The Poetic Edda
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- $11.99
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- $11.99
Publisher Description
A lively contemporary translation of these action-packed Medieval Icelandic poems.
Quiet now, you sacred ones,
all creeds, all Heimdall’s born sons;
Valfather, I will try to retell tales
of old men and long-gone Gods.
Valkyries, cannibalism, elves, a giant wolf, the gods, cross-dressing, the undead, tragic love, talking birds, how to behave at dinner parties, and the creation of the cosmos are just some of the elements of these poetic tales. Anonymously committed to vellum in Iceland around 1270, The Poetic Edda contains aspects of much older oral lore that had been circulating throughout Northern Europe for centuries and that has enticed Wagner, Tolkien and Borges, among others. This rousing new translation, by celebrated poet Jeramy Dodds, brings a contemporary liveliness to these myths and legends without chipping the patina of the original.
Praise for the Poetic Edda:
‘This is a wonderful new edition of the Poetic Edda. It captures the language, vitality and rhythms of the original. Jeramy Dodds has given us inspiring translations of the Old Norse and Icelandic poems about the gods and heroes.’
– Jesse Byock, UCLA and Háskóli Íslands
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Dodds has brought forth an exciting new translation of these Medieval Icelandic poems. So important to the stock of Norse mythology, this great inheritance is adapted and treated in three key divisions: the mythological poems, heroic poems, and the inclusion of some representative material not present in the Codex Regius. Among these are found not only entertaining and didactic poems that can be read somewhat in isolation, but also poems that help give body to the pagan pantheon, with the likes of Odin, Thor, and Loki, and the haunting fate that waits them in Ragnar k. It is the charm and scope of these poems that insure that the work still resonates. Like many translation attempts of this kind, fidelity to the text is a priority and poetic conventions must be adapted in the best effort to remarry form and content. Dodds appears to do this successfully. However, more might be asked of the scholarly apparatus, so important to situate both text and translation, for the orientation of the reader whether he be a specialist or casual reader. Nevertheless, the re-rendering of this work is a service in itself and will prove a rewarding read for anyone interested in mythologies.
