Scandinavian-Canadian Studies/Études Scandinaves au Canada
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Travelling Home: The Scandinavian Transnational Adoptee Identity on the Move
Get PDFABSTRACT: Globalization and migration are strong themes in contemporary Scandinavian
literature. In this literature, which discusses migration in relation to complex questions
about home, national identity, and the self, memoirs written by Scandinavian transnational
adoptees stand out as a new intriguing literary voice. This raises the question how
we can understand Scandinavian transnational adoptees as migrants and travelling subjects.
By using Trinh T Minh-haʼs idea of “home” as a source of movement or travelling as a starting point, this article explores
the Scandinavian transnational adoptee subject as a migrant identity and as a traveller
in literary works written by these adoptees. The article focuses on two physical journeys:
the journey through which the transnational adoptee arrives in the Scandinavian country
as an immigrant and the journey he/she takes when revisiting the country of birth
as a traveller/tourist. This ends up in a discussion of how “home” could be interpreted in the complex migration identity that is the Scandinavian transnational
adoptee identity
An Ill-Tempered Axe for an Ill-Tempered Smith: The Gift of King Eiríkr blóðøx to Skallagrímr Kveldúlfsson in Egils saga Skallagrímssonar
Get PDFABSTRACT: Current studies on, and translations of, Egils saga Skallagrímssonar approach weapons, in particular their metallurgical composition and forged details,
with little reflection of recent advances in archaeology, both classic and experimental.
This results in an impoverished appreciation of both the detail of the episode in
which Skallagrímr Kveldúlfsson tests a richly decorated battle axe given to him by
the king of Norway and the treatment and symbolism of axes throughout the saga. This
episode, complemented by subsequent axe references, reflects and reinforces the founding
narrative of the settlement of Iceland and the strained relationship between Iceland
and hegemonistic Norway in the thirteenth century, the likely date of the saga’s composition
The Cosmopolitan Saint: Nephi Anderson’s Scandinavian-American Mormon Identity
Get PDFABSTRACT: Norwegian immigrant Nephi Anderson (1865-1923) was Mormonism’s first popular
author and wrote a regional bestseller that stayed in print over 100 years. Despite
the fact that many of his works have Scandinavian characters and international settings,
scholars have considered Anderson’s texts primarily for their Mormonism and not in
terms of his ethnic identity or portrayal of an international church. This parallels
the scholarly reception of the Mormon Scandinavian immigration to the United States,
which privileges American over Scandinavian and Mormon above American. In this article,
I offer a critical reevaluation of Anderson’s works to show their place in Scandinavian-American
or “immigrant” literature, preserving Norwegian cultural heritage as it intersects Mormonism
The Saga of Melitta Urbancic
Get PDFABSTRACT: Very few Jews fleeing from the Holocaust in Central Europe between 1937
and 1945 managed to reach the safety of the shores of Iceland, which was not a major
player in this catastrophic event, but was also not a non-participant. Melitta Urbancic,
a Viennese Jewish author and actress, was one of these very few. Under dramatic circumstances,
she was allowed to settle in Iceland in late 1938, where she remained for the rest
of her long life. As we now know, when she died in Reykjavík in 1984 she left behind
a voluminous oeuvre of German-language poetry, a selection of which appeared in 2014
in the bilingual Icelandic-German book Frá hjara veraldar. Vom Rand der Welt, edited by Gauti Kristmannsson, which contains the only works of Melitta Urbancic
that are in print in any language. This review article presents the adventurous saga
of Melitta Urbancic, includes some of her poems in German and in English translation,
and looks at the special quality of her relationship to Iceland, her writing style,
and the content of the poetry as it changed from that of a traumatized refugee in
a very foreign environment to someone who gradually found a new home.RÉSUMÉ: Entre 1937 et 1945, très peu de juifs fuyant l’Holocaust en Europe centrale
réussirent à atteindre la sécurité des côtes de l’Islande, pays qui ne fut pas l’un
des principaux participants à ces évènements catastrophiques, mais n’en fut pas moins
l’un des participants. Ce texte raconte l’histoire de l’une d’entre eux, Melitta Urbancic
