The Icelandic Canadian - 01.06.1973, Page 27

THE ICELANDIC CANADIAN
25
From Icelandic to English
SVANASoNGUR A HEIDI
Steingrimur Thorsteinsson
Eg reiS um sumaraftan einn
a eiSilegri heiSi;
pa styttist leiSin long og strong,
javi ljufan heyrSi eg svanasong,
ja, svannasong a heiSi.
A fjollum roSi fagur skein,
og fjaer og naer hr geymi
aS eyrum bar sem englahljdm,
i einverunnar helgiddm,
Jxann svanasong a heiSi.
Svo undur blltt eg aldrei hef
af omi tofrast neinum;
i vokudraum eg veg minn reiS
og vissi ei hvernig timinn leiS
viS svanasong a heiSi.
SWANSONG ON THE
MOORLANDS
Transl. by Jakobina Johnson
Alone, upon a summer’s eve,
I rode the dreary moorlands.
— No more the way seemed bleak
and long
For sudden strains of lovely song
Were borne across the moorlands.
The mountains glowed with rosy light
— From far across 'the moorlands
And like a sacred interlude
It fell upon my solitude,
That song upon the moorlands.
It thrilled my soul with sweet
response,
That song upon the moorlands.
As in a dream I rode ahead —
And knew not how the moments fled,
With swans upon the moorlands.
__Steingrimur (Bjarnason) Thorsteins-
son (1831-1913) was one of the three
great national poets of Iceland in the
nineteenth century and one of the
greatest translator among the Roman-
ticists.
“Already, as a youth, the poet was
captivated by Icelandic nature in vari-
ous moods and many seasons. As a
nature poet he loved to make excurs-
ions to the scenic haunts of his na-
tive district (Snaefellsnes) into the
vast and little known upplands” —
(Stefan Einarsson: A History of Ice-
landic Literature, 1957)
Steingrimur Thorsteinsson trans-
lated into Icelandic Arabian Nights,
Shakespeare’s King Lear, Defoe’s Rob-
inson Crusoe, Tegner’s Axel, and H.
C. Andersen’s Fairly Tales.
For an account of Jakobina John-
son see Gustaf Kristjanson’s biograph-
ical sketch in the Autumn 1972 issue
of the Icelandic Canadian.
EEIGUR FALLANDASON
Hjalmar Jonsson (Bolu Hjalmar)
1796-1875
Mer er orSiS start um stef
og stilvopn laust i hondum,
i langmettinu litiS sef,
ljos i rnyrkri litiS hef,
kaldur titra krepptur gigtarbondum.