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The Elder or Poetic Edda, Commonly Known as Sæmund's Edda, Vol. 1: The Mythological Poems
Excerpt from The Elder or Poetic Edda, Commonly Known as S�mund's Edda, Vol. 1: The Mythological Poems
Saemund's Edda bears a title under which its first editor would have failed to recognise it. Saemund, a well-known Icelandic scholar of the twelfth century, had no part in its composition, although, according to popular tradition, he was the author of a work on mythology. Nor was the name of Edda given to it before the seven teenth century we find this word attached to a collection of mythical stories made by the great Icelandic historian, Snorri Sturluson (1181 Its earliest meaning was great-grandmother, and it is thus used in Rigsbula; what were the intermediate steps in sense develop ment we little know, but great-grandmother's stories like old wives' tales was deemed by some sceptic a fitting title for Snorri's account of the Old Norse gods and goddesses of Asgarth; and it was deemed equally suitable by Bishop Brynjolf Sveinsson (1643) for the more venerable work which from that time was called Saemund's or the Poetic Eddafi It exists in several mss., none of which were brought to light before the Icelandic Renaissance of the seventeenth century. The finding of the first and most complete ms. Was somewhat dramatic, and resembled the long awaited discovery of the planet Neptune. Magnus Olafsson had suggested the former existence of a more ancient Edda, and we soon find this hypothetical work regarded in the light of a hidden treasure of wisdom and ancient lore, of which all existing fragments were but the bare shadow and the footprint. We know nothing of how it was tracked and at last discovered, but by 1643 the Codex Regius was in the hands of Bishop Brynjolf. This most important ms., known as R, is in the Copenhagen library: it is an octavo volume consisting of five parchment sheets belonging to the thirteenth century, and containing nearly all the poems given below. The others are found in mss. Of the fourteenth century, which were brought to light by the same scholars. The Codex Arnamagnaeanus (a) supplied Baldrs Draumar; the Codex Wormianus includes Rigs pula with Snorri's Edda; Hyndluljop is found in one of the great Saga books, the Flateyjarbok; Grogaldr ok Fjolsvinnismal are only known in paper mss. Of the seventeenth century.
This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.
Saemund's Edda bears a title under which its first editor would have failed to recognise it. Saemund, a well-known Icelandic scholar of the twelfth century, had no part in its composition, although, according to popular tradition, he was the author of a work on mythology. Nor was the name of Edda given to it before the seven teenth century we find this word attached to a collection of mythical stories made by the great Icelandic historian, Snorri Sturluson (1181 Its earliest meaning was great-grandmother, and it is thus used in Rigsbula; what were the intermediate steps in sense develop ment we little know, but great-grandmother's stories like old wives' tales was deemed by some sceptic a fitting title for Snorri's account of the Old Norse gods and goddesses of Asgarth; and it was deemed equally suitable by Bishop Brynjolf Sveinsson (1643) for the more venerable work which from that time was called Saemund's or the Poetic Eddafi It exists in several mss., none of which were brought to light before the Icelandic Renaissance of the seventeenth century. The finding of the first and most complete ms. Was somewhat dramatic, and resembled the long awaited discovery of the planet Neptune. Magnus Olafsson had suggested the former existence of a more ancient Edda, and we soon find this hypothetical work regarded in the light of a hidden treasure of wisdom and ancient lore, of which all existing fragments were but the bare shadow and the footprint. We know nothing of how it was tracked and at last discovered, but by 1643 the Codex Regius was in the hands of Bishop Brynjolf. This most important ms., known as R, is in the Copenhagen library: it is an octavo volume consisting of five parchment sheets belonging to the thirteenth century, and containing nearly all the poems given below. The others are found in mss. Of the fourteenth century, which were brought to light by the same scholars. The Codex Arnamagnaeanus (a) supplied Baldrs Draumar; the Codex Wormianus includes Rigs pula with Snorri's Edda; Hyndluljop is found in one of the great Saga books, the Flateyjarbok; Grogaldr ok Fjolsvinnismal are only known in paper mss. Of the seventeenth century.
