| Description |
The initial intention behind this project was to provide a literal and stylistic interpretation of a nineteenth-century long poem by the Danish late Romantic poet Bernhard Sev. Ingemann. The plot of the poem, in summary, is the tale of a Danish prince who is taken from his homeland as political hostage by emissaries of the Emperor Charlemagne. The promise of rescue made by his father Gotrik, King of Denmark, is forgotten and Holger is left at the mercy of the court. From that point onward, Holger makes his way among the Frankish nobles, falling afoul of some, making allies of others, most notably, Count Roland. The political maneuvering escalates until Holger is in direct conflict with Charlemagne over the actions of the Crown Prince Charlot. In the Ingemann text, as in the original versions, Holger follows his personal rebellion to extremes, at one point inciting the submissive Lombard kingdom into open rebellion against their conquering Emperor. The rebellion fails, and Holger is eventually jailed, only to be called to battle in his old age to defeat a Muslim champion. After realizing that differing perceptions of the potential meaning and scope of the original legend existed between translator and text, and discovering through further research that varying and often contrasting accounts of the Holger Danske legend existed as told by other authors, the direct approach to translation was abandoned in favor of a more personal interpretation. The goal of this interpretation was to maintain applicable elements of all research sources, yet also to create an accurate depiction of the historical context behind the tale. Time constraints of this project prevented an entirely satisfactory fulfillment of those goals, but the current work does point out a path of future research and creative endeavor, given time and resources. |
