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Because the sagas aren't set in Schwarzwald
The timing was perfect. On the very day Iceland formally succeeded Argentina as Guest of Honour at the end of the 2010 Frankfurt Book Fair, the German paper Frankfurter Allgemeine Sonntagszeitung printed a centrefold piece on a new and complete translation of the Icelandic sagas. The piece, which was accompanied by photographs of ancient Icelandic manuscripts, included an interview with Klaus Böldl, editor of the saga translation project and professor at the University of Kiel.
In the interview, Professor Böldl explains that the pre-existing translation of the sagas, published between 1911 and 1930 and known as the Thule Collection (Sammlung Thule), is seriously dated and reflects Germanophile views. In addition, he goes on, it isn't very accessible to modern readers. For example, he points out, the old translation Germanises the Icelandic names to such an extent that “at times, the action might as well be set in Schwarzwald.”
The new translation, which is supported by the Arts Foundation of North Rhine-Westphalia (Kunststiftung NRW) will be published next year by S. Fischer Verlag. A team of translators, led by Julia Zernack, Andreas Vollmer and Klaus Böldl, is now hard at work on the texts. The edition will include an accompanying volume of annotations, providing historical background to the sagas, and placing them within the context of world literature.
