Re: _In Stahlgewittern_ - Origin of Booktitle

[Bertil Haggman <bertil.haggman@helsingborg.se>]

Gary Kern wrote:

> *******************************
> But evidently he did not say in what language he read the EDDA.
> **************************************

I think it safe to say that he
read a German version. Why should
he read a French or English
translation ?

> **********************************************
> Evidently you are speaking of a Swedish-only volume, so that you cannot
> see to what word(s) in the original the translator referred?
> ***********************************************
Having made a great number of
comparisons the check the
Swedish translation: English,
German and the Old Norse
original text of the actual
verse.
> >**********************************
> Again, the original?  Isn't the EDDA written in Old Norse?  Could
> Juenger have consulted the original?  I assume that "Gripe's Prophecy"
> is part of the EDDA.
> ***************************************
You are assuming right. Gripe's
Prophecy is part of the Poetic Edda.
There is no reason to believe that
EJ has mastered Old Norse. Have never
seen any indication of that. Have you ?

> ****************************************************
> This should have been your first move.  But now at least when you get a
> German translation of the proper date, you know where to look for the
> word(s).
> ******************************************************

I see no reason for making this
my first move. Naturally, having
a Swedish translation handy, I
go for that first. To find a
suitable German translation
takes time.

> >*************************************
> Either that, or he was inspired by "Stahlsturm" to create
> "Stahlgewitter," which he preferred.
> ****************************************

Maybe.

> ************************************


> I suspect that you will not run into this problem, since the German
> translation Juenger presumably read will probably be close to the
> original Old Norse (closer than Russian is to English), but you might be
> prepared for the problem.  Juenger might have read "Stahlsturm" and
> changed it to "Stahlgewitter" for his title, or the translator himself
> might have created the latter word for metric purposes, even when the
> original was closer to "Stahlsturm."  Tracking down exact phrases can be
> tedious and time-consuming," but when you find one it's like opening up
> King Tut's tomb.

Dear Gary,

Don't know how familiar you are with
the Edda. If you are familiar you
certainly know that Old Norse verse
opens up to a great number of
variations. The metre fornyrdislag
is complicated and demanding.

But there are other metres like
malahattr and ljodahattr. 
Translations of the Edda word
for word to preserve the original
is almost impossible.

There is an Edda quote in
_An der Zeitmauer_ which
reads:

"Kriegszeit und Mordzeit,
Schilde spalten,
Windzeit und Wolfzeit,
Eh die Welt faellt."
(p. 131).

This is a translation
from the Prophecy of the Voelva,
proclaiming the start of
ragnaroek, the apocalypse
in Nordic version.
It is easily identifiable
and one of the more wellknown.

I can assure you that I have
this research under complete 
control and being in touch
with Edda experts both in
Scandinavia, Germany and the
United States.

Just think this is extremely
interesting as _In Stahlgewittern_
is EJs most famous book.

When I have finished my quest
I will write an article on it.

With stormy and steely greetings

Bertil