Evald Thomsen was a Danish

Danes

Danish people or Danes are the nation and ethnic group that is native to Denmark, and who speak Danish.The first mention of Danes within the Danish territory is on the Jelling Rune Stone which mentions how Harald Bluetooth converted the Danes to Christianity in the 10th century...

 fiddler and collector and promoter of Danish traditional music

Danish traditional music

thumb|350px|right|Rebild Spillemandslaug, a [[guild]] of traditional musicians founded by [[Evald Thomsen]].Danish traditional music is the music genre that has its roots in pre-modern Denmark. In this period it was common for towns to have one or more town musicians who played at dances,...

. Born in Siem by Skørping

Skørping

Skørping is a town and a former municipality in Rebild municipality in Region Nordjylland in the geographic region of the Jutland peninsula known as Himmerland in northern Denmark...

 in Northern Jutland

Jutland

Jutland , historically also called Cimbria, is the name of the peninsula that juts out in Northern Europe toward the rest of Scandinavia, forming the mainland part of Denmark. It has the North Sea to its west, Kattegat and Skagerrak to its north, the Baltic Sea to its east, and the Danish–German...

, Thomsen was taught fiddle from age 7, and played to local dances already as a young boy. He began egan to collect tunes and instruments. He founded the Rebild Fiddlers, and the Rebild museum of Traditional music. In 1931 he moved to Funen

Funen

Funen , with a size of 2,984 km² , is the third-largest island of Denmark following Zealand and Vendsyssel-Thy, and the 163rd largest island of the world. Funen is located in the central part of the country and has a population of 454,358 inhabitants . The main city is Odense, connected to the...

 where his wife was from, and he stayed there to 1942 when he went back home to Himmerland

Himmerland

Himmerland is a peninsula in northeastern Jutland, Denmark. It is delimited to the north and the west by the Limfjord, to the east by the Kattegat, and to the south by the Mariager Fjord. The largest city is Aalborg; smaller towns include Hobro, Aars, Løgstør, Støvring and Nibe...

.

In 1971 he was made national When the Folk revival movement came to Denmark in the 1970'es he became an icon of the living tradition of Danish fiddle music, and he gained national fame, appearing in radio and television. In the 1960es he toured Denmark with a band composed of his son Hardy Thomsen (violin), his brother Hilbert Thomsen (bass), Hans Jørgen Christensen (violin) and Niels Vilhelm Hansen, (guitar and vocals). He also traveled Europe playing in Norway

Norway

Norway , officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic unitary constitutional monarchy whose territory comprises the western portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula, Jan Mayen, and the Arctic archipelago of Svalbard and Bouvet Island. Norway has a total area of and a population of about 4.9 million...

, the Faroe Islands

Faroe Islands

The Faroe Islands are an island group situated between the Norwegian Sea and the North Atlantic Ocean, approximately halfway between Scotland and Iceland. The Faroe Islands are a self-governing territory within the Kingdom of Denmark, along with Denmark proper and Greenland...

, iceland

Iceland

Iceland , described as the Republic of Iceland, is a Nordic and European island country in the North Atlantic Ocean, on the Mid-Atlantic Ridge. Iceland also refers to the main island of the country, which contains almost all the population and almost all the land area. The country has a population...

, Scotland

Scotland

Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...

, Finland

Finland

Finland , officially the Republic of Finland, is a Nordic country situated in the Fennoscandian region of Northern Europe. It is bordered by Sweden in the west, Norway in the north and Russia in the east, while Estonia lies to its south across the Gulf of Finland.Around 5.4 million people reside...

 and Greenland

Greenland

Greenland is an autonomous country within the Kingdom of Denmark, located between the Arctic and Atlantic Oceans, east of the Canadian Arctic Archipelago. Though physiographically a part of the continent of North America, Greenland has been politically and culturally associated with Europe for...

, and in 1976 he toured the USA for a month.

Together with other players from the first half of the 20th century like Æ Tinuser

Æ Tinuser

Æ Tinuser was a Danish traditional orchestra who were famous exponents of their genre from the 1950'es to the late 1970'es. The band was composed of three brothers, Ejnar , Karl and Hans Nielsen from Vrøgum close to Oksbøl...

 and Frederik Iversen

Frederik Iversen

Frederik Iversen was a Danish traditional musician and composer. He became famous through the dances he held in from 1912 to 1939 at his restaurant Trædballehus west of Vejle, in Western Jutland...

, his versions make up the main stock of Danish traditional music. He is considered by many to be the single most important fiddler and promoter of Danish traditional music in the 20th century.