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The Elder Edda: A Selection
English, Icelandic (translation)
175 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1970
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Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews
August 21, 2025
Paul B. Taylor and W. H. Auden translation. Particularly liked "The Words of The High One" - words of wisdom from Odin, a sort of Viking Ecclesiastes- and The Song of the Sybil, and The Words of the Wise (more Odin), and Brunhild's Hel-ride.
I read the Notes, Glossary, and Name list first.
Looking for an e- edition now - this was a hardcover from my library.
I read the Notes, Glossary, and Name list first.
Looking for an e- edition now - this was a hardcover from my library.
January 19, 2017
A must for anyone who wishes to understand the myths of the Icelanders or where many of Tolkien's ideas, names and places came from.
January 21, 2015
Fantastic translation.
February 24, 2023
“The Elder Edda: a Selection,” translated by Paul B. Taylor & W.H.Auden is an excellent translation of The Elder Edda. This is a compilation of pre Christian Nordic myth and legend. Pre Christian Germanic myth and legend was probably as extensive as pre Christian Greek and Roman myth and legend.
Nevertheless, centuries separated the beginning of the Greek alphabet around 800 BC, and the conversion of the Roman Empire to Christianity in 380 AD. During that time the ancient Greeks and Romans composed one of the greatest literatures in the intellectual tradition of the world.
The convention of ancient Greek and Roman literature was that serious literature should concern the period of time from the beginning of the world to the immediate aftermath of the Trojan War. Within those parameters authors could convey important messages. Euripides play “The Trojan Women” is the first great work of anti war literature. It is about what happened to the women and children of Troy after Troy fell to the Greeks. It portrays Odysseus, the hero of Homer’s “Odyssey,” in a very unfavorable light.
Virgil's epic, The Aeneid concerns the fate of a group to Trojan refugees who fled the ruins of Troy, and eventually founded Rome. It conveys the importance of discipline and duty.
Comparable masterpieces of the Germanic people’s did not survive. The Germans learned to read and write at about the same time that they adopted Christianity. Soon later they were attacked by the Vikings from Scandinavia. The Vikings continued to worship the pagan Nordic gods. When the Germans could have been writing about their former religion they thought an interest in it was both blasphemous and treasonous.
The poems in The Elder Edda were composed and conveyed orally when the Germanic people still believed in the old deities. They were written and collected in Iceland around 1200 AD. This was two centuries after the people of Iceland voted to accept Christianity. They remembered the old stories, but they did not feel threatened by them.
This translation by Paul B. Taylor and W.H.Auden is only a selection. I wish they had translated all of the Elder Edda, because I find this translation superior to others I have read. I particularly wish they had translated the poems that inspired The Volsunga Saga, and The Nibelungenlied,
Nevertheless, centuries separated the beginning of the Greek alphabet around 800 BC, and the conversion of the Roman Empire to Christianity in 380 AD. During that time the ancient Greeks and Romans composed one of the greatest literatures in the intellectual tradition of the world.
The convention of ancient Greek and Roman literature was that serious literature should concern the period of time from the beginning of the world to the immediate aftermath of the Trojan War. Within those parameters authors could convey important messages. Euripides play “The Trojan Women” is the first great work of anti war literature. It is about what happened to the women and children of Troy after Troy fell to the Greeks. It portrays Odysseus, the hero of Homer’s “Odyssey,” in a very unfavorable light.
Virgil's epic, The Aeneid concerns the fate of a group to Trojan refugees who fled the ruins of Troy, and eventually founded Rome. It conveys the importance of discipline and duty.
Comparable masterpieces of the Germanic people’s did not survive. The Germans learned to read and write at about the same time that they adopted Christianity. Soon later they were attacked by the Vikings from Scandinavia. The Vikings continued to worship the pagan Nordic gods. When the Germans could have been writing about their former religion they thought an interest in it was both blasphemous and treasonous.
The poems in The Elder Edda were composed and conveyed orally when the Germanic people still believed in the old deities. They were written and collected in Iceland around 1200 AD. This was two centuries after the people of Iceland voted to accept Christianity. They remembered the old stories, but they did not feel threatened by them.
