Lecture by Dr. Ástráður Eysteinsson: "Paradise Lost: John Milton, Jón Þorláksson, and Richard Beck"

“Paradise Lost: John Milton, Jón Þorláksson, and Richard Beck”  Sunday, 23 October 2016, Clearihue Building, Room A212 2:00 p.m.

Milton‘s Paradise Lost, in Jón Þorláksson‘s translation (publ. 1828), constitutes a milestone in Icelandic literary history. While Þorláksson‘s contemporaries recognized its significance, literary scholarship has not paid due attention to this cross-cultural achievement – with the exception of Professor Richard Beck, a  “Western Icelander” who himself straddled cultural and linguistic borders in his life and work. This lecture will focus on the triangular relationship of original, translation, and criticism.