Biology:Powers of Darkness (Iceland)

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Powers of Darkness (Icelandic Makt Myrkranna) is a 1901 Icelandic book, purportedly a translation of Dracula by Valdimar Ásmundsson, that was based upon an early draft of Dracula by Bram Stoker, and differs quite significantly from the original.[1]

Makt Myrkranna

Between January 1900-March 1901, Dracula was serialized in the Reykjavik newspaper Fjallkonan (Lady of the Mountain) under the title Makt Myrkranna (Powers of Darkness).[2] The editor of Fjallkonan, Bríet Bjarnhéðinsdóttir, was the wife of the Ásmundsson who translated Dracula.[3] In 1901, Ásmundsson published Makt Myrkranna in Reykjavik with the publisher being listed only as Nokkrir Prentarar ("various publishers").[4] It remains unknown who actually published the book.[4] Part 1 of Makt Myrkranna consisting of pages 5-167 concerns the visit of Thomas Harker (as Jonathan Harker is renamed here) at Castle Dracula in Transylvania while Part 2 consisting of pages 168-210 concerns the rest of Dracula.[4] Included in Makt Myrkranna was a preface written by Stoker, which though it is dated August 1898, was written for Makt Myrkranna at the request of Ásmundsson.[5]

Stoker's preface

In his preface, Stoker claims that his novel is based upon a "mysterious manuscript" and the events of Dracula were in fact real with the names of the characters changed only to protect their privacy.[6] The preface was ignored by international scholarship until 1986, when it was discovered by the scholar Richard Dalby, who translated it into English.[7] The preface to Makt Myrkranna had never been included in any of the English editions of Dracula.[2] Most notably, Stoker in his preface described the murders committed by Jack the Ripper in 1888 as having happened "recently" and speaks of the crimes committed by a "Jacob the Disemboweller" who "came into the story a little later".[8] The reference to "Jacob the Disemboweller", a character who appears in neither Dracula nor Makt Myrkranna, has mystified scholars.[9][10]


Stoker's preface reads:

"The reader of this story will very soon understand how the events outlined in these pages have been gradually drawn together to make a logical whole. Apart from exercising minor details which I consider unnecessary, I have let the people involved relate their experiences in their own way; but for oblivious reasons I have changed the names of the people and places concerned. In all other respect, I leave the manuscript unaltered, in deference of the wishes of those who consider it their duty to present it before the eyes of the public.
I am quite convinced that there is no doubt whatever that the events described really took place, however unbelievable and incomprehensible they might appear at first sight.
And I am further convinced that they must always remain to a certain extent incomprehensible, although continuing research in psychology and the natural sciences may in years to come, gave logical explanations of such strange happenings, which at present neither scientists nor the secret police can understand.
...Various people's minds will go back to the remarkable group of foreigners who for many seasons played a dazzling part in the life of the aristocracy here in London: and some will remember that one of them disappeared quite suddenly without apparent reason, leaving no trace.
All the people who having willingly-or unwillingly-played a part in this remarkable story are known generally and are well respected. Both Jonathan Hawker and his wife (who is a woman of character) and Dr. Seward are my friends and have been for many years, and I have never doubted that they were telling the truth; and the highly respected scientist who appears here under a pseudonym will also be famous all over the educated world for his real name, which I have not desired to specify, to be hidden from people-least of all those who have experience learnt to value and respect his genius and his accomplishments, through they adhere to his views of life no more than I. But in our times, it ought to be clear to all serious-thinking men that "there are more things in heaven and earth/than are dreamt of in your philosophy". London, August 1898."[6]

Reception of Makt myrkranna in Iceland

In Iceland, Makt myrkranna received only one contemporary review - and it was negative. In 1906, Benedikt Björnsson (1879-1941) wrote.

