J. L. Borges’s interest in and understanding of the Old English dialogues featuring King Solomon and the pagan Saturn have hitherto received little academic attention. A recent article by Miguel Gomes explores Borges’s engagement with these texts and in doing so contributes to recent scholarship concerning the author’s lifetime fascination with the medieval literatures of northern Europe. Miguel pays particular attention to Borges’s annotated translation of one of the Solomonic dialogues published in the journal of the National Library of Argentina in 1961, La Biblioteca, under the title “Un diálogo anglosajón del siglo XI”. Borges’s reasons for selecting the text as well as the Old English sources used in this translation are explored alongside his passion towards the subject of the translated passage.
Gomes, M. (2020) Borges, Solomon and Saturn: “Un diálogo anglosajón del siglo XI” (1961) SELIM. Journal of the Spanish Society for Medieval English Language and Literature 25(1).