By Esaias Tegne'r
Tegne'r's poem, "Fridthjof's Saga," has been printed in Sweden in many largeeditions and in almost every possible style. It has been illustrated, and ithas been set to music. It has been translated into nearly all the modernEuropean languages. Moreover it has been rendered into English by eighteendifferent translators, and has been twice reprinted in America. Bayard Tayloredited an American edition of a translation by Rev. William L. Blackley ofDublin, and published it about ten years ago. Professor R. B. Anderson hasjust published in his "Viking Tales," a translation made by Professor GeorgeStephens of Copenhagen, and which received the sanction of Bishop Tegne'rhimself.
And yet we venture to add another, and present here the _first_complete_American translation. Mr. Taylor said in his preface to Blackley's versionthat there had never been an English Fridthjof's Saga which was satisfactoryto Swedes. This is probably owing to the fact that the Swedes have become sofamiliar with its original measures and so accustomed to its peculiar rhythm,that they cannot willingly dispense with any part of the form which Tegne'rgave it. Several of the metres employed by him were unknown to Swedish readersuntil they appeared in this poem. Tegne'r's experiment of introducing them wasa successful one; and they are now, in the minds of Swedes, as much a part ofthe work as the story itself. The feminine rhymes, occurring in fifteen of thetwenty-four cantos, are so melodious that no one who had heard the original,even if he did not understand a word of it, could be quite satisfied with aversion which does not reproduce them. The feminine rhymes and thealliteration of Canto XXI have presented obstacles which no single translationhas hitherto overcome.
The original measures the feminine rhymes and the alliteration of "Ring'sDrapa," are, in our estimation, essential features of a good rendering of thepoem, and if we have done our work well we do not fear that any one will thinkthere are too many translations.
For a fuller history of "Fridthjof 's Saga" than can be given in this note, werefer the reader to Anderson's "Viking Tales," where the sagas on which thisstory is founded appear in full.
The preparation of this translation has been a home work which has brightenedfor us the firelight of many a pleasant evening. We publish it in full faiththat it will have a like happy effect in whatever home it may be read.
October, 1876.
Canto I. Fridthjof and Ingeborg -
Canto II. King Bele and Thorstein
Canto III. Fridthjof's Inheritance
Canto IV. Fridthjof's Courtship
Canto V. King Ring
Canto VI. Fridthjof Plays Chess
Canto VII. Fridthjof's Happiness
Canto VIII. The Parting
Canto IX. Ingeborg's Lament
Canto X. Fridthjof at Sea
Canto XI. Fridthjof with Angantyr
Canto XII. The Return
Canto XIII. Balder's Funeral Pile
Canto XIV. Fridthjof Goes Into Exile
Canto XV. The Viking Code
Canto XVI. Fridthjof and Bjorn
Canto XVII. Fridthjof Comes to King Ring
Canto XVIII. The Ride on the Ice
Canto XIX. Fridthjof's Temptation<