The Icelandic Dracula Story That You've Never Heard Of ┃ Powers of Darkness┃ Makt Myrkranna

[@JessieCori]

Very interesting that so much of the book was changed. The translator was very creative.

[@LoppyLoves]

Yes very creative! I think it's a nice twist on the original story

[@JessieCori]

Lauren, your make-up is great and your dress looks absolutely stunning! Looks like dark blue velvet. Divine! - The edition you bought is gorgeous. A real collectors piece.

[@LoppyLoves]

Thank you so much ❤️ The dress is a purple velvet but the lighting makes it look blue, haha this is similar to how I used to do my makeup as a teenager!

[@filthycasual8187]

There's evidence to suggest that it's not even an adaptation, but an earlier draft of the story. Stoker's notes for "Dracula" include references to characters that only end up appearing in "Powers of Darkness" as well as other details that only show up there.

[@LoppyLoves]

That's interesting! In that case I'm very glad that this story didn't make the final cut

[@cayreet5992]

There's also a Swedish version of this version of Dracula and it's much longer (both than the Icelandic version and the 'regular' one). It's suggested that the Icelandic version might be translated from the Swedish one and was not running as long (in a magazine) as the Swedish version.

[@LoppyLoves]

It'd be interesting to read that one too

[@samspencer582]

I have this Swedish version and it is longer than the Icelandic version. Haven´t read it yet.

[@thecrazyswede2495]

The swedish version is definitely worthwhile to read and compare to Stoker's own version. It is published in swedish by Aleph Bokförlag, and in english by Alephs imprint Timaios Press. cheers! / CS

[@thecrazyswede2495]

I'll repost (as OP post) what I said in another YT channel about this. Back in a moment. Slither, slither...

[@Lazarus1095]

I appreciate your candor regarding the use of AI-generated images. Also, this video is quite good. I honestly have never heard of this stealth-fanfic "translation" before.

[@LoppyLoves]

I'm glad you enjoyed it, thanks for watching 😊

[@KevDaly]

It does sound like the 'translator' ran out of steam with his re-write and dashed off the ending in a hurry.

[@LoppyLoves]

Yes I think so too, apparently people had lost interest in the weekly column so he needed to wrap it up quickly

[@spiderlime]

in the original novel, van helsing tells his friends that dracula signed a pact with the devil , and he hints at the possibility that unless dracula is stopped, he has plans to take over humanity. there is also a considerable amount of scholarship on characters and scenes that stoker omitted from the novel, such as another friend of mina and lucy, called kate reed. a police inspector called cotford, and a scene in which the castle is destroyed. possibly the icelandic translator knew of these alterations and created his version.

[@LoppyLoves]

@spiderlime very interesting, thanks for watching!

[@thelestrangelair]

My husband and I are dressing as Vlad Dracul and Mina for our Victorian Halloween party and I am so excited. My brother-in-law has us wanting to take a cruise to Iceland. 2 random facts that drew me to this channel and video. lol. Which is very well done, haha vintage fan fic, love it. ThoughI love Dracula the book, I did love Renfield and Mina from the 1931 film, and I really loved the past life connection between Vlad and Mina in the Bram Stoker Dracula film. Bella L

[@LoppyLoves]

I love that both of those things brought you here 😊 Your Halloween costumes sound great! Glad you enjoyed the video and thanks for watching

[@LorettaBurrow]

Could they have been hinting at child abuse? Lucy's father is promiscuous and little Lucy is often found out of her bedroom. Dad says, "Oh, she was sleep walking".

[@LoppyLoves]

@@LorettaBurrow oh that's a very interesting point of view, I never would've thought of that but it makes sense!

[@jerrylev59]

Sick, but it makes sense.

[@Revolutionismandatory]

this is so cool and it really and helped with the research that I'm doing

[@LoppyLoves]

Thanks for watching and glad it helped! Are you doing research about Dracula?

[@hoibsh21]

I finally read Dracula two years ago after having seen many cinematic and TV interpretations. I have one question and maybe you or someone can answer it for me. In the novel Lucy goes through many blood transfusions due to Dracula's attacks. There is no mention of finding her blood type match, A/B positive, O negative, etc. I was wondering if that blood science existed at the time and was not mentioned in the novel for convenience, or it didn't exist until years later.

[@LoppyLoves]

@hoibsh21 I also wondered about this when I first read it. It's because blood types weren't discovered until 1901, Dracula was published in 1897 just a few years before

[@hoibsh21]

@@LoppyLoves Wow, it's a miracle the human race survived all those centuries up till 1901. Thanx and hope the weather's not too cold yet up there!

[@cayreet5992]

At that time, blood transfusion was a new technique and, no, they didn't know about blood types. It was an 'either it works or it kills them' treatment. As a matter of fact, blood types were first mapped out a few years after the book was first published.

