An Essay Toward a History of Shakespeare in Norway by Martin Brown Ruud (best novels of all time .TXT) 📕

I have attempted in this study to trace the history of Shakespearean

translations, Shakespearean criticism, and the performances of

Shakespeare's plays in Norway. I have not attempted to investigate

Shakespeare's influence on Norwegian literature. To do so would not,

perhaps, be entirely fruitless, but it would constitute a different

kind of work.

The investigation was made possible by a fellowship from the University

of Chicago and a scholarship from the American-Scandinavian Foundation,

and I am glad to express my gratitude to these bodies for the

opportunities given to me of study in the Scandinavian countries.

I am indebted for special help and encouragement to Dr. C.N. Gould

and Professor J.M. Manly, of the University of Chicago, and to the

authorities of the University library in Kristiania for their unfailing

courtesy. To my wife, who has worked with me throughout, my obligations

are greater than I can express.

It is my plan to follow this monograph with a second on the history of

Shakespeare in Denmark.

M.B.R.

Minneapolis, Minnesota.

September, 1916.

In the years following 1750, there was gathered in the city of Trondhjem

a remarkable group of men: Nils Krog Bredal, composer of the first

Danish opera, John Gunnerus, theologian and biologist, Gerhart Schøning,

rector of the Cathedral School and author of an elaborate history of the

fatherland, and Peter Suhm, whose 14,047 pages on the history of Denmark

testify to a learning, an industry, and a generous devotion to

scholarship which few have rivalled. Bredal was mayor (Borgermester),

Gunnerus was bishop, Schøning was rector, and Suhm was for the moment

merely the husband of a rich and unsympathetic wife. But they were

united in their interest in serious studies, and in 1760, the last

three--somewhat before Bredal's arrival--founded "Videnskabsselkabet i

Trondhjem." A few years later the society received its charter as "Det

Kongelige Videnskabsselskab."

A little provincial scientific body! Of what moment is it? But in those

days it was of moment. Norway was then and long afterwards the political

and intellectual dependency of Denmark. For three hundred years she had

been governed more or less effectively from Copenhagen, and for two

hundred years Danish had supplanted Norwegian as the language of church

and state, of trade, and of higher social intercourse. The country had

no university; Norwegians were compelled to go to Copenhagen for their

degrees and there loaf about in the anterooms of ministers waiting for

preferment. Videnskabsselskabet was the first tangible evidence of

awakened national life, and we are not surprised to find that it was in

this circle that the demand for a separate Norwegian university was

first authoritatively presented. Again, a little group of periodicals

sprang up in which were discussed, learnedly and pedantically, to be

sure, but with keen intelligence, the questions that were interesting

the great world outside. It is dreary business ploughing through these

solemn, badly printed octavos and quartos. Of a sudden, however, one

comes upon the first, and for thirty-six years the only Norwegian

translation of Shakespeare.

We find it in _Trondhjems Allehaande_ for October 23, 1782--the third

and last volume. The translator has hit upon Antony's funeral oration

and introduces it with a short note:[1] "The following is taken from

the famous English play _Julius Caesar_ and may be regarded as a

masterpiece. When Julius Caesar was killed, Antonius secured permission

from Brutus and the other conspirators to speak at his funeral. The

people, whose minds were full of the prosperity to come, were satisfied

with Caesar's murder and regarded the murderers as benefactors. Antonius

spoke so as to turn their minds from rejoicing to regret at a great

man's untimely death and so as to justify himself and win the hearts of

the populace. And in what a masterly way Antonius won them! We shall

render, along with the oration, the interjected remarks of the crowd,

inasmuch as they too are evidences of Shakespeare's understanding of

the human soul and his realization of the manner in which the oration

gradually brought about the purpose toward which he aimed:"

    [1. It has been thought best to give such citations for the most

    part in translation.]

