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ENGLISH TRANSLATIONS OF THE SCANDINAVIAN MEDIEVAL BALLADS: AN ANALYTICAL GUIDE AND BIBLIOGRAPHY. By Larry E. Syndergaard. (NIF Publications No. 30.) Turku: Nordic Institute of Folklore, 1995. Pp. i-x, 242.
The extensive list of acknowledgments in Syndergaard's preface, ranging from family members digging up archival material in the U.S. and Europe to librarians in England and the Faroe Islands, is indeed impressive. It hints at the stunning number of sources and resources which were needed to complete this "analytical guide and bibliography," as Syndergaard modestly subtitles his volume, but hardly gives more than an indication of the strenuous and meticulous detective work which forms the basis for his tables of translations.
The volume is divided into an introduction, five tables, two bibliographies, and two appendices. The introduction, which is much more than a simple chronological overview of the history of ballad translation, illustrates wonderfully on its fiftyeight pages how a lifelong preoccupation with Scandinavian balladry has given its author a natural authority to treat with lucidity the complexity of his topic as well as to define his objectives. On the very first page Syndergaard correctly stresses the pan-Scandinavian nature of the genre, the futility of entering into the ongoing discussion about the medieval origin of the ballads in order to appreciate their artistry, and, finally-very much a propos in this day and age of gender studiesdraws attention to the fact that unlike "most other genres it co-mingles...