Albert Lange Fliflet (10 May 1908 – 14 April 2001) was a Norwegian philologist and translator. He is best known for translating ''

Kalevala The ''Kalevala'' ( fi, Kalevala, ) is a 19th-century work of epic poetry compiled by Elias Lönnrot from Karelian and Finnish oral folklore and mythology, telling an epic story about the Creation of the Earth, describing the controversies and r ...

''. He was born in

Inderøy Inderøy is a municipality in Trøndelag county, Norway. It is part of the Innherad region. The administrative centre of the municipality is the village of Straumen. Other villages include Framverran, Gangstadhaugen, Hylla, Kjerknesvågen, Kjer ...

as a son of

dean Dean may refer to: People * Dean (given name) * Dean (surname), a surname of Anglo-Saxon English origin * Dean (South Korean singer), a stage name for singer Kwon Hyuk * Dean Delannoit, a Belgian singer most known by the mononym Dean Titles * ...

Andreas Vilhelm Agersborg Fliflet (1874–1956) and nurse Charlotte Lange (1869–1948). He grew up in

Stjørdal Stjørdal () or is a municipality in Trøndelag county, Norway. It is part of the Stjørdalen region. The administrative centre of the municipality is the town of Stjørdal, also called Stjørdalshalsen. Some of the villages in the municipalit ...

and

Øvre Sandsvær Øvre Sandsvær is a former municipality in Buskerud county, Norway. Its name translates to Upper Sandsvær. History From 1837, Øvre Sandsvær was a part of the Sandsvær presidency. The kommune was created on January 1, 1908, when Sandsvær ...

, and learned

Latin Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through the power of the ...

Hebrew Hebrew (; ; ) is a Northwest Semitic language of the Afroasiatic language family. Historically, it is one of the spoken languages of the Israelites and their longest-surviving descendants, the Jews and Samaritans. It was largely preserved ...

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) **Germania (historical use) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law **Ger ...

and English from his parents. He started learning

Finnish Finnish may refer to: * Something or someone from, or related to Finland * Culture of Finland * Finnish people or Finns, the primary ethnic group in Finland * Finnish language, the national language of the Finnish people * Finnish cuisine See also ...

after the Finnish geology professor Aarne Laitakari visited the district in 1923, catching his interest in the language. The two subsequently wrote letters to each other. Fliflet

finished Finished may refer to: * ''Finished'' (novel), a 1917 novel by H. Rider Haggard * ''Finished'' (film), a 1923 British silent romance film * "Finished" (short story), a science fiction short story by L. Sprague de Camp See also *Finishing (disa ...

his secondary education in 1926 in

Kongsberg Kongsberg () is a historical mining town and municipality in Buskerud, Viken county, Norway. The city is located on the river Numedalslågen at the entrance to the valley of Numedal. Kongsberg has been a centre of silver mining, arms production ...

, and after enrolling at the

Royal Frederick University The University of Oslo ( no, Universitetet i Oslo; la, Universitas Osloensis) is a public research university located in Oslo, Norway. It is the highest ranked and oldest university in Norway. It is consistently ranked among the top universit ...

in the same year, he graduated with the

mag.art. A magister degree (also magistar, female form: magistra; from la, magister, "teacher") is an academic degree used in various systems of higher education. The magister degree arose in medieval universities in Europe and was originally equal to the ...

degree in

Finno-Ugric languages Finno-Ugric ( or ; ''Fenno-Ugric'') or Finno-Ugrian (''Fenno-Ugrian''), is a traditional grouping of all languages in the Uralic language family except the Samoyedic languages. Its formerly commonly accepted status as a subfamily of Uralic is ba ...

in 1938. He worked as a school teacher in

Tromsø Tromsø (, , ; se, Romsa ; fkv, Tromssa; sv, Tromsö) is a List of municipalities of Norway, municipality in Troms og Finnmark county, Norway. The administrative centre of the municipality is the Tromsø (city), city of Tromsø. Tromsø lies ...

from 1939 to 1941, and as a lecturer at the

University of Bergen The University of Bergen ( no, Universitetet i Bergen, ) is a research-intensive state university located in Bergen, Norway. As of 2019, the university has over 4,000 employees and 18,000 students. It was established by an act of parliament in 194 ...

