01/08/2025
... o islandskom "preklade" románu "Dracula"
(www.vydavatelstvo-europa.sk/moc-temnoty/)
In 1900, Irish author Bram Stoker, already acclaimed for *Dracula*, entrusted the Icelandic translation of his novel to Valdimar Ásmundsson, a respected writer and editor in Reykjavík. What followed, however, was no ordinary translation. Ásmundsson took the liberty of transforming the novel entirely. Rather than adhering to Stoker’s gothic vision, he reinvented it—boldly and bizarrely. Stoker had provided a draft of his manuscript, expecting a faithful rendering, but Ásmundsson saw an opportunity to reshape the tale for his audience.
The result was *Makt Myrkranna* (*Powers of Darkness*), a wild and imaginative retelling disguised as a translation. Ásmundsson cut out characters, added new subplots, and introduced outlandish scenes—such as a character consulting Sigmund Freud in Vienna, and another becoming obsessively fixated on the breasts of Transylvanian women. The adaptation bore only a passing resemblance to the original *Dracula*, yet it went unquestioned for over a century. Iceland was remote, its language obscure, and no one outside the island noticed the differences. For 114 years, the rewritten tale sat quietly, presumed to be a faithful rendition.
It wasn’t until 2014 that Dutch scholar Hans Corneel De Roos uncovered the truth. By comparing the texts, he revealed that *Makt Myrkranna* was essentially an original work—early fan fiction masquerading as translation. Only one contemporary review dared to criticize it harshly, calling it “rubbish, worse than rubbish, absolute nonsense from beginning to end.” And yet, that wild absurdity is exactly what made it unforgettable.
