Karl Ísfeld 1957 and 1962
The 1st part of Karl Ísfeld’s translation was published in 1957.
Karl Ísfeld’s translation followed, both in good and bad, the Danish translation by Ferdinand Ohrt from 1908, because the translator did not know Finnish. Maj-Lis Holmberg has analysed the work and she criticises specifically the fact that Ísfeld has used the same choices as Orth regarding abridgements. Thus, the Kultaneito and the Sampo poems are completely left out from the second part. Also, there is no mention that the Icelandic translation is an abridgement.
In the second part of the Icelandic translation, there is an appendix in which the literary critic Sigurður A. Magnússon clarifies the background and origin of the Kalevala and he also explains parts of the epic and compares the Kalevala to the national literature in other countries.
Maj-Lis Holmberg points out that in the poetry that is translated into Icelandic the goal is to as much as possible also transfer the substance to the Icelandic vernacular conceptual world. You can also see examples of this in the Icelandic translation of the Kalevala. Holmberg refers to the obituary of the translator, which states that Karl Ísfeld “may deviate to a great extent from the original text if he considers this to be necessary and he believes that he can use something equally good or better instead, first and foremost something that is more Icelandic”.
These decisions have most likely enhanced the similarities between the Icelandic and Finnish tradition. Sigurður A. Magnússon’s praise: “The publication of Karl Ísfeld’s translation of the Kalevala is a significant literary occasion in Iceland. We have now finally got an Icelandic translation of one of the treasures of the world literature, which probably is closer to our own ancient literature than any other similar work”.
Holmberg, Maj-Lis: “Kalevalaa islanniksi” – Kalevalaseuran vuosikirja 39. Helsinki: WSOY. 1959.
Holmberg, Maj-Lis: “Kalevalan islanninnos” – Kalevalaseuran vuosikirja 44. Helsinki: WSOY. 1964.