from 1964 to 1978. In between he worked as a freelance translator from Latin, German, Finnish, Hungarian and

Dutch Dutch commonly refers to: * Something of, from, or related to the Netherlands * Dutch people () * Dutch language () Dutch may also refer to: Places * Dutch, West Virginia, a community in the United States * Pennsylvania Dutch Country People E ...

into Norwegian; mostly poetry. His first poetry translation was the anthology ''Finland synger'' from 1947. In 1967 he released ''

'' in

Nynorsk Nynorsk () () is one of the two written standards of the Norwegian language, the other being Bokmål. From 12 May 1885, it became the state-sanctioned version of Ivar Aasen's standard Norwegian language ( no, Landsmål) parallel to the Dano-Nor ...

. Fliflet also contributed to ''

Norsk allkunnebok ''Norsk Allkunnebok'' is a Norwegian encyclopedia published in ten volumes in Nynorsk language Nynorsk () () is one of the two written standards of the Norwegian language, the other being Bokmål. From 12 May 1885, it became the state-sanctio ...

''. He also translated

Imre Madách Imre Madách de Sztregova et Kelecsény (20 January 1823 – 5 October 1864) was a Hungarian aristocrat, writer, poet, lawyer and politician. His major work is ''The Tragedy of Man'' (''Az ember tragédiája'', 1861). It is a dramatic poem appro ...

Gyula Illyés Gyula Illyés born ''Gyula Illés'' (2 November 1902 – 15 April 1983) was a Hungarian poet and novelist. He was one of the so-called ''népi'' ("from the people") writers, named so because they aimed to show – propelled by strong so ...

Joost van den Vondel Joost van den Vondel (; 17 November 1587 – 5 February 1679) was a Dutch poet, writer and playwright. He is considered the most prominent Dutch poet and playwright of the 17th century. His plays are the ones from that period that are still most ...

Franz Grillparzer Franz Seraphicus Grillparzer (15 January 1791 – 21 January 1872) was an Austrian writer who was considered to be the leading Austrian dramatist of the 19th century. His plays were and are frequently performed at the famous Burgtheater in Vien ...

and ''

Kanteletar ''Kanteletar'' is a collection of Finnish folk poetry compiled by Elias Lönnrot. It is considered to be a sister collection to the Finnish national epic ''Kalevala''. The poems of ''Kanteletar'' are based on the trochaic tetrameter, generally ...

''. He was awarded the

Bastian Prize The Bastian Prize ( no, Bastianprisen) is a prize awarded annually by the Norwegian Association of Literary Translators. The prize, established in 1951, is given for translating a published work into Norwegian language. The award is a statue made ...

in 1968 for translating ''Kalevala'', received an

honorary degree An honorary degree is an academic degree for which a university (or other degree-awarding institution) has waived all of the usual requirements. It is also known by the Latin phrases ''honoris causa'' ("for the sake of the honour") or ''ad hono ...

at the

University of Helsinki The University of Helsinki ( fi, Helsingin yliopisto, sv, Helsingfors universitet, abbreviated UH) is a public research university located in Helsinki, Finland since 1829, but founded in the city of Turku (in Swedish ''Åbo'') in 1640 as the ...

in 1990 and received the Pro Cultura Hungarica medal in 1996. From 1946 to 1949 he was married to Lilli Gjerløw (1910–1998), from 1953 to Marianne Tudeer, and they got three children: Kristina Fliflet (translator),

Gabriel Fliflet Gabriel Fliflet (born 18 July 1958 in Åland, Finland) is a Norwegian accordion player and vocalist, known for his multicultural musical expressions and numerous recordings. He is the brother of bass player and sagspiller Andreas Fliflet, and the ...

(artist and traditional musician) and Andreas Fliflet (associate professor and musician). He died in 2001.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Fliflet, Albert Lange 1908 births 2001 deaths People from Inderøy People from Stjørdal People from Kongsberg University of Oslo alumni Academic staff of the University of Bergen Norwegian philologists 20th-century Norwegian poets Norwegian male poets Translators from Dutch Translators from Latin Translators from German Translators from Finnish Translators from Hungarian Nynorsk 20th-century Norwegian translators 20th-century Norwegian male writers 20th-century philologists