Without doubt, for the largest part it is worthless rubbish and sometimes even worse than worthless, completely devoid of poetry and beauty and far removed from any psychological truth. "Fjallkonan" presented various kinds of garbage, including a long story, "Powers of Darkness". That story would have been better left unwritten, and I cannot see that such nonsense has enriched our literature.[11]

Björnsson was of a younger generation than Valdimar and feared that the translation of "cheap" sensational fiction from abroad might replace Iceland's own literary production, including his own. Ásmundsson, on the other hand, promoting the liberalization of trade relations with England, hoped to connect his readers with the newest literary trends from the UK and attract more subscribers to his newspaper.[citation needed]

Despite the lack of positive reviews, Makt myrkanna became a household name in Iceland after Dracula with Bela Lugosi (1931) had been shown in a Reykjavik cinema in 1932; it became the generic name for a whole series of vampire movies.[12]

The Icelandic Nobel Prize Laureate Halldór Laxness (1902-1998) was heavily impressed by the Icelandic edition of Dracula: "And do not forget Makt Myrkranna (Bram Stoker) with the famous un-dead Count Dracula in the Carpathians, who was not less popular than today; one of the best pens of the country was engaged to translate the novel: Valdimar Ásmundsson."[13] Halldór's own novel Kristnihald undir Jökli (1968) was largely based on Makt myrkranna.[14][15]

The buzz around the English translation by de Roos has also sparked new interest in the novel in Iceland.[16][17][18]

Discovery

In 2014, the Dutch scholar Hans Corneel De Roos first noticed that the Icelandic version of Dracula was in fact not a translation, but was rather a very different novel from Stoker's version.[2] In 2017, De Roos translated Makt Myrkranna into English under the title Powers of Darkness The Lost Version of Dracula.[2] The discovery of the differences between the novels sparked much debate with three theories being offered:

  • Ásmundsson changed the story of Dracula as he translated it into Icelandic.[2]
  • Stoker provided Ásmundsson with a first draft of Dracula that he chose not to use for the version that was published in 1897. Supporting the "first draft theory" is the fact that Stoker's widow had an obsession for suing people who used Dracula without her permission, yet Ásmundsson was never sued despite the differences between Makt Myrkranna and Dracula.[19]
  • A synthesis view holds that Makt Myrkranna is the result of both Ásmundsson changing the book and that he used a rejected first draft of Dracula.[2]

Differences between Dracula and Makt Myrkranna

The plot of Makt Myrkranna is essentially the same as Dracula, through he differences between Dracula and Makt Myrkranna have been much commented upon. Many of the characters had different names, the book was shorter and there was more much emphasis on sexuality of the characters in Makt Myrkranna.[1] Roos wrote: "Although Dracula received positive reviews in most newspapers of the day...the original novel can be tedious and meandering....Powers of Darkness, by contrast, is written in a concise, punchy style; each scene adds to the progress of the plot."[1] Stoker in Dracula has the count speak favorably of the Viking berserkers from Iceland as bloodthirsty warriors who were the terror of Europe, Asia and Africa, which Ásmundsson removed.[20] Likewise, Stoker gave Dracula the ability to shape-shift into any animal he pleased, which was likewise removed by Ásmundsson, even through the inspiration for this power of Dracula's came from Icelandic folklore, which Stoker had learned about from reading The Book of Were-Wolves by Sabine Baring-Gould, who had lived in Iceland for a time.[20]

Despite the fact that Stoker's preface spoke of his "friend" Jonathan Harker, in Makt Myrkranna, he is called Thomas Harker, Mina Harker becomes Wilma Harker, and Lucy Westenra is renamed Lucy Western.[9] Only Count Dracula is not renamed.[21] Wilma Harker is described having gone to Vienna to be treated by Dr. Sigmund Freud, an aspect of her background story that does not appear in Dracula.[9] Dracula is an epistolary novel; by contrast Makt Myrkranna has an omniscient narrator in Part II.[22] The American novelist Colin Fleming has argued that the frequent references to Norse mythology and Scandinavian literature in Makt Myrkranna were Ásmundsson's contribution to the story rather than Stoker's.[22] Fleming noted that in Dracula, Stoker worked in subtle sexual references to serve as metaphors for "...deeper, dark concepts: the idea of an antichrist, the blood-sucking serving as a compelling, hellish inversion of communion. Makt Myrkranna, conversely, could have had the subtitle Lust in a Cape".[22] In Makt Myrkranna, Harker has an obsession with breasts as he speaks frequently of the "bosom" of various women he encounters in Transylvania.[22]

