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It is illegal to copy and distribute our copyright-protected material without permission. It is also illegal to reprint copyright texts or translations without the name of the author or translator.

To inquire about permissions and rates, contact Emily Ezust at licenses@email.lieder.example.net

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© by Halldór Kiljan Laxness (1902 - 1998)
Translation © by Dr. Kristín Jónína Taylor

Glugginn
Language: Icelandic (Íslenska) 
Our translations:  ENG
Sundið var mjög þraungt, 
og ef tveir menn ötluðu þessa leið saman 
urðu þeir að ganga í halarófu. 
Við enda einstigisins birtist bakhliðin
á rauðmáluðu tréhúsi og hafði tvo glugga 
og eldhúsdyr með bíslagi.  
Þetta er gluggi Erlendar.
 
Upp þetta dimma sund: þar lá mín leið 
  margt liðið kvöld; 
og sæi ég ljós, þá var sem vanda og neyð 
  væri nú lyft af heilli öld.

Hér beið mín eftir amstur dags og önn 
  — eða utanför — 
sú fylling vona er fæstum verður sönn, 
  að fá af vini örugg svör, 

svo létti vafa og öllum ugg af þér 
  sem att þar hlé: 
hver þögn fær óm; hvert orð ber epli í sér. 
  Ymur hið forna saungna tré. 

Þar drífa guðir og gamlir prestar inn 
  og gyðjur lands, 
afbrotamenn og börn fá bolla sinn 
  af besta vini sérhvers manns. 

Og Steinar Steinn sem ljóðin las mér fyr 
  án lífsfögnuðs, 
kom handkaldur upp sundið, drap á dyr 
  og drakk úr kaffibolla Guðs. 

Ó mildu vitru augu, augna hnoss, 
  umliðna stund 
þess ljóss er brann, sjá ennþá lýsirðu oss 
  upp þetta dimma sund.

Available sung texts: (what is this?)

•   J. Viðar 

J. Viðar sets lines 1-7

Note (provided by Dr. Kristín Jónína Taylor): the first seven lines were selected by the composer, with some omissions, from the prose text. The remainder is a poem in the storyline and is replicated in its entirety.


Text Authorship:

  • by Halldór Kiljan Laxness (1902 - 1998), appears in Sjömeistarasögu, first published 1978, copyright © by Guðný Halldórsdóttir, (re)printed on this website with kind permission [author's text not yet checked against a primary source]

Musical settings (art songs, Lieder, mélodies, (etc.), choral pieces, and other vocal works set to this text), listed by composer (not necessarily exhaustive):

  • by Jórunn Viðar (1918 - 2017), "Glugginn", 1993, published 1993, lines 1-7 [ voice and piano ] [sung text checked 1 time]

Available translations, adaptations or excerpts, and transliterations (if applicable):

  • ENG English (Dr. Kristín Jónína Taylor) , "The window", copyright ©, (re)printed on this website with kind permission


Researcher for this page: Dr. Kristín Jónína Taylor

This text was added to the website: 2021-03-28
Line count: 31
Word count: 180

The window
Language: English  after the Icelandic (Íslenska) 
The alley was very narrow, 
and if two men want to go together this way 
they would have to walk in a single file. 
At the end of the single lane reveals the rear 
of the red-painted wooden house which had two windows 
and a kitchen door with a room addition. 
This is Erlendur’s window. 

Up this dark alley: there lay my path 
  many past evenings; 
and if I saw light, it was as if problems and suffering  
  of a whole century had been lifted. 

Here awaited me after troubled days and work 
  — or a journey abroad —  
fulfillment of hope that most people will not experience, 
  to receive from a friend a secure answer, 

It removed all doubt and fear from you 
  That had paused in your mind: 
Every silence gets a sound; every word bears fruit (epli) in it. 
  Which comes from an ancient tree sound. 

There gods and old priests drift in 
  and the goddesses of the lands, 
criminals and children get their cup 
  of the best friend of each man. 

And Steinn Steinar [the poet] read me his poems 
  in a lifeless manner, 
came with freezing hands up the alley, knocked on the door, 
  and drank from God’s coffee cup. 

Oh mild wise eyes, eyes of a horse, 
about a past moment 
this light that burned, it still lights for us 
up this darkened alley.

Text Authorship:

  • Translation from Icelandic (Íslenska) to English copyright © by Dr. Kristín Jónína Taylor, (re)printed on this website with kind permission. To reprint and distribute this author's work for concert programs, CD booklets, etc., you may ask the copyright-holder(s) directly or ask us; we are authorized to grant permission on their behalf. Please provide the translator's name when contacting us.
    Contact: licenses@email.lieder.example.net

Based on:

  • a text in Icelandic (Íslenska) by Halldór Kiljan Laxness (1902 - 1998), appears in Sjömeistarasögu, first published 1978, copyright © by Guðný Halldórsdóttir, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
    • Go to the text page.

 

This text was added to the website: 2021-03-28
Line count: 31
Word count: 230

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