Whether Norway is always to go to Denmark for her standard Shakespeare, or whether she is to have one of her own is, as yet, a question impossible to answer. A pure Landsmaal translation cannot satisfy, and many Norwegians refuse to recognize the Riksmaal as Norwegian at all. In the far, impenetrable future the language question may settle itself, and when that happy day comes, but not before, we may look with some confidence for a "standard" Shakespeare in a literary garb which all Norwegians will recognize as their own.
[I.1.] It has been thought best to give such citations for the most part in translation.
[I.2.] Julius Caesar. III, 2. 268-70. Variorum Edition Furness. Phila. 1913.
[I.3.] Rønning—Rationalismens Tidsalder. 11-95.
[I.4.] Ewald—Levnet og meninger. Ed. Bobe. Kbhn. 1911, p. 166.
[I.5.] Ibid. II, 234-235.
[I.6.] William Shakespeares Tragiske Værker—Første Deel. Khbn. 1807. Notes at the back of the volume.
[I.7.]* By way of background, a bare enumeration of the early Danish translations of Shakespeare is here given.
| 1777. | Hamlet. Translated by Johannes Boye. |
| 1790. |
Macbeth. Translated by Nils Rosenfeldt. Othello. Translated by Nils Rosenfeldt. All's Well that Ends Well. Translated by Nils Rosenfeldt. |
| 1792. |
King Lear. Translated by Nils Rosenfeldt. Cymbeline. Translated by Nils Rosenfeldt. The Merchant of Venice. Translated by Nils Rosenfeldt. |
| 1794. | King Lear. Nahum Tate's stage version. Translated by Hans Wilhelm Riber. |
| 1796. |
Two Speeches.—To be or not to be—(Hamlet.) Is this a dagger—(Macbeth.) Translated by Malthe Conrad Brun in Svada. |
| 1800. | Act III, Sc. 2 of Julius Caesar. Translated by Knut Lyhne Rahbek in Minerva. |
| 1801. | Macbeth. Translated by Levin Sander and K.L. Rahbek. Not published till 1804. |
| 1804. | Act V of Julius Caesar. Translated by P.F. Foersom in Minerva. |
| 1805. | Act IV Sc. 3 of Love's Labour Lost. Translated by P.F. Foersom in Nytaarsgave for Skuespilyndere. |
| 1807. | Hamlet's speech to the players. Translated by P.F. Foersom in Nytaarsgave for Skuespilyndere. |
[I.8.] Coriolanus, efter Shakespeare. Christiania. 1818.