On Fables in Kvöldvökurnar 1794 by Hannes Finnsson

Abstract

Kvöldvökurnar 1794 (The Vigils 1794) were published in two volumes in 1796 and 1797. With this innovative work, Bishop Hannes Finnsson wanted to bring new reading material to the common people in Iceland, especially youngsters, that could replace older works as well as entertain and educate his readers. Kvöldvökurnar 1794 is a collection of short texts of various kinds, most of them translated. Thirty-eight fables, most of them of Aesopian origin, can be found among the texts that Hannes chose for the evening readings. They are divided into five clusters, adapted to and read along with riddles, fairy tales, plays, and stories and adapts them to a new group of readers. The author does not indicate his sources in the work, but according to manuscripts most of the fables stem from foreign publications from the 17th and 18th centuries where Aesop’s fables were retold in various ways. This article discusses the publications that Hannes Finnsson relied on while selecting the fables and looks into the transmission and translation of two texts that can be found in Jean de la Fontaine’s famous collection of Fables that Hannes found in later publications.