Carl Ivar Orgland (13 October 1921 – 16 June 1994) was a Norwegian philologist, lexicographer, translator and poet. He is especially known for his work with Icelandic culture, and language and literature.
He was born in Oslo, finished his secondary education in 1939, and graduated with a Cand.mag. degree in 1946 and a Cand.philol. degree in 1949. From 1950 onwards, he worked at the University of Iceland as a research fellow until 1952 and then lecturer in the Norwegian language. He left the University of Iceland in 1960, and after two years as a high school teacher in Notodden, he became a lecturer in Norwegian at Lund University from 1962 to 1969.[1] In 1969, he also received a Dr.philos.
He became known for translating Nordic works to Nynorsk, especially Icelandic - both medieval and modern - but also from the more obscure Faroese language and Modern Gutnish.[2] Anthologies include Islandske dikt frå Solarljod til opplysningstid, Islandske gullalderdikt and Islandske dikt frå vårt hundreår.[3] For his body of work he won the Bastian Prize,[2] awarded by the Norwegian Association of Literary Translators,[4] in 1986. He also issued several original works of poetry, having debuted in 1950 with the work Lilje og sverd ('Lily and Sword').[2] He has also written Norwegian-Icelandic dictionaries.[5] During his younger days, he was also a tenor singer.[1]
He was decorated with the Commander Cross of the Icelandic Order of the Falcon.[1] He lived in Asker for the later part of his life, and died in 1994.[3]