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Author)sForeword
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this“villagelanguage”andallhislonglifekeptfightingforrespectandrecogni-
tionduetoNewNorwegianfromtheDanicizedcities.ItwasnotIndiaorTibet,it
wasnotIreland,itwasnotWales,itwasnotHawaii-buttheproblemsremained
thesame.OnceIknewenoughNorwegiantomovefreelyfromoneformtothe
otherIfeltmuchclosertoNewNorwegianandthedialects.Thefoundingfathers
ofNewNorwegianwereallsupremepoets,andIamaSlav,loveofpoetryand
respectforpoetsisinmyblood.IbeganalongperiodofintensereadingsinNor-
wegian-read:“NewNorwegian”-poetry.Awholenewworldhasopenedbefore
me:HansHenrikHolm,KristoferUppdal,ArneGarborg,OlavAukrust,Tore
Ørjasæter,IvarMortenson-Egnund,AdolfM.S.Arctander(theauthorofbreath-
takingtranslationofbothpartsofGoethe’sFaustintoNewNorwegian),Andre
Bjerke(whowaswritingin“booklanguage”),thelittle-rememberedHallvard
Tveiten,finallyOlavHaugehimself.Theirpoemsarestillmydailyfriends.
Butthegreatest“adventure”wasstillahead.IntheOsloUniversitybookshop
IfoundaslimvolumeofmodernGaelicandIrishpoems,andhalf-forgottenIrish
wordsbegantoawakeinmymemory.Ataboutthesametime,inOsloUB(the
abbreviationmeaningsimplyuniversitetsbiblioteketoruniversitylibrary,though
itringssinistertoaPoleknowingitasshortfor“securitypolice”)-oneofthe
verybestlibrariesIhaveseen-IfoundPeterBerresfordEllis’sbookTheCor-
nishLanguageanditsLiterature.IhadnotbeenignorantoftheCornishrevival
thankstoMeicStephens’smonumentalworkLinguisticMinoritiesofWestern
Europe15whichgivesCornishafullchapter,butsofarIhavenotfeltanyspecial
attractiontoit.Thiswasnowtochange.Ibeganwonderinghowwasitpossible
torevivealanguagethatevenaccordingtoitsownhistorianswassimplygiven
upbyitsownspeakers?Tibetan,Irish,WelshandHawaiianstillhadsomenative
speakers,afterall,butCornishhadnone.Itriedtolookitupinvariousbooks
onthelanguagesofBritain,butallIfoundwassneeringanddisdain.However,
IcametoknowthattheUniversityofOslohadaCelticInstitute,soIjoinedit
music.WhenIonceaskedhimwhetheretherewassomeonebookthathewouldrecommendme
toread,withoutanyhesitationhetooktheEnglishtranslationofAlexanderHerzen’s(1812-1871)
memoirsof1868Byloeidumy(translatedasMyPastandThoughts,Berkeley1982).Hesaidthat
ifonlyforthisonebookhewouldsomuchlovetolearnRussian.
15GomerPress,Llandysul,Wales,firstedition1978.Forthosewhomaynotknowthismonu-
mentalwork,itisadetailedhistoryof50Europeanminorityethnicgroupsandtheirstruggle
topreservetheirlanguages.EasternEuropeisrepresentedonlybytheSorbiansthenwithinthe
GDR,andtheWelshauthorhasnotforgottentheGreenlandersinDenmark.Theonlysimilar
workthatIknow,thoughmuchsmallerinscope,isPeterBerresfordEllisandSeaumasMac
a’Ghobhainn’sTheProblemofLanguageRevival,ClubLeabhar,Inverness1971.Bothneedre-
prints,and(mywishfulthinking)updatedones.