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73 PREFACE
HOWEVER an excuse may be needed for the
manner in which the following translation of Tegner*s
Frithiof-Saga is executed, none can well be required for
the fact of its being undertaken. A work which, the glory
of its native language, has in several cognate tongues
become an honored classic, requires, we would fain hope, but
to reach English readers to be appreciated as it deserves;
that is, in so far as its intrinsic merit can be made
apparent in an English version.
Unfortunately for the fame of authors, especially of
poetical ones, great difficulties stand in the way of an
exact rendering of their ideas into other tongues from those
in which they are originally expressed. Of such difficulties,
and the many consequent faults of the present volume,
none can be more conscious than its translator; but,
notwithstanding, he intrusts its character to the fair judgment
of impartial readers, in the hope that, where their acumen
may detect deficiencies, their justice will lead them to
consider the difficulties which beset the undertaking.
It has been said of Sotheby, the translator of Wieland’s
Oberon, that his translation far surpassed his original. The
present writer has never dreamt of producing so peculiar
a result in the handling of Tegner’s poem. His aim has
been a lower one—to reflect, not to heighten, a beautiful
image; and having endeavored, as far as the nature of the
languages allowed, to render word for word, and thought
for thought, the work he took in hand, his purpose will be
fully gained if, in the judgment of those expert in such
matters, he be found to have produced a translation, where he
never presumed to attempt an embellishment.
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