Bibliotheca Arnamagnæana - 01.06.2007, Page 92

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4 CURRENT STATE OF RESEARCH
ber of the Storting, Jacob Aall, published a translation in three beautiful
volumes illustrated with copperplate engravings by Johannes Flintoe.
The first and second volume (1838—39) contained Hkr, while the third
volume (1839) contained the sagas from King Sverrir to Håkon Magn-
usson. The nationalistic motivation behind this is quite clearly revealed
when Aall States as the impulse for his work that Grundtvig’s transla-
tion is unsuitable for Norwegians:
... hvor store Fortjenester denne talentfulde Forfatters Arbeide
har, og hvor megen Digteraand Versenes Oversættelse lægger
for Dagen, saa kan denne Oversættelse neppe være passende
for menig Mand i Norge. Vi maa i den Henseende henskyde
os under lærdere Mænds derover fældede Domme.
(... however great the merits of this talented author’s work, and
however great the poetic spirit revealed by the translation of
the verses, this translation can scarcely be fitting for the com-
mon man in Norway. In this regard, we must take refuge in the
judgement passed on it by more learned men.)
(Aall 1838: ix)
Aall need not have had any specific ‘more learned men’ in mind. It is
clear that there was widespread scepticism towards the Danish edition,
a scepticism which was generally expressed in vague turns of phrase,
for example by P. A. Munch in the letter of subscription he had printed
in connection with his own plans for a new translation:
De Oversættelser, man hidtil har haft deraf, ere deels feilfulde,
deels mangelagtige og unorske: den clausonske, som i lang Tid
var den eneste, er nu neppe at erholde, vrimler desuden saa af
Feil, at den ei er at anbefale; den grundtvigske er hos os altfor
bekjendt til at vi her skulde behøve videre at omtale den ,..35
35 From the subscription announcement for the projected edition of Munch’s own
translation, signed by P. A. Munch and G. F. Lundh 1 August 1832. Cited here from
Munch 1924: 1.