[@madlynx1818]

Great video thanks for the in-depth explanation it’s been on my list and I will definitely buy it now. What is the name of the publisher for that stunning hardcover or Dracula you have and is another of the stories in it called ‘Dracula’s Guest”? Thank you

[@LoppyLoves]

@madlynx1818 glad you enjoyed it and thanks for watching 😊 The publisher is Barnes and Noble and the ISBN is 9781435142817 Yes it has Dracula's guest in this book

[@klyanadkmorr]

Thx TIL just coz Bram Stoker dracula info. Hope you are being safe as Iceland's volcanoes are always acting up.

[@LoppyLoves]

@klyanadkmorr thanks for watching! And yes there's no danger where I am

[@StephenPhillips-te8yv]

I read this last year and it's pretty good at first, but then it just turns into a summary. In that respect, it reminded me of the Turkish Dracula adaptation. But to be fair, the best parts of Stoker's book are definitely the opening act in Transylvania.

[@LoppyLoves]

Oh I really enjoy the rest of the story after the Transylvania part!

[@JessieCori]

Oh, I only now just realised that you changed your channel name. How come? It is suitable of course.😊

[@LoppyLoves]

It's just so it's easier to find my channel if people are searching for content about Iceland 🙂

[@JessieCori]

​@@LoppyLovesah, that makes sense. Clever😊

[@PaulHillery]

You are doing a very good job of telling the story! But perhaps the sleepwalking was part of her wanting the check up on daddy, in case he's do out again, or coming for her!

[@LoppyLoves]

@@PaulHillery Thank you 🙂 Oh yes, that's a great theory!

[@adrianburchell1467]

You may be interested in The Undead by Joel H Emerson who edited the original Dracula with four original characters that were omitted from the finished version, Kate Reed, Detective Cotford, artist Francis Aytown and reporter and occult investigator Alfred Singleton, which I found very interesting.

[@LoppyLoves]

Thanks for the recommendation, I'll look into this 🙂

[@IcarusDrowning-gz8se]

It was thought at one time in most of Europe that mental illnesses could sometimes be traced to the conception, if syphilis (or a similar STD) was transmitted at the same time. It's an interesting possibility as vampire stories are often interpreted as being about sexually transmitted diseases: there's the penetration, though usually of the neck, a transfer of bodily fluids, the infection being carried in the blood, a craving for more blood (which is supposed to represent a hightened sexual appetite and a descent into depravity), further spreading the disease and causing more victims to fall into the same state of depravity. Whether or not you or I see the stories in the same light doesn't matter. I'm just pointing out that some others do and it might be a nice tie-in to the idea of the main vampire, Dracula's niece, being the daughter of a promiscuous father. I guess it will remain as conjecture, though. I really enjoyed the video. Thanks a lot.

[@LoppyLoves]

This is a really interesting theory, thanks for sharing it!

[@thecrazyswede2495]

As promised (reposted from an other channel): If you have read Dracula by Bram Stoker, I would suggest that you check out the newly discovered swedish version, published as a serial in Sweden in 1899-1900. It's an interesting read, and differs a lot from the traditional Stoker's version. In 2017 a version of Dracula, Makt myrkranna / Powers of Darkness : Lost Version of Dracula was discovered in Iceland (published 1900-1901). It was much shorter than Stoker's. Swedish publisher Rickard Berghorn recognized the title, and decided to do some serious research about it. He met with success. It turned out that in 1899-1900 there was published (in swedish) a serial, Mörkrets makter (Powers of Darkness), which was almost twice as long as the 1897 Stoker's Dracula. This was all in all a novel in its own right, with Count Draculitz scheming to take over the world. The novel differs a lot from the Stoker version. Who is responsible for that version/translation is still much of an open question, as far as I understand. The title was known since earlier, but to react to it, find the text, and show that it was so big, and so different, was a great scoop for Mr Berghorn and his friends. The book is published in swedish through Mr Berghorn's imprint Aleph Bokförlag, and in english through his imprint Timaios Press. [This english translation is also published by Centipede Press, in August 2022.)] cheers / CS

[@LoppyLoves]

Thank you! I'll definitely try to find a copy!

[@BradLad56]

Demeter has been delayed here in England indefinitely from what i understand. Shame because i was looking forward to watching it.

[@LoppyLoves]

Oh that's a shame, it's a really good film! I haven't seen it advertised anywhere here though, just happened to find it while scrolling through the local cinema showings

[@BradLad56]

@@LoppyLoves sometimes you have to go digging for unexpected gems am I right? Lol Also it's supposed to be adapting a chapter of Dracula but it uses the old Hollywood trope of vampires burning up in sunlight while in the novel sunlight only weakens vampires. I mean hell even Blade Trinity got that right, well for Drake at least haha

[@chugg159]

Maybe the manuscript they sent the guy to translate was an accidental early draft of Dracula. It would explain why he might not have liked Dracula.

