SAGA-BOOK - Viking Society Web Publications

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Thorkell is assuming at this point. A more important example
occurs in the scene where Thorkell refuses to accept the tapestries
that Vestein has brought as a joint gift to the brothers: the excuse
he gives for his refusal, eigi eru launin synni en svd, is translated
"Any return for them from me is not very likely" (p. 17). This
is not what Thorkell actually says, and in making his statement
more explicit the translation hides its ironic ambiguity. Like
other of his remarks in this part of the saga, Thorkells words are
intended to have a meaning for those who know the true situation
(i.e. Gisli and Thorgrim) which is hidden from those who do not:
to the latter, Thorkell's words - "the repayment is not so clear
as all that" - would suggest merely that he is refusing the
tapestries because he is not sure that he can repay such a costly
gift, but to Gisli they would have a more ominous ring, suggesting
a very different kind of repayment.
Occasionally Professor Johnston shows a lack of trust in the
reader's intelligence (which a close translator must have) by
unnecessarily explanatory translation, e.g. (p. 41) "The larger
boat, with the more men in it, goes faster" (Rennir pat skip meira
sem menninir vdru jleiri i), and the several insertions of
explanatory reminders to identify persons mentioned in the
narrative. But, taken all together, these lapses from his intention
of following the Icelandic as closely as he could are too few to mar
the general impression of a fine model of saga translation.
In his translation of the verses Professor Johnston has found
a good, workable compromise between sacrificing the clarity and
sacrificing the form. A reader new to saga verse should be able
to follow even the most esoteric of them, with the help of the
"Notes to the Verses", while at the same time he will get some
idea of the form and diction of the original verse.
Peter Foote's "Notes on the Text" are admirable for the
purpose. They combine scholarly information with a liveliness
calculated to whet the interest of the newcomer to saga studies.
His "Essay on the Saga of Gisli and its Icelandic background"
prefaces its account with a useful review of the social and political
background and of the literary genesis of the Sagas of Icelanders.
There is a good discussion of the history of Gisla saga, with a most
interesting and valuable contribution relating the dream verses
to twelfth-century poetry. As literary criticism the Essay is
disappointing, mainly because (like most modern criticism of the
sagas) it is content to analyse the saga as though it were a modern
novel. Mr Foote had said earlier, of the writers of the Sagas of
Icelanders, that "they describe conduct in order to reveal
character" (p. lOS). But it would be just as true to say "they