Chillin' with Phil and Maria

TWO Icelandic media events in ONE day!

Now that I am less than a month away from returning to Iceland, I find that the frequency of Icelandic references that impinge on my consciousness are increasing. Seeing as the temps here reached the high 80s yesterday some Icelandic chill was definitely appropriate.

I consider Phillip Roughton to be the top Icelandic to English translator alive.

The Icelandic Roots genealogy group sponsored a Zoom meeting with him yesterday concerning his translation of the Halldór Laxness novel Iceland’s Bell (Íslandsklukkan). I've been a a fan of Phil’s since I read it back in 2003 when it was first published and have followed his literary efforts ever since. The meeting was well attended with over 30 members from around the world, most of whom had actually read the book. Roughton had, in his navïeté, started this translation while still in college, only later to learn that some Icelandic scholars considered it to be untranslatable. Fortunately, he persevered (for 9 years!) and the world is a better place for his efforts. He was aware of my Laxness in Translation site (he called it “beautiful”!) after I gushed (like the fanboi that I am) over his efforts.

Maria Alva Roff is also a translator and is also old blog-pal of mine. We’ve interacted numerous times over the last 21 years and met in person several times, most recently in 2022. Yesterday I listened to a podcast she did with Anna Liebel in 2023 about “burn-out” in Icelandic society. The podcast takes a while to get going but by 10:00 one gets to the Icelandic portion. It is always a treat to hear Maria’s insights about Iceland.