The Saga of the Volsungs

Absolutely fascinating!

I recommend this book. First, this is an interesting adventure/ set of adventures of ppl of long ago. Fun to read. The first half is mythical and has magical and religious elements (of pre-christian viking religion) with queer beasts, magical talismans and visiting gods. The second half is semi-historical with ppl who really lived in real places, and others who are speculated to be real ppl but their names while similar are different and so they may be fictional. However there is still some magic, and the ppl are often coexisting with other ppl from different eras, and so not really historical.) Second, these tales show us (to some extent) how the ppl of old lived and thought and gives us a piece of our pre-Christian heritage. pretty much any citizen of UK and most of US are going to be related to the vikings). Maybe you don't need that history, but our culture is so awash in Roman and Greek culture, philosophy and myth (even tho we don't grow up on those writings as much as the generations up to 50 yrs ago did, so much language, expressions etc stem from there), not to mention the weight of Christian culture and thinking (nothing wrong with it, but again, it's not stories of N Euro ppl), that we have really forgotten a part of our heritage. It's really a big blank space. Third, these old norse stories in addition to being an exciting adventure, have their share of wisdom about life in them as much as any of the old stories of the Gr/Roman/ Christian ones do. I haven't read any other translation, and can't read the original, so I can't comment on the translation, but it reads well and clearly with easy to find notes that clarify or enlarge on the story/text. There are good essays/ appendices explaining history, culture, other works, as well as the family trees of the characters. Altogether a good book.

If you are interested in one of J.R. Tolkien influences for his Lord of the Rings, such as a broken sword that is reforged, rings of power, and a cursed dragon’s hoard, then you should read The Saga of the Volsungs. I’m having my homeschooled kids read it this month. One of them is writing her paper on the different forms of knowledge found in the saga, such as magical foresight (pg.39), seiðr (42), shapeshifting (44), consuming a dragon’s heart to understand birds (66), dreams (76-77), and rune knowledge (67-71). My other kiddo is doing a paper on power objects such as rings, swords, potions, and cursed treasure, and how they impact the story. I really am surprised a movie has not already been made on the Volsungs, as it has all the necessary things for a good blockbuster: magic, betrayal, treasure, unrequited love, shapeshifting, and revenge. ************ Check out my Books Rune Yoga: Staða & Galdr Rune Correspondences Hávamál: Embodying Óðinn’s Wisdom Coming Home to Heathenry

The Saga of the Volsungs was written in the thirteenth century by an unknown Norse author. The story itself, however, is much older and parts are found throughout many Norse stories prior to this version. The story tells of Sigurd the dragonslayer, a man unlike any in the world, and unsurpassed in any way. His familial heritage is recounted, as is his marriage with Gudrun and their children, and after his death, the fates of Gudrun, her brothers, children, and many others including Attila the Hun and Ermanaric, King of the Goths. The value of this saga on literature is enormous. It influenced the German Nibelungenlied, Wagner's Der Ring des Nibelungen, and Tolkien's Lord of the Rings and his recently published The Legend of Sigurd and Gudrun, among others. Many aspects of the saga are reminiscent in literature - a ring of power; a broken sword that is reforged to perform a specific task; a group of kings and warriors attempting to pull a sword out of a tree with only one person succeeding; a horse descended from Odin's Sleipnir making it one of the best horses in the world; a dragon guarding a vast amount of gold and wealth. As entertainment, The Saga of the Volsungs is up there, with a wonderful story. Of course, the writing is a bit different than most people are accustomed to, being several centuries old and written much differently than today. While some versions may prove a tad difficult and uninteresting to the casual reader, Jesse Byock does an excellent job making it accessible to the common reader while still staying relatively true to the original. Aside from the entertainment value of the saga, it offers insight into the world of the Norse and Norse literature such as kennings, which replaced a noun with a circumlocution - "battle-sweat" instead of "blood", "sleep of the sword" instead of "death", "bane of wood" replacing "fire", etc. This specific translation of the saga maintains many of the kennings which liven up the saga and aid in its unique style. And, of course, it offers glimpses of Norse mythology as Odin plays many roles in the story, as do the norns and valkyries, as well as magic runes and Norse sorcery and, humorously, a senna - that is, a contest of insults including this zinger: Sinfjotli replied: You probably do not remember clearly now when you were the witch on Varinsey and said that you wanted to marry a man and you chose me for the role of husband...I sired nine wolves on you at Laganess, and I was the father of them all. (As can be surmised, he is speaking to another man) The Saga of the Volsungs is an entertaining read, and at roughly 110 pages is not very time consuming and offers a quick glimpse into what some of the Norse valued and how they perceived kingship, courtship, and war.

So far so good, I'm still only through the intro, but this is a very good version. Has the same bookish feel as the Penguin Classics Sagas of the Icelanders.

Interesting book...very strange stories. Though they are referred to in the Edda ...so I’m glad I read this first...so it was easy to understand what the Prose Edda was referring to.

Mon achat était destiné pour un cadeau qui a été très apprécié malheureusement je ne peux vous en dire plus

Buen libro para conocer algo de la literatura nórdica. El libro llegó a tiempo y bien.

Nice translation and introduction. It arrived on time and in perfect condition