"Hakon Jarl" di Adam G. Oehlenschläger nella traduzione italiana di Alessandro De Stefani (1916)

This essay focuses on the Italian translation of Adam G. Oehlenschläger’s "Hakon Jarl" published in 1916. As was customary for the reception of Nordic literature in Italy at that time, the text is not based on the Danish original but derives from David Soldi’s French translation (1881). The aim of this analysis is to compare and contrast the three texts in order to investigate the Italian translator’s strategies and purpose as well as ascertain the consequences deriving from the use of the French model. One important difference is the presence of informative footnotes in the French edition, which the Italian translator either ignores or uses to select his vocabulary within the text. As a consequence, despite their general similarity, the two versions address their respective audience in different ways and with different purposes.