  Antonius:

  Venner, Medborgere, giver mig Gehør, jeg kommer for at jorde Cæsars

  Legeme, ikke for at rose ham. Det Onde man gjør lever endnu efter

  os; det Gode begraves ofte tilligemed vore Been. Saa Være det ogsaa

  med Cæsar. Den ædle Brutus har sagt Eder, Cæsar var herskesyg. Var

  han det saa var det en svær Forseelse: og Cæsar har ogsaa dyrt

  maattet bøde derfor. Efter Brutus og de Øvriges Tilladelse--og

  Brutus er en hederlig Mand, og det er de alle, lutter hederlige

  Mænd, kommer jeg hid for at holde Cæsars Ligtale. Han var min Ven,

  trofast og oprigtig mod mig! dog, Brutus siger, han var herskesyg,

  og Brutus er en hederlig Mand. Han har bragt mange Fanger med til

  Rom, hvis Løsepenge formerede de offentlige Skatter; synes Eder det

  herskesygt af Cæsar--naar de Arme skreeg, saa græd Cæsar--Herskesyge

  maate dog vel væves af stærkere Stof.--Dog Brutus siger han var

  herskesyg; og Brutus er en hederlig Mand. I have alle seet at jeg

  paa Pans Fest tre Gange tilbød ham en kongelig Krone, og at han tre

  Gange afslog den. Var det herskesygt?--Dog Brutus siger han var

  herskesyg, og i Sandhed, han er en hederlig Mand. Jeg taler ikke for

  at gjendrive det, som Brutus har sagt; men jeg staar her, for at

  sige hvad jeg veed. I alle elskede ham engang, uden Aarsag; hvad for

  en Aarsag afholder Eder fra at sørge over ham? O! Fornuft! Du er

  flyed hen til de umælende Bæster, og Menneskene have tabt deres

  Forstand. Haver Taalmodighed med mig; mit Hjerte er hist i Kisten

  hos Cæsar, og jeg maa holde inde til det kommer tilbage til mig.

  Den Første af Folket:

  Mig synes der er megen Fornuft i hans Tale.

  Den Anden af Folket:

  Naar du ret overveier Sagen, saa er Cæsar skeet stor Uret.

  Den Tredje:

  Mener I det, godt Folk? Jeg frygter der vil komme slemmere i hans

  Sted.

  Den Fjerde:

  Har I lagt Mærke til hvad han sagde? Han vilde ikke modtage Kronen,

  det er altsaa vist at han ikke var herskesyg.

  Den Første:

  Hvis saa er, vil det komme visse Folk dyrt at staae.

  Den Anden:

  Den fromme Mand! Hans Øien er blodrøde af Graad.

  Den Tredje:

  Der er ingen fortræffeligere Mand i Rom end Antonius.

  Den Fjerde:

  Giver Agt, han begynder igjen at tale.

  Antonius:

  Endnu i Gaar havde et Ord af Cæsar gjældt imod hele Verden, nu

  ligger han der, endog den Usleste nægter ham Agtelse. O, I Folk!

  var jeg sindet, at ophidse Eders Gemytter til Raserie og Oprør, saa

  skulde jeg skade Brutus og Kassius, hvilke, som I alle veed, ere

  hederlige Mænd. Men jeg vil intet Ondt gjøre dem: hellere vil jeg

  gjøre den Døde, mig selv, og Eder Uret, end at jeg skulde volde

  slige hederlige Mænd Fortræd. Men her er et Pergament med Cæsars

  Segl: jeg fandt det i hans Kammer; det er hans sidste Villie. Lad

  Folket blot høre hans Testament, som jeg, tilgiv mig det, ikke

  tænker at oplæse, da skulde de alle gaa hen og kysse den døde Cæsars

  Saar; og dyppe deres Klæder i hans hellige Blod; skulde bede om et

  Haar af ham til Erindring, og paa deres Dødsdag i deres sidste

  Villie tænke paa dette Haar, og testamentere deres Efterkommere

  det som en rig Arvedel.

  Den Fjerde:

  Vi ville høre Testamentet! Læs det, Marcus Antonius.

  Antonius:

  Haver Taalmodighed, mine Venner: jeg tør ikke forelæse det; deter

  ikke raadeligt, at I erfare hvor kjær Cæsar havde Eder. I ere ikke

  Træe, I ere ikke Stene, I ere Mennesker; og da I ere Mennesker saa

  skulde Testamentet, om I hørte det, sætte Eder i Flamme, det skulde

  gjøre Eder rasende. Det er godt at I ikke vide, at I ere hans

  Arvinger; thi vidste I det, O, hvad vilde der da blive af?

