17th of December

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In the mid-19th century it became popular in Denmark to decorate Christmas trees with the Danish flag. AM 107 8vo tells the story of how the Danes got their flag during a military campaign in the Baltic. The manuscript contains a history of Denmark written in the 16th century by the Franciscan friar Petrus Olai (Peder Olsen). On f. 69v it says:

”Anno domini 1208. cum dani fideles in liuonia in loco qui felin dicitur bellarent contra liuones infideles et iam fere debellati implorarent devote diuinum auxilium statim vexillum e celo lapsum cruce candida consignatum vellerique impressum recipere meruerunt vocemque in aere audientes quod eo in aere altius eleuato confestim contritis adversariis plenam victoriam reportarent. Quod et factum est. Illud autem vexillum danebroge usitato vocabulo nuncupari solet.” 

Or in translation:

"In the year of our Lord 1208, when christian Danes waged war in Livonia [roughly where Estonia and Latvia are today] in that place called Felin [now Viljandi], against the heathen Livonians, and were almost beaten, they called piously for divine assistance. They soon deservedly received a flag that fell from the sky, marked with a white cross pressed in wool, and they heard a voice from the sky which told them that if they held the flag high towards the sky, their advisaries would soon be vanquished and the Danes would take the full victory. This also came to pass. This flag is usually called Dannebrog."

Árni Magnússon bought the manuscript on behalf of the king at an auction held by Councilor of the State Frederik Rostgaard in 1726. He paid the mighty sum of 8 rigsdaler, but as he explained in a letter of the 23rd of February 1726: "There is much in the book pertaining to Danish history and which may not be found elsewhere. [...] I thought it better to spend 2 or 3 ducats of His Majesty's money than risk that His Majesty should loose this book, which is the only one in the world of its kind." He adds that the book is written with "so bad and small writing that is illegible for most people", and he offers to re-write it. He suggests that the book, which he describes as a "confusum chaos" of loose leaves, be bound under his supervision.