Hymnology (from
Greek ὕμνος
hymnos, "song of praise" and -λογία
-logia, "study of") is the
scholarly study of
religious song, or the
hymn, in its many aspects, with particular focus on
choral and song. It may be more or less clearly distinguished from
hymnody, the creation and practice of such song. Hymnologists, such as
Erik Routley, may study the history and origins of hymns and of traditions of sung worship, the biographies of the women and men who have written hymns that have passed into choral or congregational use, the interrelationships between text and tune, the historical processes, both folk and redactional, that have changed hymn texts and
hymn tunes over time, and the sociopolitical, theological and aesthetic arguments concerning various styles of sung worship.