""I don't think this has been very helpful ...""   Thus saith Eysteinn

 

 

 

 

Patricia,

I agree with you that there is no point in touching the
translations unless you are stuck. But I do recommend doing
so as soon as you are, because in my experience spending
a lot of time getting a headache over something is not
very productive - it slows you down too much, and turns
on the annoyance factor, which is the enemy of learning.

If you have a hard time choosing between translations to
use, I suspect that Cook should be your first choice. MM
& HP are excellent, but Cook had the older translation
before him, and should be trusted to have corrected any
mistakes/inaccuraci es (well, one can hope). Don't even
touch something like Dasent, it just isn't a good idea
using very old translations. They are far too inaccurate,
and often play tricks on you by twisting the meaning into
totally unrecognizable shapes. (This is even truer of the
poetry than it is of the prose.)

I have never been through the process of learning Old
Icelandic in this way - I just grew up reading it without
realizing it was any different from Modern Icelandic - so
it is perhaps silly for me to be making recommendations.
But I did study Ancient Greek (7 years) and Ancient Hebrew
(2 years) at Uni, so I think I have experience in learning
old languages from scratch.

I would recommend translating as literally as possible,
most preferably word by word, and not be tempted to
turn the text into "pretty English", because this is
not you main aim. You are trying to understand the
language AS IT IS, not what it looks like in translation.
You should be learning to THINK in Icelandic, not turn
it into good English as you go along.

For example, it is quite impossible to understand a
skaldic stanza by translating it into its English equivalent,
it just doesn't work. You need to understand it AS IT IS,
in the Icelandic, because you simply can't do the same
things in English that you can do in Icelandic poetic
language.

I don't think this has been very helpful ...

Good reading,
Eysteinn

--- In norse_course@ yahoogroups. com, "Patricia"
<originalpatricia@ ...> wrote:

>
> I have Robert Cook's translation and the Complete Sagas and the

MM&HP

> because I prefer to hedge my bets - I do not take them out of the

book case

> unless I hit an impasse and then I look at all three and judge

which one

> appeals most
> I just use them for that purpose at present I am afraid of

cribbing from

> anybody's translation for the reason that I feel as if I am

cheating, and

> not learning, I feel better making the mistakes and being corrected

on my

> work - it seems more straightforward.
> I tend - (?) overmuch to express in more modern idiom because when

you make

> it too literal it is often not very good to read
> May I please have your advice on this
> Kveðja
> Patricia
>
> So many books so little time
>
> -------Original Message----- --
>
> From: Eysteinn Bjornsson
> Date: 28/09/2006 16:55:59
> To: norse_course@ yahoogroups. com
> Subject: [norse_course] Re: Njal end of 22 +23 / Alan's Translation
>
> --- In norse_course@ yahoogroups. com, "llama_nom" <600cell@> wrote:
> >
> > > I picked up a copy of MM & HP´s translation of Njála in good
> condition
> > > at a second-hand book fair last weekend – only $1.50 (Aust)

which is

> > > about 60p! So now, if I underline some text, it means that even
> with MM
> > > & HP´s help I´m still not sure of the grammatical construction.
>
> Just wondering - is nobody using the more recent translation
> (also in Penguin) by Robert Cook? I don't recall seeing it
> mentioned here ...
>
> Eysteinn
>