TRADUIRE L’EDDA: LES TRADUCTIONS DE L’EDDA POÉTIQUE EN LANGUE FRANÇAISE; MÉTHODES, PRATIQUES ET LIMITATIONS

Abstract

This article is an in-depth study of the characteristics of the translation of the Poetic Edda in the French language from the eighteenth century to the present day. In a context where the reception of Norse myths and their influence upon popular culture has become a fully fledged field of study, it is judicious to investigate the translation process of the eddic poems as well as their impact. If this topic has already been addressed abroad (i.e. not in France), there exist so far no similar studies in the French language. This article will therefore approach this topic in an exhaustive and systematic fashion. I will begin by presenting the translations, their authors, their sources, as well as their influences within their own historical contexts, all the while comparing them to a control group consisting of English-language translations of the Poetic Edda. During this process, the main characteristics of eddic translation such as the adaptation of heiti and kenningar, the eventual inclusion of notes, and the arrangement of the poems will be examined. This article will then be rounded off with a synthesis displaying the characteristics and accomplishments of close to three centuries of eddic translations in the French language, before asking the question of what future translations could bring to the field.