Pelle Erobreren wrote:

From: Kevin Steffen <modeldsnr@...>
Out of curiosity, what is the opinion of the quality of the Benjamin
Thorpe  and I.A. Blackwell translations (1906)?  My only complaint is
that it does not have the original Old Norse text so I can try to follow 
along and see what I can learn.
    

I'm not sure if you are referring to one or two translations here.
I'm not familiar with Blackwell, but I have seen a translation by
Thorpe which is dated 1866. Is Thorpe/Blackwell perhaps a revised
edition of this?

However, I was pleasantly surprised by Thorpe's translation, because
its age indicated a pretty bad one. However, I have found it to be
surprisingly accurate for such an old translation. That said, please
understand I am not saying it is without serious faults. There are
some pretty bad bloopers there, as in most other translations, but
in many cases it is more accurate than, say, Hollander.

I wish I could simply recommend one good translation to you and all
others who care about accuracy, but this is something I simply can't
do. The only translatation which I consider to be accurate enough for
unreserved recommendation is Dronke's, but this is neither complete
nor affordable.

  

Thank you Pelle for your response,

I have two volumes of the 1906 Norroena collection.  It has the Elder Eddas of Saemund Sigfusson translated by Thorpe and the Younger Eddas of Snorri Sturlesson  translated by Blackwell.  It does not give a translation date for either, just a publication date.

Night Winds