Death at the Dragon’s Prow

If there’s one thing you can say about Medieval Scandinavian poetry, is that much of it is haunting in its sorrowful beauty. This piece of poetry forms part of the Sturlungasaga. Read only in this context, its first two lines immediately brought to mind the carved dragon prows found on some of the Viking ships.

You must climb up on to the keel,

cold is the sea-spray’s feel;

From the Oseberg ship. Photo by Jean-Pierre Dalbéra.

let not your courage bend:

here your life must end.

Old man, keep your upper lip firm

though your head be bowed by the storm.

You have had girls’ love in the past ;

death comes to all at last.

This is the original text in Old Norse:

Upp skaltu á kjöl klífa,

köld er sævar drífa;

kostaðu hug þinn herða,

hér skaltu lífit verða.

Skafl beygjattu skalli

Þótt skúr á þik falli.

Ást hafðir þú meyja;

eitt sinn skal hver deyja.*

This poem is actually recited by Þórir jökull Steinfinnsson just before his execution. But that would not have made a very attractive title for the post, now would it?

*Both English and Old Norse texts quoted from What Was Viking Poetry For? by Anthony Faulkes.

And there’s more!

Visit www.vsnrweb-publications.org.uk for some other great texts and tales (most scholarly).

The website www.heimskringla.no also has a wide variety of texts dealing with Medieval Icelandic literature and Norse mythology in various languages.

The Anglo-Saxon (Old English) manuscript of Beowulf can now be viewed for free on the British Library website,over here.

Sources:

Faulkes, Anthony. 1993. What Was Viking Poetry For? Inaugural lecture delivered on 27th April 1993 in the University of Birmingham. ISBN: 0704413957

Photo: From the Oseberg ship. Photo by Jean-Pierre Dalbéra.. Click here for the link to his beautiful gallery at Flickr.

Summer Moved On - Music Monday

Now that you can really feel winter approaching, I thought this song has quit an apt title. (And I love a-ha's music. And Morten Harket's voice.)

Over at Hersenskim and on my Tumblr page is a post with some thoughts on creative translation (in Afrikaans).

Oordenkings: Vertaling, gedagtes, wysheid en kennis

(Deel 1)

Biskop Wulfila, wat die Bybel in Goties vertaal het

Linguistiek – en veral toegepaste linguistiek – is my passie. Of dalk moet ek eerder sê stories en taal en alles wat daarmee gepaard gaan. Ek onthou hoe my ma (toe ek so vier of vyf jaar oud was) vir ons stories uit Engelse boeke gelees het – maar dat sy die stories in Afrikaans vertaal het soos sy lees. Vir my was dit soos magie. In graad 2 het ek Roald Dahl se boeke ontdek – eers Die GSR voordat ek uitgevind het dat die boek eintlik in Engels geskryf is, waarna ek dit dadelik in Engels óók wou lees. Ek het Dahl se boeke een na die ander in die oorspronklike Engels verslind. En tog onthou ek, dat, toe ek die Afrikaanse vertaling van Charlie and the Chocolate Factory in die skool se biblioteek opgespoor het, ek woedend was en sommer die boek na ’n paar blaaie neergesit het. Teen dié tyd het ek reeds die (Engelse) boek ’n paar keer gelees en wou sien hoe dit in Afrikaans “klink”. Wat my heeltemal afgesit het, was dat die Buckets se van as “Emmer” vertaal is. Mens sou dink dat ek toe al sou geweet het in watter rigting ek moes mik vir ’n loopbaan, maar dit het nog ’n paar jaar gevat (op daardie stadium wou ek ’n paleontoloog word).

’n Paar jaar later

Nou ja, blykbaar kry jy as bleeksiel ekstra “punte” as jy ’n dooie/fiktiewe taal leer. (Die internet is werklik ’n vreemde plek, waar daar tot blaaie is wat jou “stap vir stap” verduidelik hoe om ’n bleeksiel te wees. Maar dit is ’n hele ander gesprek.) In elk geval, in die graad waarmee ek tans besig is, is dit nodig dat ek gedeeltes van die Eddas vertaal.

Alhoewel ’n paar van die Noorse verhale in Afrikaans beskikbaar is (maar dié is ongelukkig ’n paar dekades gelede gepubliseer), is die oorspronklike Oudnoorse tekste nog nie in Afrikaans vertaal nie. ’n Verskeidenheid Engelse vertalings en ’n paar Nederlandse vertalings (om maar net ’n paar tale te noem) is wel beskikbaar, (ek het al hier van die Engelse vertalings voorgestel), maar nie al die vertalings is egter akkuraat nie en, veral wanneer ek korter stukke uit die boeke wil aanhaal, is dit moontlik* om daardie spesifieke gedeelte in Afrikaans te vertaal. Te danke aan baie studies wat myne voorafgaan – en die liewe Internet wat my toegang gee tot elektroniese tekste, is dit moontlik om van gestandariseerde Oudnoorse tekste gebruik te maak as brontekste.

Sodra basies enige teks in jou moedertaal is, lees dit nie net makliker nie, maar verkry dit ook ’n groter, meer tasbare (met die verbeelding) dimensie. Skielik spreek die teks tot jou hart. Een spesifieke strofe uit die gedig Völuspá – een van die belangrikste mitologiese gedigte – gee die volgende strofe as deel van die beskrywing van die wêreldboom Yggdrasill:

Yggdrasil deur Frances Melville

Ek weet ’n esseboom staan daar

wat Yggdrasill heet;

’n geweldige boom, begiet

met wit leem.

