Reading Wednesday ✧
Nov. 11th, 2015 10:33 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
yuuagoI'm still reading the Kalevala - been taking my time with it on account of being busy and whatnot - so this entry will be brief. And it's still Bosley's translation, which I've mentioned before, I'm not crazy about (though it isn't that bad, really). Next time I read this, it'll be Kirby's translation, and that might be sooner rather than later because I'm pretty curious about the differences. (Note to self, it's on Gutenberg here: Vol1, Vol2)
Anyway. A few random thoughts-
✧ I'm not sure if it's a quirk of the translation or what, but some of the descriptions of Lemminkäinen in the version I'm reading make it sound like he has a dark-coloured handlebar moustache, and ever since I noticed that I can't help but imagine him looking like Dorian from Dragon Age: Inquisition. :D I've never played DA:I, but this amuses me way too much. 'cept, from what I've heard via osmosis, Dorian is a relatively decent dude, whereas Lemminkäinen is a JERKFACE and also kind of an idiot, so there's a disconnect there.
✧ The Christian flavouring in Bosley's translation continues to annoy me. It's like, the moment I noticed it, I couldn't STOP noticing it. I mean, okay, it's not like that kind of thing doesn't have a presence in the text itself - the Marjatta cycle, for instance - but Bosley's text weaves it into everything and it's just, blah.
✧ Lemminkäinen's mom seriously deserves a better son, poor lady. Seriously dude, she brought you back from the dead and then you CONTINUE to ignore her good advice, what the hell?!
✧ So, there's one part where Väinämöinen needs to go to Tuonela again in order to get A Thing to rebuild his sledge. And the first time he went down there, it was a huge ordeal and he barely got out of it alive. But the second time he just... gets up and goes. To the land of the dead. And comes back three lines later like it's no big deal. ??? Yeah, okay, sure mate.
Anyway. A few random thoughts-
✧ I'm not sure if it's a quirk of the translation or what, but some of the descriptions of Lemminkäinen in the version I'm reading make it sound like he has a dark-coloured handlebar moustache, and ever since I noticed that I can't help but imagine him looking like Dorian from Dragon Age: Inquisition. :D I've never played DA:I, but this amuses me way too much. 'cept, from what I've heard via osmosis, Dorian is a relatively decent dude, whereas Lemminkäinen is a JERKFACE and also kind of an idiot, so there's a disconnect there.
✧ The Christian flavouring in Bosley's translation continues to annoy me. It's like, the moment I noticed it, I couldn't STOP noticing it. I mean, okay, it's not like that kind of thing doesn't have a presence in the text itself - the Marjatta cycle, for instance - but Bosley's text weaves it into everything and it's just, blah.
✧ Lemminkäinen's mom seriously deserves a better son, poor lady. Seriously dude, she brought you back from the dead and then you CONTINUE to ignore her good advice, what the hell?!
✧ So, there's one part where Väinämöinen needs to go to Tuonela again in order to get A Thing to rebuild his sledge. And the first time he went down there, it was a huge ordeal and he barely got out of it alive. But the second time he just... gets up and goes. To the land of the dead. And comes back three lines later like it's no big deal. ??? Yeah, okay, sure mate.
Yuu. Fic writer & book lover. M/Canada.
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Date: 2015-11-11 07:54 pm (UTC):D I have to say that doesn't ring a bell (though admittedly it's been literally decades since I read Kalevala), but if you remember which verses it was, I can check what the original says.
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Date: 2015-11-12 01:27 pm (UTC)I feel like Vainö going to the land of the dead like it's nbd is thattotallyhappened.jpeg tbh.
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