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The Legend of Sigurd & Gudrún
Many years ago, J.R.R. Tolkien composed his own version, now published for the first time, of the great legend of Northern antiquity, in two closely related poems to which he gave the titles The New Lay of the Völsungs and The New Lay of Gudrún.
In the "Lay of the Völsungs" is told the ancestry of the great hero Sigurd, the slayer of Fáfnir most celebrated of dragons, whose treasure he took for his own; of his awakening of the Valkyrie Brynhild, who slept surrounded by a wall of fire, and of their betrothal; and of his coming to the court of the great princes who were named the Niflungs (or Nibelungs), with whom he entered into blood-brotherhood. In that court there sprang great love but also great hate, brought about by the power of the enchantress of the Niflungs, skilled in the arts of magic, of shape-changing and potions of forgetfulness.
In scenes of dramatic intensity, of confusion of identity, thwarted passion, jealousy, and bitter strife, the tragedy of Sigurd and Brynhild, of Gunnar the Niflung and Gudrún his sister, mounts to its end in the murder of Sigurd at the hands of his blood-brothers, the suicide of Brynhild, and the despair of Gudrún. In the "Lay of Gudrún" her fate after the death of Sigurd is told, her marriage against her will to the mighty Atli, ruler of the Huns (the Attila of history), his murder of her brothers the Niflung lords, and her hideous revenge.
Deriving his version primarily from his close study of the ancient poetry of Norway and Iceland known as the Poetic Edda (and where no old poetry exists, from the later prose work Völsunga Saga), J.R.R. Tolkien employed a verse-form of short stanzas whose lines embody in English the exacting alliterative rhythms and the concentrated energy of the poems of the Edda.
In the "Lay of the Völsungs" is told the ancestry of the great hero Sigurd, the slayer of Fáfnir most celebrated of dragons, whose treasure he took for his own; of his awakening of the Valkyrie Brynhild, who slept surrounded by a wall of fire, and of their betrothal; and of his coming to the court of the great princes who were named the Niflungs (or Nibelungs), with whom he entered into blood-brotherhood. In that court there sprang great love but also great hate, brought about by the power of the enchantress of the Niflungs, skilled in the arts of magic, of shape-changing and potions of forgetfulness.
In scenes of dramatic intensity, of confusion of identity, thwarted passion, jealousy, and bitter strife, the tragedy of Sigurd and Brynhild, of Gunnar the Niflung and Gudrún his sister, mounts to its end in the murder of Sigurd at the hands of his blood-brothers, the suicide of Brynhild, and the despair of Gudrún. In the "Lay of Gudrún" her fate after the death of Sigurd is told, her marriage against her will to the mighty Atli, ruler of the Huns (the Attila of history), his murder of her brothers the Niflung lords, and her hideous revenge.
Deriving his version primarily from his close study of the ancient poetry of Norway and Iceland known as the Poetic Edda (and where no old poetry exists, from the later prose work Völsunga Saga), J.R.R. Tolkien employed a verse-form of short stanzas whose lines embody in English the exacting alliterative rhythms and the concentrated energy of the poems of the Edda.
377 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 2009
512 people are currently reading
21416 people want to read
About the author
J.R.R. Tolkien
776 books76.5k followersJohn Ronald Reuel Tolkien: writer, artist, scholar, linguist. Known to millions around the world as the author of The Lord of the Rings, Tolkien spent most of his life teaching at the University of Oxford where he was a distinguished academic in the fields of Old and Middle English and Old Norse. His creativity, confined to his spare time, found its outlet in fantasy works, stories for children, poetry, illustration and invented languages and alphabets.
Tolkien’s most popular works, The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings are set in Middle-earth, an imagined world with strangely familiar settings inhabited by ancient and extraordinary peoples. Through this secondary world Tolkien writes perceptively of universal human concerns – love and loss, courage and betrayal, humility and pride – giving his books a wide and enduring appeal.
Tolkien was an accomplished amateur artist who painted for pleasure and relaxation. He excelled at landscapes and often drew inspiration from his own stories. He illustrated many scenes from The Silmarillion, The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings, sometimes drawing or painting as he was writing in order to visualize the imagined scene more clearly.
Tolkien was a professor at the Universities of Leeds and Oxford for almost forty years, teaching Old and Middle English, as well as Old Norse and Gothic. His illuminating lectures on works such as the Old English epic poem, Beowulf, illustrate his deep knowledge of ancient languages and at the same time provide new insights into peoples and legends from a remote past.
Tolkien was born in Bloemfontein, South Africa, in 1892 to English parents. He came to England aged three and was brought up in and around Birmingham. He graduated from the University of Oxford in 1915 and saw active service in France during the First World War before being invalided home. After the war he pursued an academic career teaching Old and Middle English. Alongside his professional work, he invented his own languages and began to create what he called a mythology for England; it was this ‘legendarium’ that he would work on throughout his life. But his literary work did not start and end with Middle-earth, he also wrote poetry, children’s stories and fairy tales for adults. He died in 1973 and is buried in Oxford where he spent most of his adult life.
Tolkien’s most popular works, The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings are set in Middle-earth, an imagined world with strangely familiar settings inhabited by ancient and extraordinary peoples. Through this secondary world Tolkien writes perceptively of universal human concerns – love and loss, courage and betrayal, humility and pride – giving his books a wide and enduring appeal.
