Ben Waggoner

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Ben Waggoner

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The United States
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Member Since
November 2014


I've been studying Old Norse (close to modern Icelandic) in my copious spare time since about 2006. Now I translate, study, annotate, and periodically publish Old Norse sagas (longish prose narratives that come in a great many "genres"). Why? It's fun if you like that sort of thing, and someone has to do it. . . My focus has been on the fornaldarsögur or "sagas of olden time" -- legendary narratives set in Scandinavia, some of which transmit very old legendary material.

For the record, I am *not* the Ben Waggoner who's written books on video file compression. I'm sure he's a great guy, but he's not me.
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Ben Waggoner Thank you for the compliment! That was written before _Vikings_ came out, but it's true that well before then, Ragnar had become the source of a lot o…moreThank you for the compliment! That was written before _Vikings_ came out, but it's true that well before then, Ragnar had become the source of a lot of cultural understandings of what a Viking supposedly was.

I teach at a college, but not translation -- that's a sideline that I work on when I can find the time. (less)
Ben Waggoner Sorry it took me so long to get around to this one! At the moment, I'm working on a translation of the Færeyinga saga, the Saga of the Faroe Islander…more Sorry it took me so long to get around to this one! At the moment, I'm working on a translation of the Færeyinga saga, the Saga of the Faroe Islanders. The villain of the piece is a real piece of work that I love to hate -- he's wonderfully conniving and sneaky!
After that, I'm almost done with a translation of Hálfs saga, another one about legendary Scandinavian kings and Vikings, that I think I'm going to release as a stand-alone for Kindle only. Eventually it'll end up in a print compilation. And then there's that selection of Old Norse shorter tales that just never seems to get done. . .(less)
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More books by Ben Waggoner…

The Saga of Samson the Fair, Chapter III

OK, so here's the next chapter -- I'll probably post these about once a week, as I get the chapters edited. The rough draft translation is already done, but I'm going through it chapter by chapter and fixing it up. The Norse text here, to my ears, has a rather "lofty" or "elevated" style to it, and I've tried to convey that here —later on it gets a bit more down to earth.


CHAPTER III: Concerning Sa Read more of this blog post »
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Published on January 26, 2015 08:29 Tags: chivalry, iceland, king-arthur, norse, romance, samsons-saga
Beowulf, a Pagan ...
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The Great Fossil ...
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Quotes by Ben Waggoner  (?)
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“KRÁKUMÁL

[...]

25. We struck with our swords!
My soul is glad, for I know
that Balder’s father’s benches
for a banquet are made ready.
We’ll toss back toasts of ale
from bent trees of the skulls;
no warrior bewails his death
in the wondrous house of Fjolnir.
Not one word of weakness
will I speak in Vidrir’s hall.

26. We struck with our swords!
The sons of Aslaug all would
rouse the wrath of Hild here
with their ruthless sword-blades,
if they fathomed fully
how far I have traveled,
how so many serpents
stab me with their poison.
My son’s hearts will help them:
they have their mother’s lineage.

27. We struck with our swords!
Soon my life is ended;
Goinn scathes me sorely,
settles in my heart’s hall;
I wish the wand of Vidrir
would wound Æelle, one day.
My sons must feel great fury
that their father is put to death;
my daring swains won’t suffer
in silence when they hear this.

28. We struck with our swords!
I have stood in the ranks
at fifty-one folk-battles,
foremost in the lance-meet.
Never did I dream that
a different king should ever
be found braver than me—
I bloodied spears when young.
Æsir will ask us to feast;
no anguish for my death.

29. I desire my death now.
The disir call me home,
whom Herjan hastens onward
from his hall, to take me.
On the high bench, boldly,
beer I’ll drink with the Gods;
hope of life is lost now—
laughing shall I die!”
Ben Waggoner, The Sagas of Ragnar Lodbrok

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