Record Number: 32339
Reading Experience:
Evidence:
'Last week I got a copy of that little book of yours on Icelandic Sagas, which I found very interesting, and as a result I have now bought a translation of the "Laxdaela Saga" in the Temple Classics edition.... they are tip top and justify the boast of 'elegance' made in their advertisements.... As to the Saga itself I am very pleased with it indeed: if the brief, simple, nervous style of the translation is a good copy of the original it must be very fine. The story, tho', like most sagas, it loses unity, by being spread over two or three generations, is thoroughly interesting.... after the "Roots" a real saga is interesting. I must admit that ... the primitive type is far better than Morris's reproduction.'I
Century:1900-1945
Date:Between 24 May 1915 and 1 Jun 1915
Country:England
Timen/a
Place:Great Bookham
Surrey
'Gastons'
(Reader):
silent aloud unknown
solitary in company unknown
single serial unknown
(Listener):
solitary in company unknown
single serial unknown
Reader / Listener / Reading Group:
Reader: Age:Child (0-17)
Gender:Male
Date of Birth:29 Nov 1898
Socio-Economic Group:Professional / academic / merchant / farmer
Occupation:Student
Religion:Church of England
Country of Origin:Northern Ireland
Country of Experience:England
Listeners present if any:e.g family, servants, friends
n/a
Additional Comments:
n/a
Text Being Read:
Author: Title:Laxdaela Saga
Genre:Other religious, Fiction, History, Biography, Thirteenth Century Icelandic Family Saga
Form of Text:Print: Book
Publication DetailsLondon: Gollancz, 1899 (The Temple Classics). Translated from the Icelandic by Muriel A. C. Press
Provenanceowned
Source Information:
Record ID:32339
Source:C. S. Lewis
Editor:Walter Hooper
Title:C. S. Lewis Collected Letters
Place of Publication:London
Date of Publication:2000
Vol:1
Page:127/128
Additional Comments:
From a letter to Arthur Greeves, 1 June 1915. 'Roots' refers to 'The Roots of the Mountains' by William Morris.
Citation:
C. S. Lewis, Walter Hooper (ed.), C. S. Lewis Collected Letters, (London, 2000), 1, p. 127/128, http://www.open.ac.uk/Arts/reading/UK/record_details.php?id=32339, accessed: 09 May 2025
Additional Comments:
I don't know which 'little book... on Icelandic Sagas' Lewis is referring to, but its influence was profound. Twelve years later, writing to Arthur from Maglalen College Oxford, he tells him: 'I am realising a number of very old dreams in the way of books.... above all, learning Old Icelandic.' (Letters, v.1, p.701)