A. The literal translation would be: "the harder the iron, the purer the gold."
Karen Blixen was not a classics scholar, so she must have found this Latin quote in a book by a more recent author.
The subject matter suggests that the Latin might come from Saxo
Grammaticus (1150-1220), who wrote Viking lore, in Latin, in his Gesta
Danorum [Deeds of the Danes]. The Vikings were more obsessed with
gold than the Romans, and the art of metal smithing also seemed more
important to the Nordic tribes (than to the Romans, who were artists in
cement, among other things).
Karen Blixen refers to metal smithing in other works. She quotes a poem
in her Letters from Africa for which the editor does not offer a
source:
"Eros struck out, like a smith with his hammer,
so that the sparks flew from my defiance.
He cooled my heart in tears and lamentations,
like red-hot iron in a stream." (Letters from Africa, p. 225)
As to the implied meaning of the quote, consistent with Karen Blixen's
philosophy, it would seem that the more severe life's trial, the more
valuable it is in the creation of art.
Copyright © 2006 by Linda
Donelson. All rights reserved. During the past quarter century, Linda Donelson has been the only author writing about Karen Blixen for an international audience. Her biography, Out of Isak Dinesen (1998), was the Number One Best-Selling Scandinavian / or related title at Amazon.com for five years.
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Supported misspellings: karen blixon, karin, isaac, isak dineson, isak denison, dinison, dinisen, denesen, coolsong, donaldson
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