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I spent a semester translating Beowulf, and came away with tremendous respect for the folks who undertake such things. I haven't seen a translation that really captures the feeling of the Old English, though I do like Seamus Heaney's version. Cognitive scientist Douglas Hofstadter has written a number of interesting pieces on translation. I haven't yet read Le Ton beau de Marot, which explicitly deals with the translation of poetry, but several of his other books examine the subject as well. In Surfaces and Essences, his recent work on analogy, Hofstadter contends that translation can't be a purely mechanical exercise because of the fundamental differences in the mechanics of languages. Everyday phrases in one language may have no counterpart in another, so a certain degree of creativity is necessary to fill in the gaps with analogous constructs.
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Feb 18, 2014 01:07
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Dr Scoofles posted:Yes, totally! I always read out loud when I come to Middle English, it's just to cool not to. My mum is Scottish but I was raised in England, however, when I read ME poetry I sound super Scottish. Old English is totally on my 'to do' list. I have a book called From Old English to Standard English which was recommended to me as a good teach yourself guide, but what I actually need to do is sit down and actually read some OE. I don't suppose you OE types can recommend some good introductory poetry? quote:Ic eom wunderlicu wiht, wifum on hyhte quote:(I am a wondrous creature, a joy to women, The introductory OE class that I took used Hasenfratz and Jambeck's Reading Old English as its text, which I've since learned is riddled with errors. The method it uses for teaching OE grammar is much friendlier than the more scholarly works, however, so it could still be a useful book when cross-referenced with a more comprehensive book like Mitchell and Robinson's Guide To Old English or Klaeber's Beowulf.
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Feb 22, 2014 01:59
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I've got a used copy of the Riverside Chaucer that's been written in by about 8 different people. When I saw that it had been resold in Alabama and California (I live near Vancouver), I had to get it. Whoever wrote in pink made sure to note that there were 29 PPL on the pilgrimage.
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Feb 28, 2014 04:30
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