One of the principle differences between Dracula and Makt Myrkranna is that the bulk of the latter concerns Harker's stay at Castle Dracula with the story that makes up the majority of Dracula appearing only a very abridged form.[2] Harker's visit to Transylvania takes up 80% of Makt Myrkranna.[23] The Canadian novelist Michael Melgaard in a review described Makt Myrkranna as being more of a "slow burn" as Harker takes much time to realize that he is a prisoner of Dracula; by contrast in Dracula, he realizes almost immediately that he is a prisoner.[2] The experiences of Harker at Castle Dracula are more visceral and intense in Makt Myrkranna. For an example, in Dracula, Harker finds the ruins of a chapel that he describes as "evidently been used as a graveyard" that becomes a room full of rotting corpses and occult markings in Makt Myrkranna.[2] Other experience for Harker not found in Dracula include finding the body of a dead peasant girl killed by Dracula and watching the count perform a black mass that ends in human sacrifice.[22]

Lord Arthur Holmwood in Makt Myrkranna has a sister named Mary who does not appear in Dracula.[24] The Brides of Dracula do not appear in Makt Myrkranna as Dracula as has only one female companion, the beautiful and alluring Josephine.[24] One of the heroes of Dracula, Dr. John Seward, goes insane in Makt Myrkranna as a result of the horrors committed by Dracula while Seward's deranged patient, Renfield, does not appear in Makt Myrkranna.[24] Dracula is more developed as a character in Makt Myrkranna and is in contact with various governments in what is hinted at is a bid for world domination.[2] In Makt Myrkranna, Dracula displays strong Nietzschen tendencies as he speaks of his contempt for Christianity for venerating the weak instead of the strong, and declares his intention is make the entire world "bow before the strong ones".[24] Social Darwinism was a popular ideology in the 1890s, and much of the rhetoric Dracula uses in Makt Myrkranna reflects Social Darwinist themes, as he repeatedly declares his contempt for the weak who exist only to serve the strong; in this case literally as Dracula and his fellow vampires live off the blood of humans too weak to defend themselves.[23] In Makt Myrkranna, Dracula does not flee back to Transylvania, but he is instead killed at his London home by a band of heroes led by Dr. Van Helsing.[24]

In Makt Myrkranna, there is a Sherlock Holmes-like detective named Inspector Barrington who investigates the murders committed by Dracula who does not appear in Dracula.[9] In Makt Myrkranna, Dracula comes to England not alone, but rather with a deaf-dumb woman who is apparently his slave and together with another beautiful aristocratic female vampire, Josephine, who flaunts her sexuality.[9] Josephine is described as having her "neck and upper chest revealed" while wearing a "necklace of glittering diamonds", whom Harker finds "something indecent" about, despite his evident attraction to her.[9] Most notably, Dracula lives not in an estate in the Essex countryside, but rather in a decaying old mansion in London's East End.[25] The British scholar Clive Bloom noted that when Stoker first started writing the novel that became Dracula, he envisioned Dracula's English residence as a mansion in the East End that had seen better days, and only changed Dracula's English home to a genteel mansion in the countryside in the final draft of Dracula that was written in early 1897.[26] Bloom has argued that the fact Dracula in Makt Myrkranna lives in a decayed London mansion entirely consistent with Stoker's original vision strongly suggests that Makt Myrkranna is based upon an early draft of the novel.[26]

Stoker's biographer, David J. Skal, has likewise argued that Ásmundsson based his translation upon an abandoned early draft of Dracula, noting that Stoker's notes while he writing Dracula showed that he envisioned Inspector Barrington as one of the book's heroes, only to eliminate him later on as he assigned his role in the plot to Dr. Abraham Van Helsing.[27] Since Inspector Barrington is not a character in Dracula, Ásmundsson could have not have known of him, which proves he was indeed using an early draft of Dracula as his source, which he obtained either directly or indirectly via the Mörkrets makter serialization.[27] Stoker's notes showed that he envisioned Dracula as a having a mute-deaf female housekeeper slave, who did not make the final cut into Dracula, but who appears as a character in Makt Myrkranna, which is further evidence that Makt Myrkranna's source material was an early draft.[27] Likewise, Stoker's notes show that he wanted Dracula to be always the last guest to arrive at a dinner party, a personality trait he displays in Makt Myrkranna, but not in Dracula, which is further confirmation of the "first draft theory".[27]

