Il Carme di Ildebrando: traduzioni in lingua inglese di età romantica

Henry William Weber and William Taylor of Norwich translated the Lay of Hildebrand (Hildebrandslied) into English in the Romantic era; the hypotext was Eckhart’s edition (1729). After a reflection on the contemporary reception of German literature in Britain, the essay compares Weber’s and Taylor of Norwich’s translations with each other and with the hypotext. Both translators know of no further editions published in Germany in those years. This was to a large extent due to the cultural isolation of Britain in the Napoleonic era. Interest in the Lay of Hildebrand soon waned: it was not until a century later that the first reliable English translation was produced.