Studia Islandica - 01.06.1957, Page 62

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literary masterpieces was for Þorláksson the best possible
schooling; such a test must have developed his poetical
genius immeasurably.
The great value of his translations, aside from their
pure literary merit, consists in their wholesome influence
upon the Icelandic language and Icelandic verse forms.
This applies especially to the translations of Pciradise
Lost and Messias.
Dr. Sigurður Nordal hits the mark when he says: “Jón
Þorláksson’s original poems and translations have made
it easier for Bjarni and Jónas to write poetry and for
the people to appreciate their works.” 1)
Dr. Þorkell Jóhannesson rightly strikes the same note
in the following words: “Jón’s [i.e. Þorláksson’s] princi-
pal achievements are his translations (Tullin, Pope, Mil-
ton, Klopstock), but in wrestling with these authors,
especially Pope and Milton, he succeeded in lifting his
poetic genius to such heights that the influence of his
works is traceable in the writings of such masters as
Jónas Hallgrímsson and Sveinbjörn Egilsson in form and
artistic diction.” 2)
In the field of translation into Icelandic Þorláksson
was a trailblazer, and as such he will probably be longest
remembered, notwithstanding the merit of many of his
original poems. He was, as a translator always is, “the
mediator between two cultures,” and as such he rendered
his nation inestimable service. No monument marks his
grave, but his literary achievements tower higher and will
endure longer than any memorial of stone or marble.
1) Islenzlc lestrarbók 11)00-1900, 1924, p. XXV. Bjarni is Bjarni
Thorarensen and Jónas is Jónas Hallgrímsson, the leading Icelandic
poets of the first half of the nineteenth century, both of whom have
previously been mentioned in this study.
2) Saga Islendinga, VII. bindi, 1770-1830, Reykjavík, 1950, p. 484.