This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.
416 pages, Paperback
First published July 2, 2015
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Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
September 1, 2021
A great, poetical translation of SOME of the Poetic Edda. This serves as a fantastic reader, as the style of English helps one feel the archaic nature of the poems, but not for the serious as the facing Old Norse lacks any use of the "Eth" and only uses the Thorn, for example Oðin is spelt Oþin.
For those curious about a potential part 2 to this series, alas there is none as the original part 1 didn't sell all too well. It was initially going to be divided into Part 1: poems about the gods and Part 2: poems about heroes. So you get the god poems but not the hero poems unfortunately.
For those curious about a potential part 2 to this series, alas there is none as the original part 1 didn't sell all too well. It was initially going to be divided into Part 1: poems about the gods and Part 2: poems about heroes. So you get the god poems but not the hero poems unfortunately.
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July 28, 2017 I sink now and cease.
I was about 2 and a half hours through this 6 and a half hour audiobook when I realized (repeat after me in your best Obi-Wan Kenobi voice) "This is not the Poetic Edda you are looking for..."
It's not that it's bad, it just mostly a commentary of a *potentially* older Edda than the one compiled by Snorri Sturlson back in the day.
I really despised the layout of this book. All the commentary, which would be interesting in itself, is lumped at the BEGINNING of the book. BEFORE we've actually heard any of what the stories are all about. It's dumb to hear about the historical/cultural/sociological/mythological speculation about these figures with very little context as to what Mr Bray is actually referring to.
The dude who put this book together said that he's doing this because he didn't want to disrupt the flow of the book, WHELL GUESS FRIGGIN WHAT OLIVE?
NOONE OF THE NARRATIVES OF THESE STORIES ARE CONNECTED ANYWAY SO IT DOESN"T FRIGGIN MATTER!!!
As I said, by the time I figured out just how much of this book is commentary I was in too deep and I thought "No! I can't have wasted 2.5 hours of my life!" Now, unfortunately I've wasted 6.5 hours of my life.
Thanks Olive :P
I recommend this book for people who are already familiar with the Eddas and Norse Mythology. It apparently does have some content that is not familiar many other places.
Notes:
A question to anyone who's familiar with The Edda Prose:
I started trying to read it first, but it basically starts "IN the beginning God created heaven and earth" and goes on making it sound like Odin and Thor are just historical figures: like, people who lived in history but not deities.
Does anyone know why it starts like that? It was really confusing, which was why I tried reading this one instead.
I was about 2 and a half hours through this 6 and a half hour audiobook when I realized (repeat after me in your best Obi-Wan Kenobi voice) "This is not the Poetic Edda you are looking for..."
It's not that it's bad, it just mostly a commentary of a *potentially* older Edda than the one compiled by Snorri Sturlson back in the day.
I really despised the layout of this book. All the commentary, which would be interesting in itself, is lumped at the BEGINNING of the book. BEFORE we've actually heard any of what the stories are all about. It's dumb to hear about the historical/cultural/sociological/mythological speculation about these figures with very little context as to what Mr Bray is actually referring to.
The dude who put this book together said that he's doing this because he didn't want to disrupt the flow of the book, WHELL GUESS FRIGGIN WHAT OLIVE?
NOONE OF THE NARRATIVES OF THESE STORIES ARE CONNECTED ANYWAY SO IT DOESN"T FRIGGIN MATTER!!!
As I said, by the time I figured out just how much of this book is commentary I was in too deep and I thought "No! I can't have wasted 2.5 hours of my life!" Now, unfortunately I've wasted 6.5 hours of my life.
Thanks Olive :P
I recommend this book for people who are already familiar with the Eddas and Norse Mythology. It apparently does have some content that is not familiar many other places.
Notes:
A question to anyone who's familiar with The Edda Prose:
I started trying to read it first, but it basically starts "IN the beginning God created heaven and earth" and goes on making it sound like Odin and Thor are just historical figures: like, people who lived in history but not deities.
Does anyone know why it starts like that? It was really confusing, which was why I tried reading this one instead.
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews