Muriel Press Explained

Muriel Annie Caroline Press (née Hoare, 1867 – 1937) was an English translator who published the first translations of Laxdæla saga and Færeyinga saga into English.

Life

She was born in London on 22 February 1867, the eldest of seven children of Sir Samuel Hoare, 1^st baronet, and his wife Katherine Louisa, née Hart.^[1] Her brother was the politician Samuel John Gurney Hoare. In 1896 she married Edward Payne Press of Clifton.^[2] By 1903 they were living in Bristol.^[3]

Translations

In 1899 she translated Laxdæla saga into English with the help of 'a competent Icelander' (Eiríkr Magnússon),^[4] who revised the Icelandic text.^[5] This was the first complete English translation of the saga, which had been popularised in Britain by William Morris' poem 'The Lovers of Gudrun.' ^{[6] [7]} It had minimal critical apparatus but proved influential, being republished by Everyman in 1906.^[8]

In 1934 she also published the first translation into English of Færeyinga saga.^[9]

Notes and References

1. Book: Hoare, Edward . Some Account of the Early History and Genealogy, with Pedigrees from 1330, Unbroken to the Present Time, of the Families of Hore and Hoare: With All Their Branches : ... with Anecdotes ... of the Principal Persons Mentioned . 1883 . A.R. Smith . 40 . en.
2. Book: Lodge, Edmund . The Peerage, Baronetage, Knightage & Companionage of the British Empire for 1907 . 1907 . Kelly's Directories . 965 . en.
3. Book: Fiske, Willard . Mímir: Icelandic Institutions, with Addresses. MCMIII. . 1903 . M. Truelsen . 42 . en.
4. Book: France . Peter . The Oxford History of Literary Translation in English:: Volume 4: 1790-1900 . Haynes . Kenneth . 2006-02-23 . Oxford University Press . 978-0-19-924623-6 . 277 . en.
5. Web site: Laxdæla Saga Translated from the Icelandic . 2024-05-18 . Project Gutenberg . en.
6. Book: Parergon . 1971 . Australian and New Zealand Association for Medieval and Renaissance Studies. . 26 . en.
7. Book: Parker . Joanne . The Oxford Handbook of Victorian Medievalism . Wagner . Corinna . 2020 . Oxford University Press . 978-0-19-966950-9 . 280 . en.
8. Book: Kunz, Keneva . Retellers of Tales: An Evaluation of English Translations of Laxdæla Saga . 1994 . University of Iceland Press . 978-9979-9011-4-3 . 182 . en.
9. Book: Holm, Bill . The Windows of Brimnes: An American in Iceland . 2010-08-01 . Milkweed Editions . 978-1-57131-828-2 . 186 . en.