Daarvandaan kom die dou

wat in die dale val.

Dit staan ewig groen

bo Urd se Bron.

Dit is nogal baie makliker om te lees as die oorspronklike! 

Ask veit ek standa,

heitir Yggdrasill,

hár baðmr, ausinn

hvítaauri.

Þaðan koma döggvar

Þærs í dala falla.

Stendr æ yfir grœnn

Urðar brunni.**

Vertaling is steeds skeppende werk – jy tik nie die teks by iets soos Google Translate in en die program spoeg ’n professionele, idiomatiese teks uit nie. Jy sit met woordeboeke en naslaanwerke en skuur en skaaf en los die werk vir ’n ruk en kyk dan weer daarna. Vertaling is nie net een woord met ’n ander vervang nie. ’n Vertaler se grootste struikelblok is nie sinskonstruksie nie. Saam met die taal en saam met die teks moet ander aspekte soos konteks, gehoor en ook kultuur in ag geneem word. Dit is nie nét woorde wat oorgedra word nie, maar die gedagtes, wysheid en kennis van ’n ander wêreld.

* Ek het ongelukkig nie soveel tyd tot my beskikking soos ek graag sou wou hê nie.

** (Dronke, U. 1997. The Poetic Edda:Volume II Mythological Poems. Oxford, Claredon Press.)

Proudly South African Friday - Attack of the Hadedas

Not just any old Hadeda - a giant Hadeda! Weird and disturbing, but definitely worth the watch on a Friday afternoon...

Micro Fiction: The Shroud

Here’s some micro fiction set in the world of Airtha. (I’ve added some links below for some other fiction and worldbuilding.)

The Shroud

Maerlja’s energy poured into the cloth as she finished the last stitch. She ran trembling fingers over the embroidered pattern and runes woven in the secret language of the Rún. Her eyes strayed to where Eoghan lay asleep. His battle wounds were grave. She could not let him die. Not him.

She covered Eoghan with the healing cloth and life drained from her even as she kissed his pale lips. “I love you,” she whispered as they led her away. Her white funeral shroud hung heavy from her shoulders. “He will live,” she said. And smiled.  

"Her energy poured into the cloth..."

Who are the Rún?

The world of Airtha: “The Shroud” is set just after the Midland Wars – here are the links to the five parts.

Part 1 - The Midland Wars

Part 2 - Sanctuaries

Part 3 - Rise of the Fáll

Part 4 - The Southern Lands

Part 5 - The Oath Breakers

My new Tumblr page “My Pen in My Hand” is up and running!

Proudly South African Friday (with music)

Okay, with more South African music.
But hey, it's been a crazy week and I need as much music as possible to get through it!

Today's choice: "Elke man het 'n kop" (written by the great South African poet Ingrid Jonker and sung by one of my favourite artists, Chris Chameleon) - and even if you don't understand the language, check out the brilliant video.

Should We Fight Back?

Music for Monday by The Parlotones - I just love their videos.

Typing Away and Tumbling Around

In a Labyrinth of Books

When studying, I inevitably carry more and more books over to the table/couch where I’m sitting. (“I’m sure I read something about this somewhere…” Proceeds to walk to bookshelves and pick up any and all books which may contain that “something”. Make a new pile and go through them. Start typing away again and forget about unused pile of books until about five cups of tea later when I realise there’s no space left to put the cup down.) I like to think of this as organised chaos; which will be cleared away as soon as I’ve had a cup of coffee. My cat (the very cute Sir T featured in various Tweets) likes to think of the piles of books and papers as his own playground; helping me to type deep insights like ;;;;;;;;;;;;;kkkkkkkkkkkkdhyaaaaaaaaaaaaa while walking across the laptop.

From Pinterest

At the moment I am busy with rewriting and editing a piece of about 11 000 words and trying to shorten it a bit as well while I’m at it. As I last worked on it some months ago, I can really look at the piece with new eyes. This sometimes also involves some face-palming – most recently when I found that the translation of the text I was quoting was, in fact, not translated correctly. But hey, taking almost 45 minutes to do your own translation and rewriting nearly 1 000 words is not that bad. Not. At. All. (This is usually my cue to make tea/coffee and listen to something like Linkin Park and not The King’s Singers.) 

In Other Writing News

Got some feedback on a story I submitted a while ago – I just need to do a bit of rewriting of a scene or two and then I’ll resubmit. I also submitted another flash piece and am really holding thumbs for that one as well.

Tumbling around

My page onTumblr – Coffee Stains and Brainwaves – is starting to look a bit more like a page, with quite an eclectic mixture of content. After a comment left on my other (Kammastories) blog, I was wondering whether I should make a separate Afrikaans Tumblr page or just keep everything on Coffee Stains. My main reason for making a separate page is that it would enable me to place content in Afrikaans, English, and Dutch and that most of the readers would be able to understand all three. I don’t want to alienate my “English readers” by having a mixture of content of which they can’t understand half. (This is also quite a dilemma on Twitter – do I translate everything? Do I leave some stuff only in one language, especially when I switch between languages during one conversation?)

After some deliberating, I decided on rather making one, integrated, page. I’ve also changed the name of the blog – from “Coffee Stains and Brainwaves” to “My Pen in My Hand”. I decided on this name because it means exactly the same thing in both English and Afrikaans (how cool is that), and should leave me free to share a wide variety of content.