Prologue

That Mormons do not understand every lyric of the hymns does not suggest that we are an unsophisticated people. Language is fluid and changes over time; our 18th and 19th century predecessors spoke and wrote in a substantially different way than we do. To be caught off gaurd by obscure hymn terminology is not a shameful thing. It is unfortunate, however, to be ignorant of the truer meaning of the hymns given sufficient opportunity for enlightenment.

The purpose of this project is genuine and simple--to facilitate greater appreciation of the LDS hymns by unveiling the meaning of some of the more mysterious terms found in them. It is our working hypothesis, and, we think, a wholly sensible one, that in order to fully appreciate the hymns we must understand them. Thus, we intend this text to be a handbook for those who joyfully sing the hymns. Or at least a quick reference for the less musical but intellectually curious churchgoer.

Admittedly, our collection of words is an arbitrary one. The sole inclusion criterion was broad unfamiliarity as demonstrated through a survey of friends and family. In other words, if roughly half of those questioned had trouble defining a word, we saw this as sufficient reason to include it in this volume. The process was informal and unscientific. We preferred it that way.

You’ll soon realize, then, that "hieing" to Kolob is not the same as hiking there, that building a bulwark is not an easy task and that taking a bath in a rill every now and then isn’t a half bad idea. So let the daydawn break and the eventide fall. Raise a sacred strain as often as possible. Read, learn and share with others. But most of all, enjoy the hymns.