Corresponding to the German Zufall, the Danish Tilfældighed is the noun derived from the adjective tilfældig, which means the quality of what happens by chance or hazard. Due to its close relationship with the concept of possibility, the concept of contingency must be understood together with it.1 The Danish noun for possibility, Mulighed, is derived from the adjective mulig, which is also related to the verb maatte (Old Danish mughe, cf. German mögen). Mulighed primarily means the quality of what can become or happen. As Molbech notes, the form muelig (with an “e”) as well as the words derived from it was still in use in the nineteenth century.2 The occurrence of the variant Muelighed(en) in Kierkegaard’s work is found only in The Concept of Anxiety and Repetition.
