Spyke

Syndicated from the fediverse. Read and engage on the original instance.

View original on lemmy.world
til·Today I LearnedbyFlying Squid

TIL The Icelandic translation of Dracula, Makt Myrkanna, or Powers of Darkness, published in 1901, differs significantly from the English version and no one noticed until 2014.

It seems like it is based on a combination of an earlier draft of the novel and the translator's own ideas, because it contains things that were in Stoker's notes but not in the final manuscript, and a lot of Scandinavian mythology is added. It is more overtly erotic and political as well.

TIL The Icelandic translation of Dracula, Makt Myrkanna, or Powers of Darkness, published in 1901, differs significantly from the English version and no one noticed until 2014.https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Powers_of_Darkness_(Iceland)Open linkView original on lemmy.world
159

11 replies

lemmy.world

So is there an English version of the Icelandic version?

36

This is probably going to sound like a stupid question, but did anyone actually check to make sure there weren't any major deviations in the English translation of the Icelandic version?

13
lemmy.world

Fleming noted that in Dracula, Stoker worked in subtle sexual references to serve as metaphors for "...deeper, dark concepts: the idea of an antichrist, the blood-sucking serving as a compelling, hellish inversion of communion. Makt Myrkranna, conversely, could have had the subtitle Lust in a Cape".[21] In Makt Myrkranna, Harker has an obsession with breasts as he speaks frequently of the "bosom" of various women he encounters in Transylvania.[21]

18
sh.itjust.works

I guess I'll have to learn Icelandic then. It's a shame that there's no easier way to access vampire erotica.

14

It has been translated into English (this translation is dated 2017)

However, far be it from me too discourage anyone from learning a language. After all, what better exemplifies the fallibility of translation than this story?

6

Adding to OPs note:

In Makt Myrkranna, Dracula comes to England not alone, but rather with a deaf-dumb woman who is apparently his slave and together with another beautiful aristocratic female vampire, Josephine, who flaunts her sexuality.[20] Josephine is described as having her "neck and upper chest revealed" while wearing a "necklace of glittering diamonds", whom Harker finds "something indecent" about, despite his evident attraction to her.

6

You reached the end