This translation by Paul B. Taylor and W.H.Auden is only a selection. I wish they had translated all of the Elder Edda, because I find this translation superior to others I have read. I particularly wish they had translated the poems that inspired The Volsunga Saga, and The Nibelungenlied,
November 24, 2020
Three seems harsh, it's more like 7/10. This translation has a great metrical flow, and feels like it strikes a good lexical balance between ancient and modern. However, the translators changed far too much of the text, omitting lines, whole stanzas, and outright disregarding many kennings. I noticed this a few times throughout, and cross-referenced with my copy of Hollander's translation. There's just so much more magic in Hollander over this one, and it's a shame. Hollander's greatest weakness is erring too much on the side of anachronistic English, and the current translation improves in that respect.
A quick example (not one I noticed as I was reading through, but I forgot to make notes):
Völundarkviða: line 16
Taylor & Auden:
"He sent warriors forth: white their shield-bosses
In the waning moon, and their mail glittered"
Hollander:
"at night fared the men, / were their mail coats studded,
their shields did shine / by the moon-sickle's sheen"
It's clear to see above that Hollander presents more evocative nouns in the Norse poetic style, as well as preserving the original's alliteration. The final half of line 16 in particular is enchanting in the Hollander version. This isn't to say the Taylor & Auden version isn't good though - it just suffers by comparison. The truly bad thing about this translation (and how it was published) is that it is never marked when a deletion is made, stanza numbers are given according to which stanzas they've included. As well, what kennings they retain either go unexplained, or are relegated to a scanty notes section that isn't referred to in the text.
Overall, I don't think this version is suitable for a first reading of these poems, and it certainly isn't for anybody with an academic interest. I do, however, love reading these stories on a personal level, so I appreciate any translation into English greatly; I had a lot of fun reading this.
A quick example (not one I noticed as I was reading through, but I forgot to make notes):
Völundarkviða: line 16
Taylor & Auden:
"He sent warriors forth: white their shield-bosses
In the waning moon, and their mail glittered"
Hollander:
"at night fared the men, / were their mail coats studded,
their shields did shine / by the moon-sickle's sheen"
It's clear to see above that Hollander presents more evocative nouns in the Norse poetic style, as well as preserving the original's alliteration. The final half of line 16 in particular is enchanting in the Hollander version. This isn't to say the Taylor & Auden version isn't good though - it just suffers by comparison. The truly bad thing about this translation (and how it was published) is that it is never marked when a deletion is made, stanza numbers are given according to which stanzas they've included. As well, what kennings they retain either go unexplained, or are relegated to a scanty notes section that isn't referred to in the text.
Overall, I don't think this version is suitable for a first reading of these poems, and it certainly isn't for anybody with an academic interest. I do, however, love reading these stories on a personal level, so I appreciate any translation into English greatly; I had a lot of fun reading this.
August 25, 2017
Would've been nice to have the full Edda, but this was enjoyable as light reading.
March 26, 2011
What's really cool here is looking at how Auden and Taylor's translations differ from Page's in Chronicles of the Vikings. Page claims to be sticking fairly rigidly to the original, whereas Auden and Taylor acknowledge that they've changed things a bit (in some cases, really quite a lot) to keep with what they see as the sense of the originals. Course, without being able to read the Edda in the original, I can't say how accurate they've been or how their 'sense' differs from mine, but the poems themselves are rather lovely, again with the archaic-but-comprehensible feel. Though I do understand where Page is coming from when he remarks on the 'poetic license' employed. I was annoyed to see they'd cut some of the repeated lines from the conversations - I think the pattern of repetition there really adds to the rhythm and spell-like quality of the poem, and it's frankly not the same without it. But that's a minor quibble.
Also, I have *finally* read the original version of Odin's sacrifice! I'e been seeing references to it in tons of modern books that use the Norse myths (Gaiman's American Gods, for one), but now I have the full picture (ish. The poems do like their indirect allusions), which is brilliant.
Also, I have *finally* read the original version of Odin's sacrifice! I'e been seeing references to it in tons of modern books that use the Norse myths (Gaiman's American Gods, for one), but now I have the full picture (ish. The poems do like their indirect allusions), which is brilliant.
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May 12, 2014Edition: translation by W.H. Auden & Paul W. Taylor
July 20, 2020
A book I first read when I was 9 or 10 but go back to constantly.
Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews