|
The
Fanes' Saga - Researches on the legend
Wolff's
text in German and in its Italian translations: a comparison
The
Fanes' Kingdom
In
the comparation between Wolff's
original German text and its Italian translation (see previous
chapter), I had no other choice than beginning from the Fanes'
Kingdom. I quickly realized that, while the Italian translation
has remained quite unmodified over time, the German original has
been slightly changed by Wolff
himself (or partially also by his post-mortem
editors?) with respect to its first appearance. As
I haven't the latter at hand, I remain thence in the well-founded
suspicion that all or most discrepancies I've found do not depend
on variations (intended or not) introduced by the translator into
Italian, but on the later evolution of the text in its original
language. In any case, these differences are small and not specially
significant - with the only exception, maybe, of the one which
triggered my initial curiosity! - as far as the interpretation
of the legend is concerned. Here below you'll find the point-by-point
comparison. (Notice: I've omitted mentioning the frequent interpolation
of strophes from Staudacher's
Fanneslied
in the German text, which are completely missing from the Italian
one).
German
text : |
|
Italian
text : |
|
Remarks: |
1.
The Croda Rossa [Red Peak]
|
"...nothing
will come to your mind more sensible than what marmots do." |
|
"...you'll
only have available the marmots' sense to take yourself
out of harm's way." |
|
The
italian text is formally more correct, but the German one
is closer to what Moltina will actually experience. |
|
The
indication that tsestelìs (= wild currant)
is a term from Ampezzo is missing. |
|
"Several
thickets of wild currant, named in Ampezzo 'tsestelis',
grew there". |
|
|
| "...that
you could hear an odlina (=pine-needle) fall..." |
|
"...that
you could hear a pine-needle fall.." [the Ladinian
term is missing] |
|
|
| Salvarga |
|
Salwara |
|
The usage
of the German writing of the term in the Italian translation
makes me suppose that Wolff
modified it later |
|
"...an
old tradition of our people's states however that we escaped
onto these mountains from the "Splanedis"
(the great Eastern plain),,, " |
|
This
important indication about the Fanes' mythical provenience
is totally missing. |
|
Maybe
Wolff was
later influenced by what is told about the salvani
in the legend of the Pale
Mountains? |
|
No
mention that the Fanes' foes are coming from the west ("...
a foreign population is planning to assail us...") |
|
"...we
know that a western population is planning to attack us..." |
|
I can't
fully understand the reasons for this change |
At
bottom, there's a note about a popular saying on the Croda
Rossa, and then another about the Landrines:
in the XVI century a Johannes Lendrinus from Innichen (San
Candido) was registered at Vienna's university |
|
Both
notes are missing |
|
The presence
in the XVI century at San Candido of a family whose name can
be traced back to the Landrines
is indicative but not decisive in order to ascertain the existence
(and antiquity) of a population named this way. |
2. The secret alliance
| "The
secret alliance was only known by the members of the royal
family ." |
|
"...
nobody was aware of it but the king and his relativesi." |
|
A
variation as modest as difficult to understand |
3. The twin sisters
| The
sisters' names are given by the king |
|
Who
gives the names is not indicated. |
|
The
reason of the difference is unclear. |
| Tsinke
Tores |
|
Cinche
torres |
|
Was the
Ampezzo name of the mountain modified by the translator? |
| Note:
it is clarified that the pass (now: Falzàrego)
was once named Fautsàrego in Ampezzo |
|
The note
is missing. |
|
|
4.
Spina-de-Mul
| Lotja |
|
Loccia |
|
The
place name is transcribed in its Italian form. |
| The future
Ey-de-Net is wearing "just a skin". |
|
"...wearing
chamois skins" |
|
A variation
of little significance. |
| |
|
|
|
There
are a few small discrepancies in the description of the fight |
| Penes
de Po' Tor |
|
Penes
de Potor |
|
The change
in the place name looks like having been introduced later |
| |
|
|
|
The scene
of the Raietta also
shows some small differences |
| Note:
"Ey-de-Net" is in the dialect of Fassa;
in the Badia valley one says "Edl-d'Noet" |
|
The note
is missing. |
|
|
|
Final
note :
"The Raietta
story is told in several variants. Its most ancient form
seems to be the following: an artist and a wizard seeked
a princess in marriage, and both promised to bring her a
present where they would express all their capabilities
and qualities. The artist produced the Raietta
(the shining stone). This gem was so beautiful, that one
couldn't but look at it; at night, if the Raietta
was nearby, one had wonderful dreams and heard the
finest melodies sounding.
The wizard built a ring, with which the most common stones
could be turned at will into gold, silver or diamonds. The
princess judged the Raietta
to be better but, as she had to inform both competitors,
the wizard then killed the artist.
Several
other different stories are told on the Raietta.
The wizard - so he is named - took the Raietta
into a cave under Donna
Dindia's castle. But it didn't stay there. The precious
gemstone entered into the King of Fanes' possession, who
crowned his daughter with it. After this princess's death,
Spina-de-Mul succeeded in having it stolen by a crow. Now
it was thrown onto a mountain lake bottom, where a dragon
guarded it. But the gem-searcher dwarfs, who dug the mountains
everywhere, were greedily looking for the Raietta
and sometimes drilled upwards so close to the lake bottom
that they could reach and steal it. A furious struggle ensued
between them and the dragon, the galleries collapsed and
the lake turned dry. But the dragon deemed the gemstone
not to be at safe any longer, because too many dwarfs were
digging nearby, therefore he took the Raietta
and flew in the air with it to another lake. The splendour
of the gem he was carrying in his claws made the flying
dragon look as red as fire.
On the "Schlern" (year 1930, pg. 372)
Paul Wallnoefer remarks that the legend of the "fuirigen
Alber" who flies in the night is also known in
the Vintschgau [Venosta valley]. There it is conceived as
a ghostly bird who is carrying the "karfunkel",
a magic object, in its beak or in its claws. This note makes
known that the Raietta
legend was diffused all over the Dolomitic Ladinians area.
See the legend "Donna
Dindia".
|
|
Totally
missing |
|
The
note looks as having been added by Wolff
only after the Italian translation was completed.
The presence
of the Raietta
in several different legends can be probably traced back
to modeling over an archetype.
Notice the gem guarded by a dragon, a rare event in Dolomitic
legends, which probably is a middle-age contamination of
German origin; but the dragon's den is no cave, as in the
best German tradition, but a lake bottom, as usually happens
in Ladinia!
|
5. The Aurona
| Somawida's
name is written the German way, while Odolghes, with its group
"gh" for a guttural "g", looks typically
"Italian-style" |
|
Sommavida
and Odolghes |
|
The
variant "Sommavida" may have been introduced by
the translator |
6. The Eagle prince
7.
The silvery lake
| It
is clarified (by a reference to a different page) that Dolasilla's
silvery lake is the same as Elba's
one. |
|
The
reference to Elba's
legend is missing. By the way, Elba's
legend is not included into the same book ("L'Anima
delle Dolomiti"), but into the "Monti pallidi". |
|
It
is still to be clarified, whether the old Ladinian tradition
identified the two lakes as a single one, or not! |
| Maennchen
[little men] (later also Zwerge [dwarfs] and Maennlein
[small men]) |
|
"Dwarfs" |
|
In this
case we are dealing with "miner
dwarfs" and not with salvans. |
8. The weapons and the trumpets
| Pregayanis |
|
Pregajanis |
|
It
is funny that the consonant sound "i" is rendered
in German by a "y" and in Italian by a "j",
while the reverse should have sounded much more natural! This
remark holds for many other Ladinian words in the text. |
9. The warrior girl
| Title:
Die Kriegerin (Tjedùya) |
|
The
Ladinian word is missing. |
|
"Tjeduya"
(read chéh-dooh-yah) is a Ladinian word (from
Fassa) derived from ceder = to dare, meaning therefore
"daring". It is the epithet of a heroine, maybe
connected with Dolasilla herself, a trace of whom appears
in a few Fassan legends of which only fragments are known. |
| It
is explicitly stated that the Raietta is the same gemstone
which Ey-de-Net had given away to the baby Dolasilla, and
that the king orders it mounted on her diadem "the day
after her first battle". |
|
Both hints
are missing, but the first is implicit, the second is unrelevant. |
|
Again,
later modifications of the German text? |
10.
The battle of Fiammes
| Title:
The day of Fiammes |
|
The
battle of Fiammes |
|
|
| A
mount named Amariana
exists also in the Carnia, east of Tolmezzo. On this subject,
Wolff remarks:
“At pg. 24 of the above mentioned Scarsini collection
we also find a “legend of mount Marianna” with
the following content: - A poor girl named Marianna, who lived
on the shore of the Tagliamento river, used to climb every
morning on a mountain nearby to collect leaves with which
she fed her cattle. Once, during a terrible thunderstorm,
she ran into a wicked spirit who wanted to drag her away,
An angel then appeared, who saved her. With a frightening
noise, the demon disappeared into a crevice which suddenly
opened in the rock, and then got filled with water. Apparve
allora un angelo che la salvò. This is the origin of
the lake that can be seen on the mountain top. As soon as
Marianna came back to the valley, high flames and reddish
fumes could be seen on the mountain top. - The legend makes
us understand that on the top there was a pagan sacred place,
which Christians later kept as nefarious. The girl Marianna
is obviously an invention: the mountain takes its name from
the village of Amaro which lies at its feet. On the ridge
of the lofty mountain, which reaches an altitude of 1906 meters,
three summits can be distinguished: Amariana, Amaria and Amarianute”. |
|
The note
is completely missing.
|
|
1) the
village of Amaro (in Friulian: Damár) should,
in effect, either be named by a Latin person name Amarus,
or by the mountain itself (therefore, not vice-versa). Friulans
mockingly name the mountain La Marianna. It was once believed
to be the highest peak of all Carnia and to be a volcano.
A friend of mine, Gianni Cella, once told me that, when he
was a boy, he found on top of the Amariana
some stones vetrified by fire. Was it really the site of an
ancient Brandopferplatz? All to be verified.
2) In the tale "The stream's genius", located near
Cortina, there's a hint to dwarfs who peopled mount Amariana
with all their tribe. There are no other indications to pinpoint
the mountain, but it must be a massif of some size, not far
away from the Cortina basin. The Croda
da Lago might fit. |
| ...twice
the gallant Duranni drove back the enemies... |
|
...twice
the battle came was interrupted... |
|
A little
understandable variation. |
| The
colour of Dolasilla's hair is dunkelbraun (lit. “dark
brown”) |
|
"brown
hair " |
|
Almost
all Dolasilla's images show her blonde. This is not
what Wolff
had in his mind. The opinion of the original Ladinian tradition
is unknown to me. |
| Several
verses from Eberhard
König's "Aurona" are inserted;
they probably were originally referring to Dolasilla herself.
Wolff states
having introduced only minimal modifications to the original
text. |
|
Missing. |
|
E. König
was a poet and libretto writer from Berlin, more or less contemporary
to Wolff.
In 1935 he went to Bolzano, got in touch with Wolff
and wrote a "dramatic legend", the Aurona,
the manuscript of which he gave Wolff
to read (1941). I don't know if it was ever published later
on. |
| |
|
The whole
description of the battle has been translated into Italian
not literally and somewhat more concisely, but the text is
substantially adhering to the original. |
|
|
11. On the dark Migogn
| Wögl
dale Wèlme (the Old Man of the Green Alder-Trees).
|
|
Vögl
delle Velme. The translation is missing |
|
In
Livinallongo green alder-trees (Alnus viridis) are really
named “velme”. See Laboratory. |
| It
is specified that the dwarfs of the Latemar were the smith
dwarfs of Gepleng (a placename of the Latemar). |
|
No
hint is made to Gepleng |
|
Another
later modification? |
| Migoyn |
|
Migogn |
|
Different
writings for the same sound. |
| |
|
There
are several small translation liberties, but no substantial
difference. |
|
|
12. The shield
| Title:
Ey-de-Net and Dolasilla |
|
Title:
The shield |
|
See
note to next chapter |
| It
is repeated that the Latemar dwarfs live in the Gepleng, "under
the tall rocky cliffs". |
|
The
"huge rocky cliffs" are here, but the placename
is not. |
|
See
previous chapter. |
13. Ey-de-Net e Dolasilla
| Title:
"The blunder" |
|
Title"Ey-de-Net
e Dolasilla" |
|
The
titles are funnily swapped: in Italian the chapter has been
titled as the previous one in the German text. |
| The king
drives Ey-de-Net
away “sneering at him” |
|
Not explicit,
but can be read among the lines. |
|
|
14.
In highest danger
| |
|
|
|
The
Fanes' repeated supplications to Dolasilla so that she takes
arms again, mostly expressed in "traditional" verse,
have been translated in an almost exactly literal fashion.
|
|
The
text is followed by a strophe by Eberhard
König:
“Now
the great news spread around,
the Kingdom's star is back
shining in front of our flags,
to banish
any faltering!"
|
|
Missing. |
|
The lines
are certainly taken from the Aurona, and almost certainly
are again referring to Dolasilla herself. |
| A
long paragraph is following, titled "Insert (Ladinian
text)" where it is stated that a few passages are reported
from the "popular Ladinian festival Fanes da tsakan”.
They include the supplications to Dolasilla so that she
enters the field again, and her lamentations. The text is
in Ladinian, followed by a German translation. |
|
Missing. |
|
Notice:
this is NOT Morlang's Fanes da zakan, who is rather
more concise on the subject; therefore these really ought
to be authentically traditional passages, of an undetermined
age however. |
15. The sylphs' response
| Title:
Der Elfenspruch, (lit. The elves' response) |
|
Title:
The sylph's answer |
|
Parallelism
and differences between northern and mediterranean mythologies!
|
| Crèp
dles Naynòres |
|
Najnores |
|
Peak o'
Nine Hours |
| The
chapter ends with the Myanines' prophecy: "We foretell
you Dolasilla's imminent death!". The whole passage that
follows in Italian, is missing from the German text. |
|
"When
he heard those terrible words, Ey de Nèt believed
that life would suddenly abandon him. Dolasilla must die!
When he recovered from that first bewilderment, Ey de Nèt
would immediately rush away, to be at his beloved's side
at the time of danger. But a long march through the mountains,
in the darkest of the night, exhausted as he was after a
tiresome and tormented day, was out of question. He was
forced to spend the night on the lakeshore, and at dawn
he hastily marched away.
But the Fanes' doom was marked. The need to evade the guards,
both at the border and inside the kingdom, who all had received
the order not to let the banished shield-bearer return into
the Fanis, delayed Ey de Nèt's march. So that when,
at late evening, he finally arrived at the Cunturines, he
was too late."
|
|
It is
credible that Wolff
may have later scrapped this long and somewhat unnecessary
explanation; less credible, that the translator might have
inserted it from nothing! |
16.
Thirteen arrows
A
strophe by
Henriette Schrott-Pelzel precedes the text:
"Don't talk about my sorrow,
Don't talk about my pain,
It's as delicate as worn-out silk,
It's as red as blood-stained snow."
|
|
Missing. |
|
|
| "...quick..." |
|
"...as
quick as squirrels..." |
|
|
17. The armour changes its colour
| Title:
"Die Verfarbung” (The change of colour) |
|
"The
armour changes its colour" |
|
|
| "as
white as the snows [Firnen] of the Marmolèda”
|
|
"as
snow-white as the tops of the Marmoleda" |
|
|
| The
last sentence of the Italian text is missing in German |
|
"Thanks
to the still deep darkness, the Fanes had remained unaware
of the colour change which had occurred before their eyes,
and they believed unsuspiciously their princess's words."
|
|
Again
a passage which has presumably been removed from the German
editions following the first one. |
18.
The battle on the Pralongià
| A
strophe of a popular Westphalian song precedes the text, where
the king's daughter is alone crying, while all other people
are happy. |
|
Missing |
|
|
| Note:
a passage from the "popular Ladinian festival" is
quoted: "Dolasila ferida è nyüda ü
ten yàde furtüna se müda." (Dolasilla
has been wounded, and at once fortune has changed). |
|
The note
is missing |
|
|
19. The Fanes' Queen
| |
|
There
are several small literal discrepancies, but always within
the limits of a good translation. |
|
|
| The
sentence pronounced by the knight "The princess must
certainly have died" is missing from the German text. |
|
The sentence
"Then a knight jumped from the draw-bridge into the inner
courtyard" is missing from the Italian text. It is required
to provide the following sentence with a subject: "and
stopped panting in the court, shouting:" |
|
More than
to a translation mistake, we may attribute the syntax error
in the Italian text to a line skipped in printing. |
20.
The false King
| |
|
Translation
with no discrepancies. |
|
|
21.
Lujanta
| |
|
Translation
with no discrepancies. |
|
|
22.
In the hollow mountains
| ...the
western tower… had fallen into enemy hands, and they
fought on the roofs... |
|
The
situation of the sieged became more and more difficult. |
|
The
German text gives clearer details about the siege of a castle
as it would happen in the Middle Ages. |
23.
The resurgence
| |
|
The
texts are conceptually identical. |
|
|
24.
In the island of the one-armed men
| |
|
The
texts are substantially identical. |
|
|
25.
The last resolution
| ...the
valley of the Sewerina... |
|
...Severina
valley... |
|
Severina
valley or valley of the Severina stream, the place name remains
unknown to me and cannot be located. |
26.
Evening on the battlefield
27.
The sacred flame
| Title:
"In front of the blue flame of the Fanis" |
|
|
|
|
| Two strophes
by Arthur von Wallpach precede the text. |
|
Missing. |
|
|
| Note:
the strophes about the lighting of the flame, according to
Staudacher. |
|
Missing. |
|
|
28.
The tournament of Contrin
| Note:
Sonkyes= sun ki kléves = on those slopes;
today pronounced Sonkiës |
|
The
note is missing; the place name is indicated as Sonchíves |
|
|
29.
The light of the dead
| Note:
Vivèna = fairy of the woods |
|
Note
after the end of the text: The Vivène are women of
the woods, who know the future. |
|
|
| The
tournament, that was held when the corps of the Arimanni
was dissolved, consisted of a foot-race, a contest of javelin
throwing and one of arrow shooting, and all of them were gained
by Lidsanel. |
|
There
is no indication about the contests that composed the tournament. |
|
|
30.
The last of the latrones
| The
Arimanni's war-cry ("Saloy - saldi noi!")
is named “Skray de skira” |
|
The
cry "Salloi,
saldi noi!" is never named by its Ladinian term. |
|
|
|
In
a note, a strophe from a popular poem in honour of the Marmolada
is reported:
"You are beautyful, you are great,
fine in peace and strong at war,
you are between earth and sky
Our country's first honour!"
|
|
Missing. |
|
|
31.
The end of the kingdom and the promise of redemption
| The
lake tour is said to occur every year, in a summertime night
when the moon is waxing. |
|
The
detail about summertime is missing. |
|
|
| Last
sentence: "... until when the 'promised time' will come,
the time of peace and justice. Then all those who have suffered
in the mountains will be resurrected and redeemed". |
|
“...because
at that time there will be no more wars, nor slaughters, nor
hatred and, as it was in a remote past, all men will fraternize
in a bond of love." |
|
The difference
is significant, and rather funny. I'm unable to guess the
reason for this. |
| A strophe
by di A. von Wallpach follows the text, then there is a note
about the "Eagle of the Flame". |
|
The strophe
is missing, the note corresponds to note 3) after the end
of the Italian text |
|
|
| Note:
according to Heyl (“Volkssagen aus Tirol”)
the self-generating flame is located in a different place,
on the mountains of the Rautal (the valley of San Vigilio).
Heyl also hints at the bird that bursts flames by its beak,
and remarks that all over the Badia valley the“lüm
stramba”, [strange light], high on the mountains,
is well known, and it is also known that an ancient tale narrated
about it, but all has been forgotten. |
|
Missing |
|
|
|
