Gripla - 2019, Blaðsíða 79
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translations and scholarship. This is because, with few exceptions, the be-
ings that they describe exhibit significant differences that do not survive
the translation into English “giant,” or the subsequent scholarly discourse
on these “giants.” The present paper will focus on the distinctions between
jötnar and risar in the extant Old Norse-Icelandic corpus, and especially
in Icelandic sagas. This will, in turn, allow for reflection on the impact of
translation practices on our reception and analysis of Old Norse-Icelandic
material.
It is worth beginning this discussion with an example of the distortion-
ary effects of translating risi and jötunn collectively as “giant.” Hermann
Pálsson and Paul Edwards’ translation of the fornaldarsaga Þorsteins þáttr
bœjarmagns presents a useful case. In one episode in the saga, a figure
known as Goðmundr explains the location of his realm and the political
relations that he has with his neighbours. The English text reads:
I’m called Godmund, and I’m the ruler of Glasir Plains; this
country’s a dependency of Giantland…the neighbouring country’s
called Jotunheim and there’s a king called Geirrod ruling it just now.
We’re tributaries under him…but we’re not happy about being ruled
by giants.6
This text presents a confusing situation. One might well ask why a
figure living in “Giantland” but subject to a king from another realm,
“Jotunheim,” should express unease about being ruled by “giants.” In fact,
the Old Icelandic text is far clearer in its description of this political ar-
rangement:
Goðmundr heiti ek. Ræð ek þar fyrir, sem á Glæsisvöllum heitir.
Þar þjónar til þat land, er Risaland heitir…þat land liggr hér næst,
er Jötunheimar heitir. Þar ræðr sá konungr, er Geirröðr heitir.
Undir hann erum vér skattgildir…en þó unum vér illa við at þjóna
jötnum.7
6 Hermann Pálsson and Paul Edwards (trans.), Seven Viking Romances (Penguin Books:
London, 1985), 263–4.
7 Guðni Jónsson (ed.), Fornaldar sögur norðurlanda, 4 vols. (Reykjavík: íslendingasagnaút-
gáfan, 1950), iv, 328–9.
A PROBLEM OF GIANT PROPORTIONS