What Child Is This
William Dix's carol answers its own question: the child in the manger is Christ the King.
The words are public domain. We print a hymn only after checking it word for word against a dated old printing, and this one hasn’t been checked yet. Hymnary has it now.
“What Child Is This” at HymnaryAbout this hymn
The carol asks who the child in Mary's lap is, and answers that he is Christ the King. It connects the manger with the cross and invites all people to bring him gifts.
It rests on Luke 2:1-20, the birth of Jesus, and on Matthew 2:11, where the wise men bring gold, frankincense and myrrh.
It is sung at Christmas and at Epiphany. William Chatterton Dix, an English insurance manager and hymn writer, wrote it from his poem 'The Manger Throne' around 1865.
For musicians and planners
| Words | William Chatterton Dix, 1865 | Public domain |
|---|---|---|
| Tune | GREENSLEEVES · English ballad, 16th century | Public domain |
Checked 2026-09-27 against hymnary.org text, tune and person pages (attribution and rights only). The words are not transcribed here yet.
Hymn numbers checked against Hymnary.org’s index of Evangelical Lutheran Worship. Full record: Hymnary.