Tolkien was an accomplished amateur artist who painted for pleasure and relaxation. He excelled at landscapes and often drew inspiration from his own stories. He illustrated many scenes from The Silmarillion, The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings, sometimes drawing or painting as he was writing in order to visualize the imagined scene more clearly.
Tolkien was a professor at the Universities of Leeds and Oxford for almost forty years, teaching Old and Middle English, as well as Old Norse and Gothic. His illuminating lectures on works such as the Old English epic poem, Beowulf, illustrate his deep knowledge of ancient languages and at the same time provide new insights into peoples and legends from a remote past.
Tolkien was born in Bloemfontein, South Africa, in 1892 to English parents. He came to England aged three and was brought up in and around Birmingham. He graduated from the University of Oxford in 1915 and saw active service in France during the First World War before being invalided home. After the war he pursued an academic career teaching Old and Middle English. Alongside his professional work, he invented his own languages and began to create what he called a mythology for England; it was this ‘legendarium’ that he would work on throughout his life. But his literary work did not start and end with Middle-earth, he also wrote poetry, children’s stories and fairy tales for adults. He died in 1973 and is buried in Oxford where he spent most of his adult life.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 489 reviews
January 28, 2019
The Legend of Sigurd and Gudrun showcases two fantastic epic poems infused with tragedy and blood. They are both powerful and full of gut-wrenching sorrow.
These are Tolkien’s versions of the legends written with his own masterful penmanship and attention to detail. He has translated ancient poetry into English, making it feel modern and slick; yet, he captures all the history and lore that come with such historical tales. It’s a real feat of writing. Of all of Tolkien’s poetical works, I think this is the most accomplished because of how polished it is. There are so many poems he started and never finished. This one is the real deal, grand and shining like the scales of Fáfnir.
I loved the way Tolkien described the battle between dragon and man, between hero and beast, as their rivalry dominated a large section of the poem:
The full section was so intense. It’s obvious how it was all going to end, but nevertheless the action was crafted expertly to capture the drama and the sheer epic nature of the situation. The last time I read poetry that glorified battle in such a way was when I read Beowulf last year. There’s just something magnificent about these kinds of conflicts, something grand and celebrated, and Tolkien exploits them perfectly for much dramatic effect.
After reading this, I can really see how much influence Tolkien took from ancient myths and legends when he wrote The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings. He adapted such stories and twisted them to fit his own fantasy world. Dragons and men and ancient battles slotted perfectly into his vast world of middle-earth. He really was widely read, vastly widely read I should say, and all these elements he was working on came together to form something quite grand in his fiction. And it works so beautifully.
So, this is a fantastic bit of writing. The poetry just flows from line to line, stanza to stanza. It’s eloquently written and completely accessible. I really do recommend it to all Tolkien fans. I would not venture to say that you must have much experience with poetry to read and enjoy this. The two poems here are very plot driven and exciting, easy reading for sure.
These are Tolkien’s versions of the legends written with his own masterful penmanship and attention to detail. He has translated ancient poetry into English, making it feel modern and slick; yet, he captures all the history and lore that come with such historical tales. It’s a real feat of writing. Of all of Tolkien’s poetical works, I think this is the most accomplished because of how polished it is. There are so many poems he started and never finished. This one is the real deal, grand and shining like the scales of Fáfnir.
I loved the way Tolkien described the battle between dragon and man, between hero and beast, as their rivalry dominated a large section of the poem:
"Black flowed the blood,
belching drenched him;
in the hollow hiding
hard grew Sigurd.
Swift now sprang he
sword withdrawing
there each saw each other
with eyes of hate."
The full section was so intense. It’s obvious how it was all going to end, but nevertheless the action was crafted expertly to capture the drama and the sheer epic nature of the situation. The last time I read poetry that glorified battle in such a way was when I read Beowulf last year. There’s just something magnificent about these kinds of conflicts, something grand and celebrated, and Tolkien exploits them perfectly for much dramatic effect.
After reading this, I can really see how much influence Tolkien took from ancient myths and legends when he wrote The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings. He adapted such stories and twisted them to fit his own fantasy world. Dragons and men and ancient battles slotted perfectly into his vast world of middle-earth. He really was widely read, vastly widely read I should say, and all these elements he was working on came together to form something quite grand in his fiction. And it works so beautifully.
So, this is a fantastic bit of writing. The poetry just flows from line to line, stanza to stanza. It’s eloquently written and completely accessible. I really do recommend it to all Tolkien fans. I would not venture to say that you must have much experience with poetry to read and enjoy this. The two poems here are very plot driven and exciting, easy reading for sure.
September 22, 2009
When I was seven years old, I went with my mother to her eye appointment. While we were waiting for her to be called, she started reading The Fellowship of the Ring to me. We got two chapters in before the appointment. Afterwards, she couldn’t read because of the eye drops, so I got tired of waiting and started to read it myself. This explains my absolute love for Tolkien, among other things. It also explains my love for Norse mythology at a young age, even though I didn’t know the connection at the time.
