"The number of works from the golden era in the Middles Ages that have reached us alone is measured in the hundreds, not to mention those that have perished, and there is no doubt that they are the most unique contribution made by Iceland and the entire Nordic region to world literature," wrote translator and University of Tartu PhD student Mart Kuldkepp in the cultural newspaper Sirp on 22 May.
For the first time ever, all the Icelandic sagas have been translated into and published in Danish, Norwegian and Swedish at the same time. The Department of Scandinavian Studies of the University of Tartu celebrated this important event with a seminar and reception on 20 May, which was organised with the assistance of the embassies of Iceland, Norway, Denmark and Sweden in Estonia and the Nordic Council of Ministers' Office in Estonia. Iceland also holds the presidency of the Nordic Council of Ministers this year, with the publication of the saga translations forming part of their presidency programme.
The ambassadors of all of the aforementioned Nordic countries and several Nordic and Estonian saga researchers and translators attended the presentation. Kuldkepp also made a presentation about Icelandic sagas and translating them.
"Is it the utopian or the optimist inside me who asks: when will Estonia manage a feat similar to that achieved by Norway, Denmark and Sweden?" writes Kuldkepp in Sirp. "The reason why the sagas were translated into the Scandinavian languages is clear: to strengthen the ties between the Nordic countries and to make these texts accessible to new generations. But with whom do we want to strengthen our ties, and what do we want to make accessible to new generations? What could be a more expressive way of strengthening the idea of Nordic Estonia?"
The full article by Kuldkepp can be found in Sirp (in Estonian).
Several Icelandic sagas have also been published in Estonian for the first time in recent years and a research project supported by the Estonian Research Council which focuses on studying sagas under the instruction of Prof. Daniel Sävborg was launched in the Department of Scandinavian Studies a short while ago. Prof. Sävborg also took part in the Icelandic saga translation project.
