Studia Islandica - 01.06.1994, Blaðsíða 191
189
Despite these opinions, (which admittedly have consid-
erable basis in reality) there is little if any evidence of con-
scious alteration or even interpretation stemming from
Veblen’s own pen in his translation. He does concede that
much of this air of sanctimony was part and parcel of con-
temporary Icelandic life at the time of the writing of the
saga, and thus an important dimension which must be
retained in translation.
Veblen’s rendering of key passages obviously represent-
ing this “ecclesiastical whitewash” are not visibly distort-
ed. On the contrary, he often manages exceedingly well to
convey the altered tone and the note of Christian sanctimo-
niousness evident in the original.
The following two passages, for instance, occur during
Kjartan’s stay in Norway, before and after his conversion to
Christianity. In the first instance, the hero expresses his
staunch disdain for the threats of the monarch:
“Engis manns nauðungarmaðr vil ek vera,” segir Kjartan, “meðan
ek má upp standa ok vápnum valda; þykki mér þat ok lítilmannligt,
at vera tekinn sem lamb ór stekk eða melrakki ór gildru; þykki mér
hinn kostr miklu betri, ef maðr skal þó deyja, at vinna þat nökkut
áðr, er lengi sé uppi haft síðan.” (119)
A similarly heroic, if slightly more restrained, note is
found in Veblen’s version of this passage:
“I will take orders from no man,” said Kjartan, “so long as I am able
to stand on my feet and can get my hands on my weapons. And it
also seems to me a cowardly thing to wait and be taken like a lamb
out of the sheepfold or a fox out of a trap. I much prefer the other
way, since a man must some time die anyway; to strike out and get
something done that will be remembered afterward.” (V 135)
Quite a different tone, however, is found in another pas-
sage from the original occurring soon afterwards, where
Kjartan now expresses his intention to convert: