The Icelandic Canadian - 01.06.1961, Blaðsíða 21

THE ICELANDIC CANADIAN
19
man and Anglo-Saxon, are so different
to their ancestor languages that the
people who speak these languages
would find it just as difficult to under-
stand the respective ancestor language
or dialects as a present day English
speaking person would find it dif-
ficult to understand the West Saxon
of King Alfred.
It is true that the Icelandic language
has been modernized. A number of
words have been added, mostly created
from Icelandic roots, and some words
in the old language have been dropped
or modified. But the all important
fact is that the accidence or inflexions
and the syntax of the old language
have been retained. It is the same lan-
guage with added words, also inflected,
and some streamlining in construction.
Philologists such as Frederick Bodmer,
have stated that the old language can
be read and understood by an Ice-
lander just as readily as an English
speaking person reads Shakespeare.
To illustrate how close modern Ice-
landic is to Old Icelandic or Old
Norse, two verses are selected from
The Poetic Eddas, (Finnur Jonsson
edition). One is from the first poem,
“Voluspa,” “The Sibyl’s Prophecy”,
verse 36. It is now generally agreed that
Voluspa was composed in Iceland,
about the time Christianity was accept-
ed, circa 1000 A.D. The other is the
first verse from the second poem,
“Havamal”, “The Sayings of the High”,
(Odin), composed in what is now Nor-
way and hence before the settlement
of Iceland, which commenced in
874.
voluspa
Sal sa hon standa
solu fjarri
Nastrondu a,
norSr horfa dyrr;
fellu eitrdropar
inn of ljora,
sa ’s undinn salr
orma hryggjum.
TRANSLATION
A hall she beheld
In a sunless land,
Opens to the north,
’Tis the land of the dead.
Drops of venom
Drip through the skylights;
The hall is woven
Of dragon bones.
HAVAMAL
Gattir allar
a Sr gangi framm
(of skoSask skyli)
of skyggnask skyli;
ovist es at vita
hvar ovinir sitja
a fleti fyrir.
TRANSLATION
At the doorways
Ere proceeding
Look about you,
Watchful, peering.
You cannot be certain
Foes may confront you
Reclining on benches.
Educationists in Iceland would no
more think of translating the Sagas
for high school students than educa-
tionists in Canada would translate
Julius Caesar into present day Eng-
lish for use in Canadian high schools.
Dr. George W. Dasent (1817-1896),
Professor of English at King’s College,
London, and student of Scandinavian
languages and literature wrote in 1875:
(Introduction to Cleasby’s Icelandic-
English Dictionary)