[@LoppyLoves]

That's a good theory!

[@Sindrijo]

The 'Makt' is probably from Danish influence.

[@LoppyLoves]

That makes sense

[@tophat2115]

Lauren, if you like stories about Icelandic monsters, check out Guardian Into Darkness, the monster is the Yule Witch, Gryla.

[@LoppyLoves]

@tophat2115 thanks for the recommendation! I'll look into this

[@shaitarn1869]

I can't hear the name Wilma without picturing The Flintstones.

[@LoppyLoves]

Same here! 😂

[@djdameswholdames]

and carmella?

[@LoppyLoves]

@@djdameswholdames I have also read it, I thought it was a great story!

[@DK-cy5mt]

Great video and story, how did you find immigrating to Iceland? I'm a nurse, but I don't think my qualification transfers there

[@LoppyLoves]

Thank you 😊 for me it wasn't so difficult because I was still an EU citizen at the time. I've heard it's difficult for nurses to get their qualifications transferred over but it's worth a try! I believe that there is a Facebook group for foreign nurses in Iceland

[@DK-cy5mt]

@@LoppyLoves thanks, I'll look at it. Yeah the UK's nurse training system doesn't often transfer to other European countries unfortunately

[@LoppyLoves]

@@DK-cy5mt that's a shame, my British qualifications in the jewellery industry also don't transfer here unfortunately. I do believe there are a couple of British nurses here, they might've transferred everything before Brexit or maybe took further education here

[@DK-cy5mt]

@@LoppyLoves it's the adult nursing qualification that tends to transfer, mental health and developmental disability nurses often struggle

[@johncoffman1841]

I wonder of you have ever discovered a band that has some very clever lyrics, and have first class songs you could call Gothic, (but they also, have a couple that could be called sci-fi.) This band is The Gathering. And they have a song best viewd on their live 2005 concert video on youTube. It's called Rescue Me. It took me a couple times to realise it is about a women being buried alive. Another is from a studio recording never performed live, as far as I can tell. It is Now Your Travels Are Over.' And there's Forgotten Reprise,. But this band is much more than '90s goth. They - in the hands of their singer/song-writer Anneke van Giersbergen adressed social issue and also personal events in the lives of their generation. Unabashedly. Highly recommended! The youtubed concerts from 2007 & 2005 are classic.

[@LoppyLoves]

I haven't listened to them before but I'll have a listen, thanks for the recommendation!

[@tophat2115]

The ending is a bit abbreviated for me but overall the re-write gets things moving much more quickly.

[@LoppyLoves]

@tophat2115 I wish the ending wasn't so abbreviated

[@gurgleblurgle7345]

Hot take: dracula was the original batman

[@LoppyLoves]

@@gurgleblurgle7345 I approve of this hot take

[@Nefylym]

You would be worth crossing oceans of time for... skol.

[@theplayers7434]

Each time I plan a trip to Iceland some big problem arises. Iceland therefore doesn't exist.

[@LoppyLoves]

@theplayers7434 it's true, Iceland doesn't exist

[@theplayers7434]

@LoppyLoves 😂 sort of The Truman Show

[@tweetman00]

it aint a story, its a real chronicle

[@moonballoonsmith8238]

Sounds like the book is about … plagiarism? Copyright infringement?

[@moonballoonsmith8238]

The more I think about it the “niece” of Dracula sound a lot like the sister in Poe’s Fall of the House of Usher.

[@LoppyLoves]

Good observation!

[@jerrylev59]

Don't know what the legality was, but I'll bet this version was not reviewed and approved by the author or his publisher.

[@thecrazyswede2495]

The way I understand it, the copyright laws of that time were very lax, or even nonexistent. cheers! / CS

[@PaolaKa]

This book was not written by Bram Stoker. It was loosely based on Dracula, but it's a different story and a bad one. The translator basically wrote another book, a poor imitation of the original. I will never be convinced that Bram Stoker approved of it, it is so awful! The writing is atrocious and the plot is even worse. Dracula is supposed to be a refined and powerful vampire, not a dandified dirty old man. He is not scary at all, he is just a disgusting fetishist. Nothing of the fascinating Count is left and where the heck is Jonathan Harker? Who's this Thomas person? If this had been the original book, then Dracula wouldn't be a classic, but just another trashy novel.

[@LoppyLoves]

I'll also never be convinced that Bram Stoker wrote this book, or that it was an earlier draft

[@Knee-JerkReactor]

Sounds like BS of a different nature, right? 😉

[@tananario23]

It’s fiction, sweetie. No need to get upset.

[@Knee-JerkReactor]

@@tananario23 Oh dear. Yet another nitwit who thinks an opinion other than joyous praise is an indication of anger.