X FOREWORD 



author sometimes finds it necessary to repeat and 

 restate his ideas, with the result that his literary 

 style is frequently stiff, labored, and pedantic. 

 These defects are, however, not characteristic of 

 the book as a whole. Many of its chapters display 

 rare workmanship and prove that the author of 

 the King's Mirror is one of the great masters of 

 Old Norse prose. 



In preparing the translation of this unique work, 

 my aim has been to reproduce the author's thought 

 as faithfully as possible and to state it in such a 

 form as to satisfy the laws of English syntax. But 

 I have also felt that, so far as it can be done, the 

 flavor of the original should be retained and that a 

 translator, in his effort to satisfy certain conven- 

 tional demands of modern composition, should not 

 deviate too far from the path of mental habit that 

 the author has beaten in his roamings through the 

 fields of thought. Peculiarities of style and expres- 

 sion, can, it is true, usually not be reproduced in 

 another language; at the same time it is possible to 

 ignore these considerations to such an extent that 

 the product becomes a paraphrase rather than a 

 translation; and I have believed that such a ren- 

 dition should be avoided, even at the risk of erring 

 on the side of literalness. 



The importance of the King's Mirror as a source 

 of information in the^study of medieval though^) 

 was first brought to my attention by Professor 



