Rolf Fjelde won the Pratt Institute Distinguished Teacher Award for 1996.
This began the translating career that culminated in Ibsen: The Complete Major Prose Plays (1978) and Peer Gynt (1980).
In 1991, the King of Norway honored Rolf Fjelde for his translations by awarding him the St. Olav's Medal.
Two years later, The American Academy of Arts and Letters presented Rolf Fjelde with its Award in Literature.
This was the beginning of the Ibsen Society of America of which Rolf Fjelde was elected as founding President.