Studia Islandica - 01.06.1994, Blaðsíða 135

133
The opposition presented by the linguistic contrast, the
discord between the two images, is at least as important as
are the ideas conveyed by the actual passages. Most of the
translators appear to have understood this fact and the more
successful of their renderings attempt to retain the con-
trasting structures as well as opposing meanings. With
regard to the first quotation, Press’s version is the most
direct and the most effective, replacing the parallel verbs of
the original with identical ones in the translation:
and though he was called a thrall, yet few could be found his equal
amongst those called freemen, (P 20)
Veblen’s translation is both wordy and ungrammatical,
combining “even if ’ with “yet” and, like Arent’s rendering,
it loses all the sense of a case well stated which is found in
the original:
and even if he bore the name of slave, yet there were few men who
could fairly be called his equal even though they were freemen; (V
23)
even though he was only a slave, there were few men free-born who
could equal him. (A 22)
Magnússon and Pálsson also retain the parallel use of
“call”, yet sacrifice much of the formal, slightly elevated,
structural opposition:
but though he was called a slave there were few freeborn men who
could call themselves his equal. (MP 63)
Once again, however, striving for literalness in translat-
ing can cause as many problems as it solves, as is witnessed
by Press’s rendering of the second quote:
And as evil as he had been to deal with in his life, just so he was by
a great deal more when he was dead. (P 42)
The use of “evil to deal with” to translate illr viðreignar
is unnecessarily awkward and adding to this “just so he was