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andisthoughttobebasedprincipallyonMartinLuther’scontemporaryHigh
Germantranslation.BothSwedishtranslationsarecollectiveundertakings,and
wedonotknowforcertainwhichindividualtranslatorswereresponsiblefor
particularsectionsofthetwotexts.However,thereisconvincingevidencethat
theleadersoftheSwedishReformation–thechancellorLaurentiusAndrae,the
royalsecretaryOlausPetriandarchbishopLaurentiusPetri–wereinvolvedat
differentstagesofthework.Aprintedcopyofthistextwasdistributedtoeach
parishthroughoutthecountry.Itwasexpectedtobeunderstoodadequately
everywhere,irrespectiveofdialectandindividuallocalcontext.Tofulfilthis
purpose,acertainuniformityinlinguisticexpressionwasseenasaprerequisite.
ThissixteenthcenturyversionwastobecometheofficialBibleoftheSwedish
Statechurchuntil1917,whenitwasreplacedbyanewofficialtranslation.The
VasaBibleholdsauniquepositioninSweden’sliteraryandlinguisticculture.
Foralmostfourcenturiesthistextwasrecitedaloudfromthepulpit,readbythe
literate,quotedandreferredtoinliteratureandineverydaylife.Itnaturallyalso
playedamajorroleinstandardizingthewrittenlanguage.Asfarasthegeneral
historyofSwedishisconcerned,thistranslationisbyfarthemostimportanttext
everwritteninSwedish.
ThehistoricalandlinguisticimportanceoftheSwedishtranslationoftheBible,
likethatofcontemporarytranslationsinotherLutherancountries,hastobeseen
ultimatelyfromthepointofviewoflinguisticideologyratherthanecclesiastical
authority.ForMartinLuther,theBiblehadtobetranslatedinsuchawayasto
allowcommon,unlearnedpeopletounderstandthewordofGod.InSweden,
asinothercountriesinfluencedbytheReformation,thisLutherantranslation
doctrinehadanextensiveandlastingeffectonattitudestonationallanguage,as
wellasthenationallanguageitself.ThetranslationachievementsofSwedish
reformersprobablymarkadefinitedeparturefromtheVadstenaviewofthe
vernacularasavulgarlanguageforeverydayuse,onlyimperfectlymirroringthe
magnificenceofLatin.Translatorsofthisperioddeliberatelyendeavouredtouse
anadequatenationallanguageeffectively,andinsteadofcopyingthelinguistic
formoftheoriginal,translationnowmeantwritingafresh.
Thischangeinattitudewassupportedbyotherhistoricaldevelopments.The
modernSwedishstatewasestablishedbyKingGustavVasa,whoimplemented
rigidmeasuresofcentralization.Printing,whichwasintroducedduringthe
Reformation,alsoplayedaroleinfixingtheformofwrittenlanguage.However,
inspiteofthefactthatprintingmadethetextsproducedbyReformationwriters
andtranslatorsavailableonalargescale,andnothwithstandingtheveryreal
achievementsofBibletranslators,theliterarycultureofSwedenduringthe
Reformationperiodwasweak.
SwedenemergedfromtheThirtyYears’WarasamajorEuropeanpowerin
theseventeenthcentury.KingGustavAdolfandQueenChristinahadambitions
ofculturalprestige.Theirperiodofrulewascharacterizedbyafairlyopen
handedculturalpolicy,Lutheranorthodoxyandanelementofpatriotic/historic
fantasizing.DuringtheconcludingCarolineepoch,therewasalsoapronounced
interestinorthography,grammar,andthepreservationandregulationofthe
nationallanguage.Allthesefactorssupportedtheproductionofprintedtextin
Swedenandinfluencedthedevelopmentoftranslatingactivitiesinthe
seventeenthcentury.
Vernacularwritingduringthisperiodwasmainlyoriginal(Hansson1982).In
sharpcontrasttoconditionsinmedievalaswellasmodernperiods,onlyone
bookoutoffivewritteninSwedishwasatranslation.Latinremainedamajor
languageintermsofthetotalproductionofprintedtext,almostaswell
representedasSwedishitself.Asasourcelanguagefortranslation,though,
Latinwasnowreducedtosecondposition.Ofthetotal335printedbook
translationsintoSwedishwhichappearedduringtheseventeenthcentury,the
majority(203titlesor61percent)aretranslationsofGermanworksof
religiousedificationintendedforthegeneralpublic.Aquarter(82titlesor24
percent)arebasedonLatinoriginals.Othersourcelanguagesaccountfor15
percentoftitlestranslated:Gothic(i.e.OldIcelandic,10titles),French(14
titles),English(11),Danish,Spanish,DutchandPolish(oneeach).
DevotionalliteratureandcollectionsofsermonstranslatedfromGermanwere
systematicallyusedbytheStatechurchinantipapistpopulareducation,which
wascharacterizedbysevereLutheranorthodoxy.Thetranslatorsof