, une écrivaine et actrice juive de Vienne qui, dans des circonstances dramatiques,
obtint fin 1938, la permission de s’installer en Islande où elle vécut jusqu’à la
fin de ses jours. Lorsqu’elle mourut à Reykjavík en 1984, nous le savons désormais,
elle laissa derrière elle une oeuvre volumineuse de poésie en allemand, dont une sélection
apparaît en 2014 dans le livre bilingue Islandais-Allemand Frá hjara veraldar. Vom Rand der Welt, édité par Gauti Kristmannsson et contenant les seules œuvres imprimées de Melitta
Urbancic. Cette revue présente la saga des aventures de Melitta Urbancic, inclut certains
de ses poèmes en allemand et leur traduction en anglais, explore la qualité spéciale
de sa relation avec l’Islande, ainsi que son style d’écriture, et enfin, le contenu
de sa poésie qui évolue progressivement de celui d’une immigrée traumatisée évoluant
dans un environnement totalement étranger, à celui d’une personne qui trouve progressivement
un nouveau chez soi
The Spaewife’s Prophecy: A Verse Translation of the Norse Poem Vǫluspá, with an Introduction and Notes
Get PDFABSTRACT: The epic poem Vǫluspá, in which an ancient seeress foretells to Odin the tragic fate awaiting his son Baldr
and the eventual destruction of the gods at Ragnarǫk, is an acknowledged masterpiece
of medieval literature. However, outside the world of Norse studies it remains surprisingly
little known. Vǫluspá was composed in pre-literate Iceland and transmitted through performance for several
centuries before being committed to vellum, but none of the available English translations
(including W. H. Auden’s less than faithful version) were written to be read aloud,
making the poem much less likely to be included in university courses on European
or world literature. My verse translation, The Spaewife’s Prophecy, attempts to convey the enigmatic power of the original text, while the notes are
intended both to make the poem accessible to readers unfamiliar with Norse mythology
and also to situate it in the material and cultural world of the Icelanders.RÉSUMÉ: Le poème épique Vǫluspá, dans lequel une antique voyante prédit à Odin le destin tragique qui attend son
fils Baldr, ainsi que la destruction finale des dieux lors de Ragnarǫk, est un chef
d’œuvre reconnu de la littérature médiévale. Cependant, il est surprenant de voir
combien il demeure peu connu en dehors du monde des études du norrois. Le poème a
été composé en Islande avant l’apparition de l’écriture et transmis oralement pendant
plusieurs siècles avant d’être transcrit. Toutefois, aucune des traductions disponibles
en anglais (y compris celle de W. H. Auden, qui s’avère d’ailleurs peu fidèle) n’a
été rédigée pour être lue à voix haute, ce qui ne favorise pas l’inclusion du poème
dans des études universitaires de littérature européenne ou mondiale. Ma traduction
en vers, The Spaewife’s Prophecy, tente de transmettre la force énigmatique du texte original, tandis que les notes
ont pour but à la fois de rendre le poème plus accessible aux lecteurs peu familiers
avec la mythologie nordique et de le situer dans le monde matériel et culturel des
Islandais
Jennifer Eastman Attebery. Pole Raising and Speech Making: Modalities of Swedish American Summer Celebration.
No full textA Normalized Edition and English Translation of the Miracles about St. Olaf in AM 325 IV α 4to (“The Seventh and Eighth Fragment”)
Get PDFABSTRACT: This article provides a brief introduction to as well as a normalized edition
and an English translation of the miracles about St. Olaf preserved in AM 325 IV α
4to—sometimes referred to as the seventh and eighth fragment. The edition is based
on that of Jonna Louis-Jensen (1970). The translation is to be understood as an addendum
to the English translation of The Legendary Saga of King Olaf Haraldsson and six fragments from The Oldest Saga of Olaf the Saint (translated by Scholz and Schach and published by Arthur and Wolf).RÉSUMÉ: Cet article fournit une brève introduction, ainsi qu’une édition normalisée
et une traduction anglaise des miracles concernant St. Olaf conservés dans AM 325
IV α 4to, parfois appelés les septième et huitième fragments. Cette édition est basée
sur celle de Jonna Louis-Jensen (1970). La traduction doit être comprise comme un
addenda à la traduction anglaise de The Legendary Saga of King Olaf Haraldsson (en français, « La saga légendaire du Roi Olaf Haraldsson ») et aux six fragments de la saga de The Oldest Saga of Olaf the Saint (en français, l’« Ancienne saga de Saint Olaf ») (traduits en anglais par Scholz et Schach et publiés par Arthur et Wolf)
