Medieval Irish and Medieval Icelandic Texts in Nineteenth-Century Translation

Project Information

MIRMINT

Grant agreement ID: 101026870

DOI

10.3030/101026870

Project closed

EC signature date 19 April 2021

Start date 1 August 2022

End date 31 July 2024

Funded under

• EXCELLENT SCIENCE - Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions

Total cost

€ 184 239,36

EU contribution

€ 184 239,36

Coordinated by

HASKOLI ISLANDS
Iceland

Periodic Reporting for period 1 - MIRMINT (Medieval Irish and Medieval Icelandic Texts in Nineteenth-Century Translation)

Reporting period: 2022-08-01 to 2024-07-31

Summary of the context and overall objectives of the project

During the nineteenth century many antiquarians worked on translations of medieval texts, making what was locked away in manuscripts accessible to a wider audience via editions and, especially, translations. With a vast corpus of literature dating from the medieval period, how did they choose what texts to work on and were there any reasons for choosing that particular text?

The research project ‘Medieval Irish and Medieval Icelandic Texts in Nineteenth-Century Translation’ (MIRMINT) investigated why certain texts were selected to be part of a national canon in the nineteenth-century; why a national canon was important to society at that time and what it was used to achieve; and why society still promotes the idea of national literatures today. The central research questions of the project were:
- What texts were and were not translated?
- What are the similarities and differences between the Irish and Icelandic material?
- What does the choice of these texts tell us?

Addressing this question sheds light on identity politics in the nineteenth century and even today, as we still read translations of medieval stories. Like we still do today, these scholars looked back into the past to ask questions about who we are as a nation of people and what things are important to us. The nineteenth century was a period of political upheaval and crisis; people sought comfort knowing that the inhabitants of the country centuries before had endured bad times before. Yet more was done with the medieval literature. Ireland and Iceland – the subjects of this study – were part of larger empires during this period and many nationalists in both countries sought inspiration from the medieval literature as a sort of guide for an imagined independent future.

Work performed from the beginning of the project to the end of the period covered by the report and main results achieved so far

I produced a database of translated texts published by scholars in the nineteenth century. The following criteria determined a text’s inclusion in the database:

1) The source text from which the translation was made dated from the medieval period as commonly defined. I included texts from before 1500.
2) The text had to be translated in the nineteenth century. I did not include retellings in the modern languages; editions with introductions in a modern language; abridged translations following an edition. The translation either had to be presented as that or it was included in an edition with translation. Where texts were presented in articles where they added to an argument and were not the sole focus of it, there had to be at least two full paragraphs presented, not just a sentence here and there.
3) The source text had to originate in Ireland or Iceland. Where there is some discrepancy, I took into account the views of the editor/translator. As it is believed that most of the riddarasögur were compiled in Norway, they were excluded from the corpus, aside from when the editor/translator declared that the text was Icelandic. This has been marked in notes where this is the case.

The database has been published in Zenodo, where it is available open access: https://zenodo.org/records/13857788.

This then formed the basis of my analysis to answer the research questions above. I have two publications currently under peer-review; one more currently being written; and a book proposal also being drafted. In these publications I have demonstrated that some texts were not translated during the nineteenth century because of arguments among scholars, and not solely because of vulgarity in the text as was previously thought. Another article demonstrated how medieval Irish literature was conveyed to the general public in nineteenth-century penny publications and how it formed part of an improving mission on behalf of penny journal editors, sitting in among articles on the aurora borealis and insects. I continue to work on this vast material, and look to examine more closely the correlations between Irish and Icelandic texts in translation in the nineteenth century. In addition to my publications, I have also given ten conference papers and invited lectures in Iceland, Norway, Denmark, The Netherlands, and the USA on this material.

Progress beyond the state of the art and expected potential impact (including the socio-economic impact and the wider societal implications of the project so far)

The database of publications of translations of medieval literature has opened up the literary heritage of Ireland and Iceland to the wider public. This project was the first to compare antiquarian research in the nineteenth century using the literature of these two countries and the findings of the project demonstrated that this was a particularly suitable comparative study. My preliminary research into the topic had suggested that the number of translations of Irish texts would dwarf the number of Icelandic translations into Danish, however, this was not the case. The reason for the larger number is that Danish scholars frequently translated the same texts as other scholars had been working on, whereas in the Irish case, this is not so. The medieval Irish material translated is also much broader than the Icelandic, and includes non-literary texts such as legal material and annals. Danish translations of Icelandic material are frequently based on the sagas which deal with the prehistory of Scandinavia, which were therefore of interest to Danes, as well as some of the sagas about Icelanders. One avenue of research which occurred during the project is that of language politics; all medieval Irish material published during the nineteenth century was in edition with translation. The Icelandic material appeared in edition, in edition with translation, or just in translation. More research is needed to examine why this is the case.
In summary, I created a comprehensive and exhaustive database of medieval Irish and Icelandic texts published by scholars during the nineteenth century. I identified which texts were most likely to be translated and those which did not appear in translation. I identified uses of these texts outside of the realm of scholarship and how they helped people to create a national identity. I have begun publishing on this material and have delivered numerous talks to disseminate findings and advance antiquarian research in Ireland, Iceland, and Denmark in the nineteenth century.

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