The Icelandic Canadian - 01.08.2001, Qupperneq 42

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THE ICELANDIC CANADIAN
Vol. 56 #3
umes is a reminder that the Icelandic sagas
can hold their own with the literature of the
Mediterranean. Here is the poetry of the
North Atlantic, a working out of the pri-
mary laws of our nature, a testimony to the
human spirit’s ability not only to endure
what fate may send it but to be renewed by
the experience."
UK Poet Laureate Ted Hughes adds his
praise: "All my literate life I have been
looking for more English translations of
the Sagas. To have them all, in this superb
five volume edition, is a dream come true."
Dr. Jenny Jochens also lauded the Sagas
as literary treasures, now available to all
English-speaking people.
"Critics have often considered the Sagas
of Icelanders as the single range of moun-
tains in the literary landscape that inter-
venes between the slopes of Greek drama
and those of Shakespeare whereas others
regard them as forerunners of the realistic
novels of the 18th and 19th centuries in
England and France. Regardless of their
position, it is obvious that the Icelandic sto-
ries must be counted among the treasures of
Western literature.
"Outside the small nation of Iceland and
the even smaller number of Old Norse spe-
cialists, access to and appreciation of these
narratives have been limited by the avail-
ability of translations until now.
"Bringing together for the first time and
in a coordinated fashion the entire corpus
in a readable and idiomatic English, devoid
of archaism, this handsome set of five vol-
umes is good news for all interested in the
Western tradition. The set belongs in every
library in this country."
Czech novelist Milan Kundera added his
noteworthy praise. "You will never fully
comprehend the significance of the fact that
the first grand, enormous body of prose
composed in a European national language
sprung from the genius of a very small
nation, perhaps the smallest in Europe.
"Although the glory of the Sagas is
indisputable, their literary influence would
have been much greater if they had been
written in the language of one of the major
nations, and we would have regarded the
Sagas as an anticipation or even as the foun-
dation of the European novel."
Dr. Carolyne Larrington saluted the
translations in the Times Literary
Supplement: "The translations are general-
ly excellent; accurate and readable, they are
sure to become the standard versions.
There is an overall consistence of tone
which come with the standardized transla-
tion of set phrases, yet in many sagas a
noticeably individual voice comes through.
"The translators have mostly avoided
the twin perils of archaism and of raciness,
while the verses which punctuate many of
the sagas are skillfully and often wittily
rendered. At the end of Volume Five the
reader leaves an intensely imagined world,
comparable in realistic effect with Hardy
or Dickens."
Norwegian writer Jostein Gaarder
added: "The Sagas are the literature not
only of the island where they were written,
but of the whole Western world of their
day undoubtedly one of he greatest contri-
butions made by Nordic culture to world
literature. Even today they provide the
modern reader with fascinating insights;
they are stories which reveal an immense
variety of human conduct and conditions."
Doris Palmer, writing in The Library
Association Record noted, "These volumes
should be on the shelves of any library cov-
ering the history of Western Europe, and
indeed, of American, and any library which
covers the writing of folklore."
Special features make the collection a
valuable Viking Age and world history ref-
erence. The editors have carefully selected
Rev. Stefan Jonasson
ARBORG UNITARIAN CHURCH
GIMLI UNITARIAN CHURCH
9 Rowand Avenue
Winnipeg, Manitoba R3J 2N4
Telephone: (204) 889-4746
E-mail: sjonasson@uua.org