Latest developments

In February 2017, de Roos's translation of Makt Myrkranna into English was published. The publication led the Swedish scholar Rickard Berghorn to point out that much of Makt Myrkranna is based upon the Mörkrets makter serialization in Dagen in 1899-1900.[28] De Roos told the Icelandic journalist Anna Margrét Björnsson:

"No one saw it coming. Neither my research colleagues nor my publisher nor my friend Simone Berni from Italy, who is a specialist for the early translations of Dracula. For more than a hundred years, Makt Myrkranna, the Icelandic adaptation of Dracula, has not been known outside of Iceland, except for the preface apparently authored by Bram Stoker himself. Evidently, those in Iceland who were familiar with Valdimar Ásmundsson’s modifications, did not recognize their significance for Dracula Studies in the UK or in the US. And the other way round, English-speaking researchers never cared to try and read the Icelandic text. I had to learn Icelandic, only to get to the gist of the matter.
Now it turns out that the same has been happening in Sweden. Several Swedish experts already were familiar with an early version of Dracula, that has been serialized in the Swedish newspapers Dagen and Aftonbladet from 10 June 1899 on. But no one ever paid attention to it, until Rickard Berghorn read about my English translation of Makt myrkranna and realized that this – still older – Swedish version bore an identical title. Mörkrets makter, as is the title of the Swedish serialization, means exactly the same as Makt myrkranna: Powers of Darkness. That is how he made the link between the Swedish and the Icelandic version. First he assumed that Makt myrkranna would be a straight translation of the Swedish publication, but then he found out that the Swedish text is more complete and contains scenes neither described in Dracula nor in Makt myrkranna. And the madman Renfield is still in the story, among others."[28]

De Roos stated that Berghorn's discovery has changed the focus of his research, as it would now be necessary to examine the relationship between Stoker and Harald Sohlman, the editor of Dagen and Aftonbladet, adding he was "...again assuming that Stoker had a hand himself in creating this more erotic and more political version. Rickard, at least, believes so".[28]