For me, The Lord of the Rings is one of those books that I will always be re-reading, maybe not every year, but every year and a half. It is in many ways like Star Wars for me. Star Wars was the first movie I can ever remember going to a theater to see. It was a drive-in and I fell asleep during the Three Stooges pre show, and woke up right after they left Tattotine. It’s strange. It’s the first movie I remember seeing in a theater, but that wasn’t the first time I saw it.
There are major differences. The World of Middle Earth is far better drafted and more real than the world of Star Wars. It is hard to imagine Tolkien making a mistake like having Padme die but Leia remembering her real mother, or having such a weakly thought out group as the Jedi. Really, why can’t they get married when they get married in some of earlier comic books? It is impossible to even think that Tolkien would make such a mistake as in Revenge of the Sith where Obi-Wan says, “Only a Sith believe in absolutes”. As one critic has correctly pointed out, such a statement not only insults any person who believes in religion, but is also an absolute sentence, so Obi-Wan is a Sith as well.
No. Middle Earth is far, far, far better thought out. Everything fits. But there is one overwhelming similarity between the two, and that is marketing. Look at Star Wars, even during the first, the good, trilogy, you had the toys, you had the comics, you had the cartoons (Droids and Ewoks and those god awful Ewok movies, anyone else remember them?). More recently, there have been episodes 1-3, video games, books, a Cartoon Network series of 2 minute shorts, a cartoon movie as well as a cartoon series based on the movie. The drawback to that marketing is that the Clone Wars movie (the cartoon) has completely destroyed my blind watching of anything Star Wars. Honestly what does Skywalker Ranch, Lucas studios or whatever, have against New Orleans transvestites, and why would a Hutt talk like one?
Thankfully, Christopher Tolkien can’t destroy LOTR the same way. It’s true that Middle Earth has had its down points. Does anyone remember the Rankin Bass Return of the King? It's true that Christopher Tolkien has published what seems to be every single scrap of paper his father scribbled on, regardless of whether or not it has anything to do with Middle Earth. We not only have The Hobbit and LOTR, but the Sil, The History of Middle Earth, Letters from Father Christmas, and Roverrandom among others. We even have “lost” or “new” tales that aren’t really new or lost, for instance, The Children of Hurin, which is far easier to read in its new format. It’s enough to wonder, if one is feeling mean, if Christopher Tolkien “finds” something whenever he needs cash. This doesn’t seem to be the case. It does truly seem to be the case that Christopher Tolkien loved his father and his father’s work. That is enough, unlike the case with Star Wars to keep people like me buying the books, even in hardcover.
This work, The Legend of Sigurd & Gudrun is not Middle-Earth. It is part of the inspiration for Middle Earth, or to be more exact, a translation/retelling of work that helped inspire Middle Earth. But it is also a misnamed work. A better title would be J. R. R. Tolkien’s Translation/Re-Telling of the Legend of Sigurd and Gudrun with notes by Christopher Tolkien, for there seems to be far more C. Tolkien than J. R. R. Tolkien in this book. In part, this is understandable for the book is culled from Lecture notes, scribbled notes, and a hand written translation. Sadly, it also highlights the books two major flaws.
The first flaw is connected to the translation/retelling itself. J. R. R. Tolkien’s translation/retelling is not a smooth retelling; it is jumpy in spots. It is not so jumpy that it puts off an informed reader. And that might be a problem. While it is true that some people reading this book (c’est moi, for instance) are more than familiar with the Volsung saga, it is equally likely to be true that some people are picking up the book without this familiarity, buying the book because of the Tolkien name. If you are one of these people, I would highly recommend that you read a gloss of the saga, be it a short prose version or another lyric translation. This will help make some plot points clearer.
The second problem is the editing (or book structure). Large parts of the book are Christopher Tolkien’s notes. This includes discussions of plot differences, translation difference, or what he thinks his father thought about a certain aspect of the saga. There are several problems with this. The first is that Christopher Tolkien’s writing is pedantically dry. If you know about the sagas, none of the information related is new, and you lack the pleasure of reading what the J. R. R. Tolkien himself thought. Instead, you are told what someone else thinks he might have thought. If you are new to the saga, the information might be interesting, if you can stay awake to read it. It is really, really dry. Additionally, the notes are not footnotes or endnotes, but instead form a selection of the book. There is no indication in the actual text of the lay that there is a note about particular word or stanza. This is frustrating, or would be if you needed the information. It means that someone who is coming to the saga first hand is getting knowledge of the notes late. Would’ve adding note numbers been that much of a problem?
Despite these problems, the book is not a waste. Well the story can at times be choppy, it also can be powerful. Take for instance, “In sweet embrace/to sleep she went,/to grief unending/Gudrun wakened”. It is a powerful in its starkness, and allows the reader to share something that Tolkien himself loved. It also is a good retelling of the story. It is constructed as a chant so that any reader can imagine a scop in front of fire singing it. Such a wonderful image is one that I’m happy the book could give me.
For me, The Lord of the Rings is one of those books that I will always be re-reading, maybe not every year, but every year and a half. It is in many ways like Star Wars for me. Star Wars was the first movie I can ever remember going to a theater to see. It was a drive-in and I fell asleep during the Three Stooges pre show, and woke up right after they left Tattotine. It’s strange. It’s the first movie I remember seeing in a theater, but that wasn’t the first time I saw it.