  Den fjerde:

  Læs Testamentet; vi ville høre det, Antonius! Du maae læse

  Testamentet for os, Cæsars Testament!

  Antonius:

  Ville i være rolige? Ville I bie lidt? Jeg er gaaen for vidt at jeg

  har sagt Eder noget derom--jeg frygter jeg fornærmer de hederlige

  Mænd, som have myrdet Cæsar--jeg befrygter det.

  Den Fjerde:

  De vare Forrædere!--ha, hederlige Mænd!

The translation continues to the point where the plebeians, roused to

fury by the cunning appeal of Antony, rush out with the cries:[2]

  Go fetch fire!

  Plucke down Benches!

  Plucke down Formes, Windowes, anything.

    [2. _Julius Caesar_. III, 2. 268-70. Variorum Edition Furness.

    Phila. 1913.]

But we have not space for a more extended quotation, and the passage

given is sufficiently representative.

The faults are obvious. The translator has not ventured to reproduce

Shakespeare's blank verse, nor, indeed, could that be expected. The

Alexandrine had long held sway in Danish poetry. In _Rolf Krage_ (1770),

Ewald had broken with the tradition and written an heroic tragedy in

prose. Unquestionably he had been moved to take this step by the example

of his great model Klopstock in _Bardiete_.[3] It seems equally certain,

however, that he was also inspired by the plays of Shakespeare, and the

songs of Ossian, which came to him in the translations of Wieland.[4]

    [3. Rønning--_Rationalismens Tidsalder_. 11-95.]

    [4. Ewald--_Levnet og meninger_. Ed. Bobe. Kbhn. 1911, p. 166.]

A few years later, when he had learned English and read Shakespeare

in the original, he wrote _Balders Død_ in blank verse and

naturalized Shakespeare's metre in Denmark.[5] At any rate, it

is not surprising that this unknown plodder far north in Trondhjem

had not progressed beyond Klopstock and Ewald. But the result of

turning Shakespeare's poetry into the journeyman prose of a foreign

language is necessarily bad. The translation before us amounts to a

paraphrase,--good, respectable Danish untouched by genius. Two

examples will illustrate this. The lines:

  .... Now lies he there,

  And none so poor to do him reverence.

    [5. _Ibid._ II, 234-235.]

are rendered in the thoroughly matter-of-fact words, appropriate for a

letter or a newspaper "story":

  .... Nu ligger han der,

  endog den Usleste nægter ham Agtelse.

Again,

  I have o'ershot myself to tell you of it,

is translated:

  Jeg er gaaen for vidt at jeg sagde Eder noget derom.

On the other hand, the translation presents no glaring errors; such

slips as we do find are due rather to ineptitude, an inability to

find the right word, with the result that the writer has contented

himself with an accidental and approximate rendering. For example,

the translator no doubt understood the lines:

  The evil that men do lives after them,

  The good is oft interred with their bones.

but he could hit upon nothing better than:

  Det Onde man gjør _lever endnu efter os_;

  det Gode begraves ofte tilligemed vore Been.

which is both inaccurate and infelicitous. For the line

  He was my friend, faithful and just to me.

our author has:

  Han var min Ven, trofast og _oprigtig_ mod mig!

Again:

  Has he, Masters? I fear there will come a worse in his place.

Translation:

  Mener I det, godt Folk?--etc.

Despite these faults--and many others could be cited,--it is perfectly

clear that this unknown student of Shakespeare understood his original

and endeavored to reproduce it correctly in good Danish. His very

blunders showed that he tried not to be slavish, and his style, while

not remarkable, is easy and fluent. Apparently, however, his work

attracted no attention. His name is unknown, as are his sources, and

there is not, with one exception, a single reference to him in the later

Shakespeare literature of Denmark and Norway. Not even Rahbek, who was

remarkably well informed in this field, mentions him. Only