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<p>> --- In <a href="mailto:gothic-l%40yahoogroups.com">gothic-l@yahoogroup<wbr>s.com</a>, "llama_nom" <600cell@> wrote:<br>
> ><br>
I can't recall the reference right <br>
> now,<br>
> > but I remember reading somewhere that the narrative present is <br>
> alien<br>
> > to Eddic poetry, but already common in the earliest Icelandic <br>
> sagas.<br>
<br>
Aha, here it is:<br>
<br>
Terje Torgilstveit: Historisk presens i et utvalg islandske tætter<br>
<br>
<a href="http://www.ub.uib.no/elpub/2001/h/522003/Hovedoppgave.pdf">http://www.ub.<wbr>uib.no/elpub/<wbr>2001/h/522003/<wbr>Hovedoppgave.<wbr>pdf</a><br>
<br>
Be warned, this is a big (dissertation-<wbr>sizd) PDF file, 1 MB. The bit I<br>
was refering to is the section called "3.3 Bruken av historisk presens<br>
i islendingesagaene"<wbr>, pages 14-15.<br>
<br>
Ulrike Sprengers "Praesens historicum und Praeteritum in der<br>
altisländischen Saga" fra 1951 er fremdeles en sentral avhandling om<br>
tempusbruk i norrøn prosa.<br>
<br>
"U.Sp.'s "Historic present and preterite in the Icelandic sagas" from<br>
1951 remains a central thesis on the use of tenses in Old Norse prose."<br>
<br>
Innledningsvis skriver hun at man ikke kan, som f.eks. på latin,<br>
begrense bruken av historisk presens til noen få verbgrupper, heller<br>
ikke er bruken styrt av plassering, som f.eks. slutt eller begynnelse<br>
av et kapittel. Først undersøker hun Heiðarvígasaga, som hun regner<br>
som den eldste sagaen, og finner at historisk presens tallmessig klart<br>
er overlegen preteritum. Historisk presens er her tempus for den<br>
fortløpende fortelling, mens preteritum kun blir brukt om det enkelte,<br>
det særlige tilfelle. Hun mener å vise at noen av eksemplene på<br>
preteritum i sagaen kan hentyde til edda-strofer. Hun peker på at de<br>
overleverte strofene kun er en brøkdel av de samtiden kjente, og<br>
dermed kan årsaken til bruken av preteritum i Heiðarvígasaga være lån<br>
av faste fraser og lignende uttrykk som i edda-strofer. Fortelleren<br>
kan understreke `interkontekstualit<wbr>eten' ved å skifte tempus til<br>
preteritum, som også er eddaens tempus. [...]<br>
<br>
"In her introduction, she writes that the historic present can't be<br>
limited, as in say Latin, to certain types of verb. Nor is it governed<br>
by placement: for example, being restricted to the end or beginning of<br>
a chapter. She first investigates Heiðarvíga saga, which she reckons<br>
to be the oldest saga, and finds that the historic present<br>
significantly predominates over the preterite. Here the historic<br>
present is the tense of continuous narrative, whereas the preterite<br>
can be used for the individual, the particular occasion. She believes<br>
she can show that some of the examples of the preterite in the saga<br>
may allude to Eddic verse. She points out that the surviving [Eddic]<br>
strophes are only a fragment of what was known at the time, and thus<br>
the reason for the use of the preterite in Heiðarvíga saga may be the<br>
borrowing of fixed phrases and similar expressions to those found in<br>
Eddic verse. The narrator can emphasis 'intertextuality' by switching<br>
the tense to the preterite, which is also the tense of the Edda. [...]"<br>
<br>
En problemstilling blir hvorfor de tidlige sagaene ikke har preteritum<br>
som hovedtempus, siden det blant eddastrofene og -prosaen kun finnes<br>
få eksempler på historisk presens. Den faste bruken av preteritum i<br>
eddadiktningen, mener hun er et middel for å skape avstand til de<br>
opphøyde helteskikkelsene. Forholdet mellom eddastrofene og de tidlige<br>
sagaene, skal således være av tilsvarende type som forholdet mellom<br>
Homers bruk av preteritum mot Vergils bruk av historisk presens.<br>
Homers tempusbruk skaper en følelse av forgangen tid, mens Vergil<br>
bevisst forsøkte å skape skikkelser som hans samtidige romere kunne<br>
tro på og ha som forbilder. Dernest viser hun til at bl.a. i eventyr<br>
vil ofte de realistiske partiene stå i historisk presens. Dermed blir<br>
det mer forståelig at sagaene, som nokså nøkternt omhandler islandsk<br>
bondeliv i sagatiden, benytter historisk presens. Siden historisk<br>
presens er hovedtempus åpner det seg også en mulighet for at veksling<br>
med preteritum kan benyttes som et middel for å fengsle tilhørere.<br>
<br>
"A question that might be asked here is why the early sagas don't have<br>
the preterite as their principle tense, since only a few examples of<br>
the historic present are to be found among the Eddic verse and prose.<br>
the fixed use of the preterite in Eddic poetry, she believes, is a<br>
means for creating distance from the lofty characters of the heroes.<br>
The relationship between Eddic verse and the early sagas would thus<br>
correspond to Homer's use of the preterite, as against Virgil's use of<br>
historic present. Homer's choice of tense creates a sense of times<br>
past, while Virgil certainly tried to create characters that his Roman<br>
contemporaries could believe in and take as examples. She goes on to<br>
show that in adventures, the realistic parts are often told in the<br>
historic present. Thus it is becomes more understandable that the<br>
sagas, which deal rather soberly with the lives of Icelandic farmers<br>
during the Saga Age, should use the historic present. Since the<br>
historic present is the main tense used, it can also open up the<br>
possibility of using the preterite to capture the audience's attention."<br>
<br>
************<wbr>*********<wbr>*********<wbr>*********<wbr>*********<wbr>*********<wbr>*****<br>
<br>
So *maybe* the translator(s) of the Gothic Bible was/were familiar<br>
with such a distinction between an elevated<br>
preterite-only-<wbr>for-past-<wbr>events style appropriate for heroic lays and<br>
religious verse, and a more colloquial, everyday narrative style for<br>
regular storytelling.<br>
<br>
LN<br>
<br>
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