There are major differences. The World of Middle Earth is far better drafted and more real than the world of Star Wars. It is hard to imagine Tolkien making a mistake like having Padme die but Leia remembering her real mother, or having such a weakly thought out group as the Jedi. Really, why can’t they get married when they get married in some of earlier comic books? It is impossible to even think that Tolkien would make such a mistake as in Revenge of the Sith where Obi-Wan says, “Only a Sith believe in absolutes”. As one critic has correctly pointed out, such a statement not only insults any person who believes in religion, but is also an absolute sentence, so Obi-Wan is a Sith as well.
No. Middle Earth is far, far, far better thought out. Everything fits. But there is one overwhelming similarity between the two, and that is marketing. Look at Star Wars, even during the first, the good, trilogy, you had the toys, you had the comics, you had the cartoons (Droids and Ewoks and those god awful Ewok movies, anyone else remember them?). More recently, there have been episodes 1-3, video games, books, a Cartoon Network series of 2 minute shorts, a cartoon movie as well as a cartoon series based on the movie. The drawback to that marketing is that the Clone Wars movie (the cartoon) has completely destroyed my blind watching of anything Star Wars. Honestly what does Skywalker Ranch, Lucas studios or whatever, have against New Orleans transvestites, and why would a Hutt talk like one?
Thankfully, Christopher Tolkien can’t destroy LOTR the same way. It’s true that Middle Earth has had its down points. Does anyone remember the Rankin Bass Return of the King? It's true that Christopher Tolkien has published what seems to be every single scrap of paper his father scribbled on, regardless of whether or not it has anything to do with Middle Earth. We not only have The Hobbit and LOTR, but the Sil, The History of Middle Earth, Letters from Father Christmas, and Roverrandom among others. We even have “lost” or “new” tales that aren’t really new or lost, for instance, The Children of Hurin, which is far easier to read in its new format. It’s enough to wonder, if one is feeling mean, if Christopher Tolkien “finds” something whenever he needs cash. This doesn’t seem to be the case. It does truly seem to be the case that Christopher Tolkien loved his father and his father’s work. That is enough, unlike the case with Star Wars to keep people like me buying the books, even in hardcover.
This work, The Legend of Sigurd & Gudrun is not Middle-Earth. It is part of the inspiration for Middle Earth, or to be more exact, a translation/retelling of work that helped inspire Middle Earth. But it is also a misnamed work. A better title would be J. R. R. Tolkien’s Translation/Re-Telling of the Legend of Sigurd and Gudrun with notes by Christopher Tolkien, for there seems to be far more C. Tolkien than J. R. R. Tolkien in this book. In part, this is understandable for the book is culled from Lecture notes, scribbled notes, and a hand written translation. Sadly, it also highlights the books two major flaws.
The first flaw is connected to the translation/retelling itself. J. R. R. Tolkien’s translation/retelling is not a smooth retelling; it is jumpy in spots. It is not so jumpy that it puts off an informed reader. And that might be a problem. While it is true that some people reading this book (c’est moi, for instance) are more than familiar with the Volsung saga, it is equally likely to be true that some people are picking up the book without this familiarity, buying the book because of the Tolkien name. If you are one of these people, I would highly recommend that you read a gloss of the saga, be it a short prose version or another lyric translation. This will help make some plot points clearer.
The second problem is the editing (or book structure). Large parts of the book are Christopher Tolkien’s notes. This includes discussions of plot differences, translation difference, or what he thinks his father thought about a certain aspect of the saga. There are several problems with this. The first is that Christopher Tolkien’s writing is pedantically dry. If you know about the sagas, none of the information related is new, and you lack the pleasure of reading what the J. R. R. Tolkien himself thought. Instead, you are told what someone else thinks he might have thought. If you are new to the saga, the information might be interesting, if you can stay awake to read it. It is really, really dry. Additionally, the notes are not footnotes or endnotes, but instead form a selection of the book. There is no indication in the actual text of the lay that there is a note about particular word or stanza. This is frustrating, or would be if you needed the information. It means that someone who is coming to the saga first hand is getting knowledge of the notes late. Would’ve adding note numbers been that much of a problem?
Despite these problems, the book is not a waste. Well the story can at times be choppy, it also can be powerful. Take for instance, “In sweet embrace/to sleep she went,/to grief unending/Gudrun wakened”. It is a powerful in its starkness, and allows the reader to share something that Tolkien himself loved. It also is a good retelling of the story. It is constructed as a chant so that any reader can imagine a scop in front of fire singing it. Such a wonderful image is one that I’m happy the book could give me.
January 3, 2019
A story about love, betrayal, death & sorrow. Written in verse in two parts.
The Lay Of Sigurd and The Lay Of Gudrun.
The lays written by J.R.R. Tolkien and after each Lay a commentary from his son Christopher Tolkien. Written similar to a psychology paper, explaining each stanza and referencing where it came from.
Tolkien based most of his work off Norse Mythology and he based most of his life's work off of it. From this he created Middle Earth.
I know some people are not a fan of his work as it can be a bit dry and he heavily detailed his work in old English but Lord Of The Rings & The Hobbit when compared to Norse Mythology and where it all came from is quite interesting.
