The French connection: Some Icelandic translations of French literature in manuscript and print, ca. 1400-1900

The extent of manuscript production in medieval Iceland is well known; less well known is that manuscript transmission remained the norm in Iceland well into the modern era, long after the arrival of the printing press. The range of types of literary works preserved in these manuscripts is vast. Alt...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Tabularia
Main Author: Driscoll, Matthew James
Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
Language:English
Published: CRAHAM - Centre Michel de Boüard 2019
Subjects:
art
Online Access:http://journals.openedition.org/tabularia/3422
Description
Summary:The extent of manuscript production in medieval Iceland is well known; less well known is that manuscript transmission remained the norm in Iceland well into the modern era, long after the arrival of the printing press. The range of types of literary works preserved in these manuscripts is vast. Although the bulk of this literature was indigenous and in Icelandic, many works were translated, too, both from Latin and the various European vernaculars. The present essay examines a few of the French literary works that survive in Icelandic translations, both in manuscript and print, from Thomas’s Tristan to Jules Verne. L’estensione della produzione di manoscritti nell’Islanda medievale è ben nota meno noto è che la trasmissione manoscritta sia rimasta la norma in Islanda fino all’età moderna, molto tempo dopo l’arrivo della stampa. La gamma di tipi di opere letterarie conservate in questi manoscritti è vasta. Sebbene la maggior parte di questa letteratura fosse autoctona e in islandese, molte opere furono tradotte, inoltre, sia dal latino che dai vari vernacoli europei. Il presente articolo esamina alcune delle opere letterarie francesi che sopravvivono nelle traduzioni islandesi, sia in manoscritti che in libri a stampa, dal Tristan di Thomas alle opere di Jules Verne. L’étendue de la production manuscrite dans l’Islande médiévale est bien connue on sait moins en revanche que la transmission manuscrite est restée la norme en Islande même à l’époque moderne, longtemps après l’arrivée de l’imprimerie. L’éventail des types d’œuvres littéraires conservés dans ces manuscrits est vaste. Bien que la majeure partie de cette littérature soit de production locale et en islandais, beaucoup d’œuvres ont aussi été traduites soit du latin, soit des langues vernaculaires européennes. Le présent article examine quelques-unes des œuvres littéraires françaises qui subsistent dans des traductions islandaises, à la fois dans des manuscrits et des imprimés, depuis le Tristan de Thomas jusqu’à l’œuvre de Jules Verne.