Gripla - 01.01.2002, Page 136

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GRIPLA
Dasent: “A fitting atonement shall be offered him,” says Hall, “if he
will take it.”27
Cook: Hall said, “He will be offered honourable terms if he’s willing
to settle.”
11. Understatement (litotes)
Lee Hollander, who was one of the translators of Njáls saga in 1955, publish-
ed an excellent article on this subject in 1938, in which he stated:
I am decidedly not of the opinion that the litotic phrase of the original
is invariably best rendered by the non-litotic equivalent; quite on the
contrary, for English, as well as the other Germanic tongues them-
selves relish the device.28
Hollander’s opinion is worth heeding, since understatement is so much a part
of saga style. The following instances of how the translators have dealt with
understatement follow a three-part division suggested by Hollander’s article.
a) The Denied Negative.
[Njáll to Gunnarr:] “En þó er eigi 0rvænt, at ek hafa ámæli afkonu
minni eða sonum mínum fyrir þetta, því at þeim mun mjQk mislíka."
(43.110)
Dasent: “but yet it is to be looked for, that I shall have blame from
my wife or from my sons for that, for it will mislike them much.”
B-H: “I shall certainly be reproached by my wife and sons for doing
so, for they will take it greatly amiss.”
MM-HP: “even though I am sure to be reproached by my wife and
my sons for doing so, as they will disapprove strongly.” (1999:
“But it is not unlikely that I shall be reproached by my wife and my
sons for doing so, since they will take this very badly.”)
27 Notice that Dasent moved “says Hall" from its position in the Icelandic. I have made it a rule
not to do so, though in some cases it seemed best to break that rule, as in Ch. 58: ‘“You
women always think that no one is a match for Gunnar,’ said the men,
28 “Litotes in Old Norse,” PMLA 53 (1938): 1-33, at 4.