This story itself reminded me of a darker, grim version of Tristan & Isolde.
The Lay Of Sigurd and The Lay Of Gudrun.
The lays written by J.R.R. Tolkien and after each Lay a commentary from his son Christopher Tolkien. Written similar to a psychology paper, explaining each stanza and referencing where it came from.
Tolkien based most of his work off Norse Mythology and he based most of his life's work off of it. From this he created Middle Earth.
I know some people are not a fan of his work as it can be a bit dry and he heavily detailed his work in old English but Lord Of The Rings & The Hobbit when compared to Norse Mythology and where it all came from is quite interesting.
This story itself reminded me of a darker, grim version of Tristan & Isolde.
June 14, 2021
Not precisely a translation (or not wholly, anyway), but a really enjoyable poetic rendering all the same.
Old Northern Europe created and iterated on these tragic family sagas, which mainly follow political alliances, betrayals, and bloody vengeance, but also feature fantastical elements like dragons, dwarves, and enchantments. The Germanic, Nordic, and Icelandic versions all seem to descend from common ancestry, while similar stories from Irish and "Celtic" sources seem partly unique, partly co-mingled in the forms handed down to the present. The stories are not pleasant: fame and heroics consist of matching insults with violence, violence with deadly vengeance, with no worthy principles or honor to be kept or gained, nor much heed given to bettering the fortunes of one's family or neighbors. It's not hard to understand why these are given over to relative obscurity, while Beowulf enjoys comparative popularity. The fantastical sagas are, in today's genre parlance, "grimdark" whereas Beowulf, though still ending in lament, is instructive, principled, and interested in peace.
Old Northern Europe created and iterated on these tragic family sagas, which mainly follow political alliances, betrayals, and bloody vengeance, but also feature fantastical elements like dragons, dwarves, and enchantments. The Germanic, Nordic, and Icelandic versions all seem to descend from common ancestry, while similar stories from Irish and "Celtic" sources seem partly unique, partly co-mingled in the forms handed down to the present. The stories are not pleasant: fame and heroics consist of matching insults with violence, violence with deadly vengeance, with no worthy principles or honor to be kept or gained, nor much heed given to bettering the fortunes of one's family or neighbors. It's not hard to understand why these are given over to relative obscurity, while Beowulf enjoys comparative popularity. The fantastical sagas are, in today's genre parlance, "grimdark" whereas Beowulf, though still ending in lament, is instructive, principled, and interested in peace.
March 30, 2019
A strong 4 stars.
I was on the mission to collect all of Tolkien's works and try to read as many as possible in March. It wasn't very successful as March was my busiest month but I managed to finish five books. Yay!
My expectations were very neutral before reading. My only experience with epic poetry was Robert Fitzgerald's The Iliad, which I hoped to enjoy but was disappointed with a truckload of names that ran on for several pages. But I knew the legend fairly well already so I didn't beat myself up too much for not finishing it.
These two epic poems, based on ancient Norse legend, however, were extremely intense and remarkable. Tolkien painstakingly captured a saga of heroism, madness, and tragedy in his English translation.
His son's notes and commentary attest to how well-read his father was and how much of his famous work was driven by ancient myths. Astounding effort.
The flow of these two epic poems delighted me. It was easy to read one line after another and there was a rhythm going that I could only imagine was tricky to maintain for such plot-driven poetry. Poetry, for some, can be dull and too obscure to enjoy for a light read, but these were excellent.
It was a fast but well-paced story anybody could read. Of course, for those who want to compare Tolkien's translation to the work of Snorri Sturluson, the Icelandic poet that wrote the Prose Edda, they could read up on the points on where the sources differ.
Christopher Tolkien also elaborated on the stanzas, providing an in-depth analysis of the epic poems that one could read (or even skim) and say, "Wow."
Anyway, if you were having doubts on picking this one up, banish them and read it. It was much easier to read than I expected and the story was incredible. The descriptions of suffering and battle — truly artistic. This work is an undeniable symbol of Tolkien's creative skill. I was skeptical about Beowulf but now I'm definitely buying it in the bookstore.
I was on the mission to collect all of Tolkien's works and try to read as many as possible in March. It wasn't very successful as March was my busiest month but I managed to finish five books. Yay!
My expectations were very neutral before reading. My only experience with epic poetry was Robert Fitzgerald's The Iliad, which I hoped to enjoy but was disappointed with a truckload of names that ran on for several pages. But I knew the legend fairly well already so I didn't beat myself up too much for not finishing it.
These two epic poems, based on ancient Norse legend, however, were extremely intense and remarkable. Tolkien painstakingly captured a saga of heroism, madness, and tragedy in his English translation.
His son's notes and commentary attest to how well-read his father was and how much of his famous work was driven by ancient myths. Astounding effort.
The flow of these two epic poems delighted me. It was easy to read one line after another and there was a rhythm going that I could only imagine was tricky to maintain for such plot-driven poetry. Poetry, for some, can be dull and too obscure to enjoy for a light read, but these were excellent.
It was a fast but well-paced story anybody could read. Of course, for those who want to compare Tolkien's translation to the work of Snorri Sturluson, the Icelandic poet that wrote the Prose Edda, they could read up on the points on where the sources differ.
