Studia Islandica - 01.06.1957, Page 53

51
In the fomyrðislag of the Icelandic translation of Para-
dise Lost, as in the Eddic poems and always in modern
Icelandic poetry, the alliterated half-lines are printed
in succession thus:
“Um fyrsta manns
felda hlýðni
ok átlysting
af epli forboðnu”, etc.
The difference between this form of verse and Milton’s
decasyllabic lines, normally on dissyllabic basis in rising
rhythm, is obvious. Þorláksson thus did not comply with
one of the fundamental requirements of a verse transla-
tion — to choose the metrical form of the author.
Whether he has complied with the alternative, to select
the nearest equivalent to the measure of the original, a
closer inquiry will bring to light. What led him to select
the fomyrSislag can be established with reasonable cer-
tainty. A prose translation would, indeed, have been
much easier to make, and probably would have resulted
in greater accuracy. Most likely, however, Þorláksson felt
that a prose rendition of Paradise Lost would not do it
justice. As a poet it is natural that he should have taken
that position, because he must have realized that it is a
poor verse translation of a poem which does not surpass
a prose one. Moreover, at the time when Þorláksson
translated Paradise Lost, blank verse was entirely un-
known in Iceland, and would not have been appreciated;
most likely not have been looked upon as poetry. It was,
therefore, hardly to be expected that he should have fol-
lowed the Danish version, which is in blank verse. Nor
was hexameter — Zacharia’s German translation is in
that measure — made known in Iceland until the nine-
teenth century. Hence, it was logical that Þorláksson
should select a native Icelandic form of verse, and in view
of his interest in the past, it is not surprising that he