Studia Islandica - 01.06.1994, Blaðsíða 133

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forth as a proof thereof that no fondness now is shown between you
and Bolli, such as through all time there had been between you. Do
now the good and befitting thing, and don’t allow yourself to take
this to heart, and grudge not your kinsman a good wife. (P 157-58)
The translator has obviously not felt the need to repeat
all the references to kinship, despite the fact that as indi-
cated above, they are central to the increasing tension of
this sequence. On the other hand her English version
scarcely omits a single ok or en found in the original. This
word-for-word rendering seems to be offered as an indica-
tion both of faithfulness in translation and of the paramount
importance of the conjuctions to the structure of the narra-
tive (see discussion in section 4 on sentence construction).
Striving for very literal renderings can lead a translator
into difficult straits, as is shown by Press’s rendering of er
um heilt bezt at binda, frœndi (143) as “Best to bind up a
whole flesh, kinsman.” (P 164) Admittedly, any reader who
can successfully guess the meaning of this cryptic sentence
in its English version is not likely to be startled by the use
of “kinsman” for frændi in this situation, but would a father
actually address his son in English as “kinsman”?
In Kjartan’s subsequent address to Bolli, Press has seen
fit to use “cousin” instead of kinsman, yet changes back to
“kinsman” for the final sequences, thus losing the impor-
tant connections of the recurrent term.
Surely thou art minded now, my kinsman, to do a dastard’s deed; but
oh, my kinsman, I am much more fain to take my death from you
than to cause the same to you myself. (P 178)
With regard to this quotation, one should also note
Press’s attempt to heighten the drama of the impending
agnaticide/fratricide through the use of the second person
singular “thou”. This, along with the addition of “my” to
“kinsman”, is meant to emphasise the closeness of the two
protagonists. Even if we make allowances for the archaic
pronoun and use of the word “fain”, the attempt falls flat
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