Christopher Tolkien also elaborated on the stanzas, providing an in-depth analysis of the epic poems that one could read (or even skim) and say, "Wow."
Anyway, if you were having doubts on picking this one up, banish them and read it. It was much easier to read than I expected and the story was incredible. The descriptions of suffering and battle — truly artistic. This work is an undeniable symbol of Tolkien's creative skill. I was skeptical about Beowulf but now I'm definitely buying it in the bookstore.
July 1, 2024
It's obviously a masterpiece, but I understand why some readers are disappointed. It's the medievalist in me loving this book, not the Tolkien fan.
While I have appreciated every single one of the Christopher Tolkien-edited volumed published since his father's death, it's usually for different reasons. Some of them provide new insights into Middle-Earth. Others are explorations and adaptations of medieval literature. This belongs very solidly in the latter group.
While I have appreciated every single one of the Christopher Tolkien-edited volumed published since his father's death, it's usually for different reasons. Some of them provide new insights into Middle-Earth. Others are explorations and adaptations of medieval literature. This belongs very solidly in the latter group.
June 25, 2013
One of the best-known heroes in Norse mythology, Sigurd is better known as Siegfried from German versions of the legends, and his exploits and interactions – from killing a dragon and re-forging a mighty sword, say, to his relationships with his wife Gudrún, with warrior princess Brynhild and with a host of other personages – characterise him as much as they echo the exploits and interactions of other heroes in other times and cultures. Here Tolkien attempts a harmonisation of the various early tales, particularly those in the Poetic Edda, and versifies them in English as 'The New Lay of the Völsungs' (in ten parts) and 'The New Lay of Gudrún', using forms and alliteration modelled on those early originals.
This posthumous publication ought by rights to appeal to a wide range of readers, from hobbit-fanciers to Wagnerites, from poets to psychologists, and from medieval literature specialists to mythologists, but I suspect it will end up satisfying only those whose interests overlap a number of these categories; for any single one of those categories of readers it may well end up a disappointment. Many fantasy fans may well come with false expectations of more Middle Earth action or a tale compatible with the Ring Cycle; or they may vainly hope for more than just a pastiche of medieval poetry, however erudite, or a deeper psychological study of the motivations of the main characters; and knowledgeable scholars may like to be told more than they already know from Christopher Tolkien's otherwise praiseworthy notes and editing. However, for those like me who just have a fascination with that certain mix of medieval legend, fantasy, character motivation and mythic resonance The Legend of Sigurd and Gudrún, complete with introductions and notes, supplies an extra dimension; all that is lacking is a selection of annotated colour plates of the medieval wooden carvings hinted at on the book's cover and inside line illustrations.
Anyway, this reviewer enjoyed it, even if he did have to use two bookmarks to go from text to notes and back again. However, this method rather defeats Tolkien's intention of letting a good story stand on its own feet, and in all fairness I should have read the poems straight though, aloud for preference, to judge its merits. Actually, mostly what it encourages me to do is to go back to the originals or related works such as The Saga of the Volsungs or The Nibelungenlied, albeit in translation. Tolkien worked on The Legend in the 20s and 30s before abandoning it for original creations like The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings; perhaps the majority of readers will principally judge this as preparation for the literary legacy he is best known for.
http://wp.me/s2oNj1-sigurd
This posthumous publication ought by rights to appeal to a wide range of readers, from hobbit-fanciers to Wagnerites, from poets to psychologists, and from medieval literature specialists to mythologists, but I suspect it will end up satisfying only those whose interests overlap a number of these categories; for any single one of those categories of readers it may well end up a disappointment. Many fantasy fans may well come with false expectations of more Middle Earth action or a tale compatible with the Ring Cycle; or they may vainly hope for more than just a pastiche of medieval poetry, however erudite, or a deeper psychological study of the motivations of the main characters; and knowledgeable scholars may like to be told more than they already know from Christopher Tolkien's otherwise praiseworthy notes and editing. However, for those like me who just have a fascination with that certain mix of medieval legend, fantasy, character motivation and mythic resonance The Legend of Sigurd and Gudrún, complete with introductions and notes, supplies an extra dimension; all that is lacking is a selection of annotated colour plates of the medieval wooden carvings hinted at on the book's cover and inside line illustrations.
Anyway, this reviewer enjoyed it, even if he did have to use two bookmarks to go from text to notes and back again. However, this method rather defeats Tolkien's intention of letting a good story stand on its own feet, and in all fairness I should have read the poems straight though, aloud for preference, to judge its merits. Actually, mostly what it encourages me to do is to go back to the originals or related works such as The Saga of the Volsungs or The Nibelungenlied, albeit in translation. Tolkien worked on The Legend in the 20s and 30s before abandoning it for original creations like The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings; perhaps the majority of readers will principally judge this as preparation for the literary legacy he is best known for.
http://wp.me/s2oNj1-sigurd
April 2, 2013
It is with a feeling of disquiet that I write anything bad about John Ronald Rouel Tolkien - After all, in "The Hobbit" and "The Lord of the Rings" he has given me - and millions of others - reading pleasure to last a lifetime. These two alone would be enough to mark him as one of the greats, and when you add in "Smith of wootton Major", "Farmer Giles of Ham" (a genuinely funny work), and "Leaf by Niggle" I can't help putting him in that rare pantheon of the real, true greats.
