The Icelandic Canadian - 01.08.2001, Side 41

Vol. 56 #3
THE ICELANDIC CANADIAN
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800s to 1066 AD, when the Battle of
Hastings marked the end of that period.
Discovery of Viking artifacts at L’Anse
aux Meadows in Newfoundland that were
carbon-dated to 1000 AD, verify the
Icelandic Sagas. The proof of those ancient
writings had been dug up by renowned
archeologist Anne Stine Ingstad and her
discoveries of ancient homes and iron arti-
facts verifies what the two Vinland Sagas
had recorded, many centuries earlier. The
site is considered so important that in 1978
it was named a UNESCO World Heritage
Site
These ancient Sagas preserved oral his-
tory and knowledge about Vikings, but
mainly center on the unique society found-
ed in Iceland, depicting men and women
who settled there and their descendents.
In the Middle Ages, the Icelanders were
the historiographers of the North. Their
manuscripts preserve most of what we
know today about North European histo-
ry during this era. They also sketch the
outlines of Nordic identity of the original
settlers and families that led explorations
and settlements beyond Norway and
Denmark.
These principal manuscripts are pre-
served in the Arni Magnusson Manuscript
Institute in Reykjavik, where they are on
display as national treasures. Individual
Sagas have been translated into English and
other languages in the past. The Penguin
Press Sagas of Icelanders was the best
resource, until now.
For the Leif Eirfksson Millennium, cele-
brating that remarkable voyage and Leif
Eiriksson’s discovery of North America
1000 years ago, an innovative Icelander
envisioned and produced this publishing
landmark.
Johann Sigurdsson had begun exploring
the idea in the early nineties. Raised on a
farm in north Iceland, he read the Sagas as
a child and formed a lasting attachment to
the stories and his favorite heroes. In 1993,
he founded Leifur Eiriksson Publishing, in
partnership with the late Sigurdur Vi3ar
Sigmundsson, for the sole purpose of trans-
lating all the Sagas into English. An
Editorial Board was appointed, comprising
Robert Cook, Terry Gunnell, Keneva
Kunz and Bernard Scudder. It quickly
became clear that their project was headed
toward epic proportions.
In 1994, Vi5ar Hreinsson, also farm-
raised and a Saga scholar, was appointed
General Editor. Under his inspired direc-
tion, the entire corpus of the Sagas of
Iceland were translated to English. For that
awesome task, a talented team of 30 trans-
lators was carefully selected. It included
leading international scholars and universi-
ty teachers from seven countries who had
studied and written on Nordic medieval lit-
erature and culture. All were native English
speakers and writers.
Methodical editorial planning ensured
that all translators followed the same trans-
lation policy to produce a consistent high
level of accuracy and readability.
Coordination ensured use of consistent
English terms for key words and concepts,
proverbs and phrases and other cultural
aspects.
To ensure readability, spelling conven-
tions for personal and place names were
normalized as were nickname translations
that occurred in more than one Saga. In the
process, 11 Icelandic medieval specialists
carefully checked translations against orig-
inal Icelandic texts for accurate renderings.
Finally, 14 native English-speaking schol-
ars read the translations before the final
editorial review and publication.
A comprehensive introduction by Dr.
Robert Kellogg, depicts the world of the
Sagas, their subject material, location and
society where they take place.
In addition, Dr. Kellogg focuses on their
artistry, their characters and assesses their
place in world literature. These five vol-
umes describe the dramatic life, explo-
rations and civilization of that amazing era.
Praise for the memorable publishing land-
mark came from leading scholars, histori-
ans and noted world authors.
"The English is wonderfully accessible
to this modern reader," says U. S. novelist
Kurt Vonnegut. "Only now can I fully
appreciate my own deep debt as a story-
teller to Icelandic writers of long ago."
Nobel Laureate Seamus Heaney added
his tribute: "The publication of these vol-