If there were an award given out for the geekiest translation project ever, I think I might just have found a contender: Tattúínárdœla Saga, the “Star Wars” story rewritten in the style of the Old Norse Sagas and translated into Old Norse as well.
The saga is the brainchild of Jackson Crawford, a grad student going for his Ph.D. at the University of Wisconsin in Madison. It’s a fun re-imagining of the classic films, and a vast improvement over those awful prequels. Personally, I found it particularly satisfying to read that “Jarjari Georgsson,” the Jar-Jar Binks character, gets “killed by Anakinn in an early berserker rage.” Seriously, I want Episodes I-III remade, Viking-style.
This isn’t simply the original Star Wars story re-written in Old Norse, either (although that would still be kind of cool). Crawford changes the setting to around 1200 AD, in the North Atlantic. So, the characters sail in longboats instead of flying in spaceships, the two droids are re-imagined as Irish slaves or thralls, and Lúkr Anakinsson fights with a sword called “Light saber the Green” instead of an actual light saber.
The saga is a work-in-progress, with new chapters published periodically on the blog. So far, there are 30 chapters. The English versions are available here. As a taste, here’s how the famous scene outside of the cantina on Mos Eisely turned out:
The soldier asked then for Lúkr’s name. But the enchantment of the Jedi Fjord men followed Víga-Óbívan Kvæggansson. He cast a spell upon the soldiers, and he made them believe that all words which he spoke were true.
“You don’t need to hear his name”, said Víga-Óbívan.
“We don’t need to learn his name,” said the soldier.
“These are not the thralls you’re looking for,” continued Víga-Óbívan.
“These are not the thralls we’re looking for,” said the soldier.
“He can go freely about his business,” said Víga-Óbívan.
“He can go freely about his business,” said the soldier.
“Move along on your way,” said Víga-Óbívan.
“Move along, move along,” said the soldier.