However, "The Legend of Sigurd and Gudrun" is, one has to say, one of his less approachable works. It should not be forgotten that Tolkien was an Oxford don more than he was a professional writer, and this translation of a long, turgid Norse saga is a scholarly work, that (if it didn't have JRRT's name on the cover) would probably only be read by a few intellectuals.
However, the capitalist society being what it is, it comes as no surprise to me that it's out there on the bookshelves with the best sellers. But frankly, anyone who buys this on the strength of his better known works is due for a massive cold draft of disappointment.
The Norse mythology - unlike most other religions (such as Christianity, which holds that good will eventually triumph over evil) - is a dark one, holding that eventually, at a time called Ragnarok, the evil ice-giants will defeat the gods and the world will die. Their poetry tends to reflect this, and this work is no exception. The first poem ends in the death of the main hero and the suicide of the heroine, (who is already a spirit, specifically a Valkyrie - the metaphysics of this are confusing), while the second poem is a tale of dramatic revenge.
But to be fair, few readers will get this far. I confess, I forced myself to go on reading because it was Tolkien. Had it been a translation by "John Smith" I'd have given up more than half way through.
I repeat, as a Tolkien tragic, I hate writing this review. But honesty is honesty. Given the small amount of creative work Tolkien produced in his lifetime, I can't help feeling that the time he spent on this translation would have been better used on something with more general appeal. Another of his brilliant short stories, for example, or one of those intriguing essays along the lines of "On Fairy Stories" - or even some more about Middle Earth.
However, "The Legend of Sigurd and Gudrun" is, one has to say, one of his less approachable works. It should not be forgotten that Tolkien was an Oxford don more than he was a professional writer, and this translation of a long, turgid Norse saga is a scholarly work, that (if it didn't have JRRT's name on the cover) would probably only be read by a few intellectuals.
However, the capitalist society being what it is, it comes as no surprise to me that it's out there on the bookshelves with the best sellers. But frankly, anyone who buys this on the strength of his better known works is due for a massive cold draft of disappointment.
The Norse mythology - unlike most other religions (such as Christianity, which holds that good will eventually triumph over evil) - is a dark one, holding that eventually, at a time called Ragnarok, the evil ice-giants will defeat the gods and the world will die. Their poetry tends to reflect this, and this work is no exception. The first poem ends in the death of the main hero and the suicide of the heroine, (who is already a spirit, specifically a Valkyrie - the metaphysics of this are confusing), while the second poem is a tale of dramatic revenge.
But to be fair, few readers will get this far. I confess, I forced myself to go on reading because it was Tolkien. Had it been a translation by "John Smith" I'd have given up more than half way through.
I repeat, as a Tolkien tragic, I hate writing this review. But honesty is honesty. Given the small amount of creative work Tolkien produced in his lifetime, I can't help feeling that the time he spent on this translation would have been better used on something with more general appeal. Another of his brilliant short stories, for example, or one of those intriguing essays along the lines of "On Fairy Stories" - or even some more about Middle Earth.
Read
July 29, 2010BOOK REVIEW
In ‘Legend’ poems, Tolkien the storyteller
By Ethan Gilsdorf, Boston Globe Correspondent | September 4, 2009
J.R.R. Tolkien is best known as the author of fantasy tales like “The Hobbit’’ and “The Lord of the Rings.’’ But some may not know that he was an academic first and writer second. The reclusive British scholar, lexicographer, and Oxford don was, in a way, the original geek. He specialized in the rather arcane field of philology (the history of languages), and pored over Anglo-Saxon and Old Norse texts. To Tolkien (1892-1973), Icelandic sagas and 1,000-year-old poems like “Beowulf’’ were the finest stuff ever written. He didn’t even read contemporary fiction.
Tolkien hung out with other medievalists in Oxford pubs, where they drank ale, smoked pipes, and made up stories by firelight. While most authors of the early 20th century were busy smashing Victorian conventions and reassembling the pieces into irony-laden modernism, Tolkien was penning stories and poems about domineering dragons and world-weary wizards.
Since he was more inclined to tinker rather than finish many of his projects, reams of uncompleted drafts remain, like treasures to unearth. Gradually, his son and literary executor, Christopher Tolkien, has been deciding which are worthy of publication. So it comes as no surprise that the son has discovered another of his father’s old works.
Written in the early 1930s, some years before “The Hobbit’’ and “Rings,’’ “The Legend of Sigurd and Gudrún’’ almost vanished. The elder Tolkien lamented in a 1967 letter to W.H. Auden that he wanted to “lay my hands on it (I hope it isn’t lost), a thing I did many years ago’’; it appears he never revised the poems since those early days. Christopher, now 84, edited the manuscript.
The two poems that make up “The Legend of Sigurd and Gudrún’’ are Tolkien’s version of the Old Norse Völsung and Nibelung legends, an attempt to unify and organize the material dealing with Sigurd, Brynhild, Gunnar, and other characters, using the same source materials that Richard Wagner drew upon for his opera series “The Ring.’’
