Saga de Hávardr de l’Ísafjörd

by Unknown, Régis Boyer (traducteur)

Il ne fait pas bon être vieux et chétif lorsqu’on est viking : Hávardr le boiteux, jadis un grand guerrier, est terrassé par le chagrin après l'assassinat de son fils, dans un combat inique, par l’ignoble Thorbjörn. Hávardr trouvera-t-il un second souffle pour porter à nouveau les armes et venger son honneur bafoué?

Entre histoire et légende, une aventure épique dans la rude Islande du Xe siècle : un joyau de la littérature nordique.

96 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published June 19, 1380

About the author

Books can be attributed to "Unknown" when the author or editor (as applicable) is not known and cannot be discovered. If at all possible, list at least one actual author or editor for a book instead of using "Unknown".

Books whose authorship is purposefully withheld should be attributed instead to Anonymous.

Reviews

[Fei · Rating 3 out of 5]

Very interesting from a cultural point of view but it wasn't always a captivating reading, the writing style is very dry and there are many characters involved, which can be confusing sometimes.
This short book made me more aware of Tolkien's inspirations (in Scandinavian sagas) which I thought was very cool.

[Marie En Liberté · Rating 3 out of 5]

C'est un style qui est différent du notre, mais c'est intéressant à découvrir

[Ratiocination · Rating 3 out of 5]

A happenstance bargain bin find from a friend of mine-- I note that I'm not only writing the only Goodreads review, mine is the only numerical rating.

This is very much an academic edition; as the sagas go this isn't one of unusual merit or significance, but instead a contribution to the overall understanding of the genre. If anything what's most noteworthy is that it's quite late, and as such shows a good deal about the 14th-century culture that the person who wrote it down overlaid on supposedly 10th-century events.

The Durrenbergers lay out their translation philosophy in the introductory essay-- I think it's basically a sound one given their goals, and I think they're successful with it. It's literal even in some cases where a direct translation doesn't produce grammatical English (not something one could necessarily get away with between less closely related languages.) The idea is to mediate just enough to make the work accessible to someone who doesn't read medieval Icelandic, and no more than necessary. They also leave in the eths and thorns, Ð and Þ, maybe a slightly more artificial way of maintaining "Icelandicness," but not a harmful one.

[Julie Mgt · Rating 2 out of 5]

Un récit très particulier, avec une plume particulière... Je suis assez mitigée concernant ces écrits. Parce que je n'y suis pas habituée et que la manière de conter est spéciale. En plus, je ne connais vraiment rien au contexte de l'histoire. Heureusement, il y a de nombreuses notes qui accompagnent le texte et qui permettent, parfois, d'y voir un peu plus clair ...
Ceci dit, je suis très intriguée par la mythologie islandaise et je pense que, non seulement je relirai cette saga plus tard, mais je m'en procurerai certainement d'autres pour en apprendre plus :)

[Sofi · Rating 3 out of 5]

Tough read! But lots of learnings!