‘I have studied the poem as if I were going to translate it word
for word ... but I will not and have not translated it in that
way, and I will venture to maintain that my translation is a
faithful one, historically faithful, inasmuch as I have never
wilfully altered or interpolated anything, and poetically faithful
inasmuch as I have tried with all my might vividly to express what
I saw in the poem.... Whoever understands both languages and
possesses a poetical sense will see what I mean, and whoever is
deficient in knowledge or sense, or both, may stick to his own
view, if he will only let me stick to mine, which may be weak
enough, but is not so utterly devoid of style and poetry as little
pettifoggers in the intellectual world maintain because they can
see very well that my method is not theirs. “I have,” said Cicero,
“translated Demosthenes, not as a grammarian but as an orator, and
therefore have striven not so much to convince as to persuade my
readers of the truth of his words”: methinks I need no other
defence as regards connoisseurs and just judges, and if I am much
mistaken in this opinion, then my work is absolutely
indefensible[3].’ --Pages xxxiv, xxxv.
In the introduction to his text of 1861, Grundtvig speaks of his theory
of translation, saying that he gave, as it were, new clothes, new money,
and new language to the poor old Seven Sleepers, so that they could
associate freely with moderns. He believed that it was necessary to put
the poem into a form that would seem natural and attractive to the
readers of the day. In so doing he departed from the letter of the law,
and rewrote the poem according to his own ideas.
In the second edition the author states that he hopes the poem will
prove acceptable as a reading-book for schools. Its value as a text-book
in patriotism is also alluded to.