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 Escher, Kat (19 May 2017). "The Icelandic Translation of ‘Dracula’ Is Actually a Different Book". Smithsonian. https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/icelandic-translation-dracula-actually-different-book-180963346/. 
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 2.5 2.6 2.7 2.8 2.9 Melgaard, Michael (13 March 2017). "Counted out: An alternative version of Dracula with an obscure preface appears over a century later". The National Post. https://nationalpost.com/entertainment/books/book-reviews/counted-out-an-alternative-version-of-dracula-with-an-obscure-preface-appears-over-a-century-later. 
  3. ↑ Berni 2016, p. 41.
  4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 Berni 2016, p. 42.
  5. ↑ Berni 2016, p. 42-43.
  6. ↑ 6.0 6.1 Berni 2016, p. 43-44.
  7. ↑ Bloom 2017, p. 121.
  8. ↑ Bloom 2017, p. 122-123.
  9. ↑ 9.0 9.1 9.2 9.3 9.4 9.5 Bloom 2017, p. 123.
  10. ↑ Bloom cites from Clive Leatherdale, Dracula Unearthed, p. 25 (Essesx: Desert Island Books, 2006), who in turn cites from Richard Dalby's The Lair of the White Worm - A Bram Stoker Omnibus (London: Foulsham,1986). In Issue 5 of his Bram Stoker Journal (1993), Dalby already changed the term to "Jack the Ripper".
  11. ↑ From "Nokkur orð um bókmentir vorar," in Skírnir, 1 December 1906: 344 and 346. Translated from the Icelandic by Hans Corneel de Roos. Quoted from De Roos, Hans Corneel. Introduction to Powers of Darkness. New York: Overlook, 2017: 21.
  12. ↑ De Roos, Hans Corneel. Introduction to Powers of Darkness. New York: Overlook, 2017: 22.
  13. ↑ From Í túninu heima, part I, Reykjavík: Helgafell, 1975: 208. In an excerpt from Og árin líða (1984), published in Lesbók Morgunblaðsins of 7 January 1984: 4-7, Halldór called Makt Myrktranna "one of the best Icelandic novels imported from abroad." Translation from the Icelandic by Hans Corneel de Roos. Quoted from De Roos, Hans Corneel. Introduction to Powers of Darkness. New York: Overlook, 2017: 23.
  14. ↑ Bjarnason, Bjarni (17 January 2004). "Systkinabækurnar Kristnihald undir Jökli & Drakúla". Lesbók Morgunblaðsins. http://timarit.is/files/8099136.pdf. 
  15. ↑ In his unpublished manuscript on the publication history of Makt myrkranna (2016), de Roos extensively discussed Bjarnason's article and mentioned further parallels between Laxness's novel and Makt myrkranna, which Bjarnason believed to be a condensed version of Dracula. In fact, Kristnihald undir Jökli is hardly related to Stoker's original; the parallels mentioned by Bjarnason result from the Nordic modifications. Further information can be obtained from Hans de Roos.
  16. ↑ Björnsson, Anna Margrét (7 February 2017). "Dracula's lost Icelandic sister novel". https://icelandmonitor.mbl.is/news/culture_and_living/2017/02/07/dracula_s_lost_icelandic_sister_novel/. 
  17. ↑ Björnsson, Anna Margrét (13 February 2014). "The Powers of Darkness: On Dracula's sister version in Iceland". Iceland Monitor. https://icelandmonitor.mbl.is/news/culture_and_living/2017/02/13/the_powers_of_darkness_on_dracula_s_sister_version_/. 
  18. ↑ Björnsson, Anna Margrét (15 February 2014). "Hollywood TV series based on Dracula's Icelandic sister novel". Iceland Monitor. https://icelandmonitor.mbl.is/news/news/2017/02/15/hollywood_tv_series_based_on_dracula_s_icelandic_si/. 
  19. ↑ Bloom, p. 122.
  20. ↑ 20.0 20.1 Underwood, York (31 October 2018). "The Strange Tale of Iceland’s Dracula". Now Guide to Iceland. https://now.guidetoiceland.is/2018/10/31/culture/cinema-and-the-arts/the-strange-tale-of-icelands-dracula/. 
  21. ↑ Bloom 2017, p. 122.
  22. ↑ 22.0 22.1 22.2 22.3 22.4 Fleming, Colin (19 April 2017). "The Icelandic Dracula: Bram Stoker's vampire takes a second bite". The Guardian. https://www.theguardian.com/books/2017/apr/19/icelandic-dracula-bram-stoker-translator-powers-of-darkness-valdimir-asmundsson-makt-myrkranna. 
  23. ↑ 23.0 23.1 Skal 2016, p. 337.
  24. ↑ 24.0 24.1 24.2 24.3 24.4 Ísberg, Frída (7 April 2017). "Dracula In Iceland". The Times Literary Supplement. https://www.the-tls.co.uk/articles/dracula-in-iceland/. 
  25. ↑ Bloom 2017, p. 123=124.
  26. ↑ 26.0 26.1 Bloom 2017, p. 124.
  27. ↑ 27.0 27.1 27.2 27.3 Skal 2016, p. 338.
  28. ↑ 28.0 28.1 28.2 Björnsson, Anna Margrét (6 March 2017). "Icelandic version of Dracula, Makt myrkranna, turns out to be Swedish in origin". Iceland Monitor. https://icelandmonitor.mbl.is/news/culture_and_living/2017/03/06/icelandic_version_of_dracula_makt_myrkranna_turns_o/. 

Articles and books

  • Berni, Simone Dracula by Bram Stoker The Mystery of The Early Editions, Morrisville: Lulu, 2016, ISBN:1326621793.
  • Bloom, Clive "Dracula and the Psychic World of the East End of London" pages 119-139 from Dracula: An International Perspective, New York: Springer, 2017, ISBN:9783319633664.
  • Crișan, Marius-Mircea ""Welcome to My House: Enter Freely of your own will": Dracula in International Contexts" pages 1-21 from Dracula: An International Perspective, New York: Springer, 2017, ISBN:9783319633664.
  • De Roos, Hans Corneel "Count Dracula's Address and Lifetime Identity" pages 95-118 from Dracula: An International Perspective, New York: Springer, 2017, ISBN:9783319633664.
  • Skal, David Something in the Blood: The Untold Story of Bram Stoker, the Man Who Wrote Dracula, New York: Liveright, 2016, ISBN:1631490109.




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