The key is “total immersion” to the point of exhaustion — then suddenly you’ve surrendered to it and you’re thoughts are in Icelandic instead of mentally converting to English. Then you know you’ve “arrived”. And forgive the natives for always speaking to you in English — they’re trying to be accommodating, bless them. But they’re also keeping their own fluency — somewhat at your expense, in a way!

Cheers!

J.

In the contributor’s list in your softcover copy of the sagas you’ll see that T. Gunnell was one of the participants in putting that redacted collection together — just like he was for the full-blown 5-vol. hardcover set from Leifur Eiriksson pub. from whence the Penguin book was taken.

Cheers!

J.

I’ll have to double check now…

I don’t think I currently qualify for the furner (my local accent seems to smush even more syllables out of that word) discount, since I’m living here at the moment, but the LEP editions sound like a worthy investment the next time I head out of the country (and can therefore get the VAT refund). Luckily, I bought the Penguin edition a few years ago and made sure to bring it with me. I’ve been hopping between it and some free-standing saga editions. I’m working my way through slowly, but surely…

You might like Nancy Brown’s “The Far Traveler/Voyages of a Viking Woman”:

http://www.amazon.com/The-Far-Traveler-Voyages-Viking/dp/0156033976

Like you’re doing now, Nancy spent considerable time in Iceland doing archeological and other things. I believe she also raises Icelandic horses at her place in New England.

This book is about what history more and more justifiably claims to be the first European woman in America, her experiences at what is now L’Anse aux Meadows, NF and her later life. She’s mentioned in the old Greenland and Leifur Eiriksson Sagas. There’s a 2007 NYT review of the book at:

http://goo.gl/zLhx6

As for the sagas themselves, an excellent (but pricey) hardcover library in English is available from Leifur Eiriksson Publishing in Reykjavik:

http://sagas.is/yfirlit.htm

If you can afford them, they’re the best. And sometimes “furriners” can get a break from any tax that might be levied — worth checking out. But if not, a select paperback subset is available in “The Sagas of Icelanders”:

Cheers!

J.

Sorry for not responding sooner…I forgot to set the “heads-up” option.

Konrad (v.) Maurer traveled through Iceland in 1858 to collect these stories, and if history is not a total “lie agreed upon” then his work motivated both the more noted collectors Jón Árnason and Magnús Grímsson to complete their work, “Íslenzk Æfintýri” (similar title as H. Gering’s work, “Íslendzk Æventýri” that I translated). People with “skin in the game” back then were more willing to exchange information, it appears. Maurer also did a separate book on his actual travels “Íslandsferð 1858″ which was only published recently (’97) in Iceland/ic.

But probably the most hallowed collectors of these tales was Árni Magnússon (http://goo.gl/rTbnp) from the 17th/18th centuries. He scrounged old vellum writings, some apparently used to plug holes in roofs and to patch shoes. Thanks to his financially well-endowed wife he was able to pay the light bill and pursue his work that resulted in the Arnamagnæan Manuscript Collection, not only of folklore but sagas and historical records.

For the most part, it seems that the more literate clerics were the best source for what folklore there was still remaining. A good read is T. Gunnell’s work on how clerics were a primary source of Icelandic lore, their sometimes reluctance to further these “pagan” interests, and how they interacted is at:

http://goo.gl/6zRqQ

Cheers!

J.

Thanks for your comment–the alternate telling of the story of Þorgeirr’s bull is quite interesting, and I’m glad to know about the German collection of Icelandic tales that you are translating. Had von Maurer been to Iceland when he collected these tales, or was he just working off of the reverend’s text? I’m also interested in the process of translating Icelandic folk legends through German versions written in the late 1800s/early 1900s. It seems like a most productive narrative version of that game “Telephone”–like you said, a neat aspect of folklore is the constant variations in common stories’ retellings.

I like the idea of including a map of locations around Iceland which correspond to the tales–I am still surprised at how many of the sites from sagas and folktales one can visit in Iceland without finding a fast food chain or similar popped up on top of them.

Thanks for the link to your work as well!

Larissa

“…it’s not always that the awakened have human bodies to thank for their reawakening. In one case — although I was emphatically assured by Sèra Magnús that this was the only case he knew of — it is rather an animal that is used for a similar purpose.

At the start of the 18th century, a powerful magician named Þorgeirr lived in Fnjóskadalur (just east of the Eyjafjördur). He came into conflict with another magician in the valley, and tried repeatedly to send a draugr (ghost) or uppvakníngr (awakened one) to kill the other magician. Finally he killed a bull, skinned it and then using magic arts gave it such strength that it killed his antagonist.

Since then, “Þorgeirr’s bull”, as it is called, roams the valley hunting all the descendants of the dead magician and trying to cause them harm. It still drags its rotted hide behind it by its tail, similar to a cattle plague demon (Viehschelm) in some parts of Germany. It is often seen rustling around outside farmyards and occasionally it has been known to break in to the farm.”

His reference to his source is “Sèra Magnús” (Rev. Magnús Grímsson), one of Iceland’s foremost story collectors along with Jón Árnason (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/J%C3%B3n_%C3%81rnason_%28author%29) and others. You see that this tale varies quite a bit from the one you’ve read — but that’s one of the neat things about folktales and lore. My own work includes links to the real places in Iceland where you can actually see them; the location of this version of the “bull” story can be seen on the excellent Iceland map at:

http://goo.gl/meGFJ

I’m presently translating von Maurer’s volume, and if you like you can have a peek at parts of my previous translations (Hugo Gering, Avenstrup/Treitel) as e-books here:

https://www.smashwords.com/profile/view/webistrator

Cheers!

J. Turbes

At the moment, I think I’m taking a break while I move to Iceland, but feel free to be in touch if you have e-galleys or e-books that you’re interested in having reviewed in the future. It may be awhile, but I’d like to pick back up when I’m settled again.

Thanks!

Larissa