Le Nord : revue internationale des Pays de Nord - 01.06.1941, Page 161

ICELAND IN THE NORTH
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Iceland may justly be proud of the fact, that chiefly owing to
her isolation, the old language was preserved practically in all
its essentials down to the present day, so that Icelanders of the 20th
century are from childhood still able to read the great literary
productions of their ancestors of the Saga period, — the dif-
ference between medieval and modern Icelandic is about the
same as between the English of Shakespeare and modern English,
— while the languages of the other Scandinavian nations are
altered so much, that Danes, Norwegians and Swedes of modern
times have to read old Norse works in translations.
II.
The influence of the medieval literature of Iceland on modern
Scandinavian literature has been enormous, and might be made
the subject of a voluminous work. The old poetry, particularly
the Eddic lays, the Sagas, and the old mythological and heroic
legends preserved by Icelandic writers have inspired many modern
Scandinavian poets, dramatists and novelists, and even influenced
Scandinavian painting and sculpture. Here I intend only to men-
tion the names of a few of the most prominent writers. In
particular the work of Snorri Sturluson (1179—1241) has been
important. His Edda (often called the Prose Edda or the
Younger Edda) has down to our times been the best and fullest
introduction to the study of the old poetry and the old mythology
of our forefathers, and his monumental Heimskringla with its
vivid description of the lives of the kings of Norway, all the
way from the mythical beginnings of the royal family to the
close of the i2th century has been to all Scandinavian and first
and foremost to the Norwegian people a priceless treasure. It
has been perfectly rightly observed by Professor Paasche that
this work of Snorri has played a part in the reestablishment of
Norway as a special kingdom. Many of the great Norwegian
writers of the 19* century and of our own times have been
profoundly influenced by the old literature. It suffices to name
such writers as Ibsen (“The Warriors of Helgeland,” “The Pre-
tenders”), Björnson (“Sigurd Slembe,” “Sigurd the Crusader,”
etc.), or from our own days Mrs. Sigrid Undset, whose great
novels depicting the life and social conditions of medieval Nor-
way are founded on her intimate knowledge of the Sagas.