My copy of Varulvarnas Natt is one of several in the archive that originated in the library of Richard Matheson, and as with those other copies, it is signed by him.
Of all the variations of I Am Legend, authorized or not, one area that hasn't been widely exploited is replacing the vampires of the book with werewolves. Well, leave it to the Scandinavians!
In 1975, publisher Ryslig Midnattsläsning offered a Swedish translation by Gösta Zetterlund, in which that's exactly what was done (the first Norwegian edition from 1976 followed suit). The title Varulvarnas Natt translates directly to Night of the Werewolves. And just to confirm, there are distinct words for Vampires (vampyrernas) and Werewolves, so it's not just a case of a word being used interchangeably for both.
Here's the illuminating translation I did of the back cover copy:
I am the last man on earth! I'm not crazy! But I don't know how much longer I can endure!Every night they surround my last stronghold, these werewolves from another world. In the darkness they shout out their insults. No matter how many I kill they're still after me. How long will it take before they get hold of me? ...
Years ago, before the technology was at our fingertips (and now that we do, anyone who uses electronic translation will tell you that what gets spit out automatically may not be contextually accurate), I was able to have a friend in Norway provide a translation of the last line of the book for me (as I often check foreign editions to see how the phrase "I am legend" is translated, when specifically used. It blew my mine when he wrote back telling me that the translated line read:
The long night of the werewolves was over...
And for the record, the next Swedish translation of the novel wouldn't surface for another 35 years, which reverts to a more faithful translation.
Be sure to check back next week for another item from the I Am Legend Archive!
Be sure to check back next week for another item from the I Am Legend Archive!
