Record Number: 32343

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Reading Experience:

Evidence:

'I have been reading nothing since Othello but a translation from the Icelandic'

Century:

1900-1945

Date:

Between 18 Jun 1915 and 19 Jul 1915

Country:

England

Time

n/a

Place:

Great Bookham
Surrey
'Gastons'

Type of Experience
(Reader):
 

silent aloud unknown
solitary in company unknown
single serial unknown

Type of Experience
(Listener):
 

solitary in company unknown
single serial unknown

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Reader / Listener / Reading Group:

Reader:

Clive Staples Lewis

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

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Text Being Read:

Author:

[Anon] [Anon]

Title:

[unknown]

Genre:

Poetry, Saga

Form of Text:

Print: Book

Publication Details

n/a

Provenance

unknown

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Source Information:

Record ID:

32343

Source:

Print

Author:

C. S. Lewis

Editor:

Walter Hooper

Title:

C. S. Lewis Collected Letters

Place of Publication:

London

Date of Publication:

2000

Vol:

1

Page:

137

Additional Comments:

From a letter to his father, 19? July 1915

Citation:

C. S. Lewis, Walter Hooper (ed.), C. S. Lewis Collected Letters, (London, 2000), 1, p. 137, http://www.open.ac.uk/Arts/reading/UK/record_details.php?id=32343, accessed: 09 May 2025

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Additional Comments:

I have included this brief reference because of the profound effect Icelandic had on Lewis's imagination. Years later he writes to Arthur Greeves:'even in turning over the pages of my Icelandic Dictionary, the mere name of god or giant catching my eye will sometimes throw me back fifteen years into a wild dream of norhtern skies...' (Letters, v.1., p.701, dated 26 June 1927)