Tolkien’s task was to fit modern English to the Old Norse meter: eight-line stanzas, each short line only four to six syllables and containing two to three stresses each. The poems were an exercise, he said, in “trying to learn the art of writing alliterative poetry.’’ He also wanted to capture the essence of Old Norse poetry, with its “demonic energy and force,’’ the lines chiseled to seize a situation and strike a blow.
The poems do deliver the desired blows. In the dense yet spare lines, we are told of Odin, Thor and Loki; dark forests and doors to caverns; giants and a monstrous wolf Fenrir. Abysses yawn; brothers murder fathers and “men sing of serpents / ceaselessly guarding / gold and silver / greedy-hearted.’’ Wise words are uttered, like these from Sigurd: “Stout heart is better / than strongest sword.’’ And yes, there are dungeons and dragons. In short, all the raw materials for 100 epics.
In “Sigurd and Gudrún,’’ one feels Tolkien warming up his own storytelling muscles and voice, recasting an old song in a new language so he, soon, could take the reins to tell his own original tales. And one also senses the sweetness of the son, Christopher, uncovering his father’s many “small slips of paper’’ and putting them in order, bent on making certain his father’s legend grows, too, along with the many tales he told.
Ethan Gilsdorf can be reached at ethan@ethangilsdorf.com His book “Fantasy Freaks and Gaming Geeks: An Epic Quest for Reality Among Role Players, Online Gamers, and Other Dwellers of Imaginary Realms’’ has just been released.
© Copyright 2010 The New York Times Company
In ‘Legend’ poems, Tolkien the storyteller
By Ethan Gilsdorf, Boston Globe Correspondent | September 4, 2009
J.R.R. Tolkien is best known as the author of fantasy tales like “The Hobbit’’ and “The Lord of the Rings.’’ But some may not know that he was an academic first and writer second. The reclusive British scholar, lexicographer, and Oxford don was, in a way, the original geek. He specialized in the rather arcane field of philology (the history of languages), and pored over Anglo-Saxon and Old Norse texts. To Tolkien (1892-1973), Icelandic sagas and 1,000-year-old poems like “Beowulf’’ were the finest stuff ever written. He didn’t even read contemporary fiction.
Tolkien hung out with other medievalists in Oxford pubs, where they drank ale, smoked pipes, and made up stories by firelight. While most authors of the early 20th century were busy smashing Victorian conventions and reassembling the pieces into irony-laden modernism, Tolkien was penning stories and poems about domineering dragons and world-weary wizards.
Since he was more inclined to tinker rather than finish many of his projects, reams of uncompleted drafts remain, like treasures to unearth. Gradually, his son and literary executor, Christopher Tolkien, has been deciding which are worthy of publication. So it comes as no surprise that the son has discovered another of his father’s old works.
Written in the early 1930s, some years before “The Hobbit’’ and “Rings,’’ “The Legend of Sigurd and Gudrún’’ almost vanished. The elder Tolkien lamented in a 1967 letter to W.H. Auden that he wanted to “lay my hands on it (I hope it isn’t lost), a thing I did many years ago’’; it appears he never revised the poems since those early days. Christopher, now 84, edited the manuscript.
The two poems that make up “The Legend of Sigurd and Gudrún’’ are Tolkien’s version of the Old Norse Völsung and Nibelung legends, an attempt to unify and organize the material dealing with Sigurd, Brynhild, Gunnar, and other characters, using the same source materials that Richard Wagner drew upon for his opera series “The Ring.’’
Tolkien’s task was to fit modern English to the Old Norse meter: eight-line stanzas, each short line only four to six syllables and containing two to three stresses each. The poems were an exercise, he said, in “trying to learn the art of writing alliterative poetry.’’ He also wanted to capture the essence of Old Norse poetry, with its “demonic energy and force,’’ the lines chiseled to seize a situation and strike a blow.
The poems do deliver the desired blows. In the dense yet spare lines, we are told of Odin, Thor and Loki; dark forests and doors to caverns; giants and a monstrous wolf Fenrir. Abysses yawn; brothers murder fathers and “men sing of serpents / ceaselessly guarding / gold and silver / greedy-hearted.’’ Wise words are uttered, like these from Sigurd: “Stout heart is better / than strongest sword.’’ And yes, there are dungeons and dragons. In short, all the raw materials for 100 epics.
In “Sigurd and Gudrún,’’ one feels Tolkien warming up his own storytelling muscles and voice, recasting an old song in a new language so he, soon, could take the reins to tell his own original tales. And one also senses the sweetness of the son, Christopher, uncovering his father’s many “small slips of paper’’ and putting them in order, bent on making certain his father’s legend grows, too, along with the many tales he told.
Ethan Gilsdorf can be reached at ethan@ethangilsdorf.com His book “Fantasy Freaks and Gaming Geeks: An Epic Quest for Reality Among Role Players, Online Gamers, and Other Dwellers of Imaginary Realms’’ has just been released.
© Copyright 2010 The New York Times Company
March 12, 2020
As I recall, many decades ago I rocketed through The Hobbit and grabbed the other Tolkien thing available in the library: The Book of Lost Tales Part One. This was in the fifth or sixth grade, mind you: it wasn't as much "reading" as "walking face first into".
Similar, here. The introduction (55 pages) is a high wall explaining source, history, and spelling convention. Inside the wall is poetry in a style entirely new to me: a series of momentary impressions that connect like chain links. You have to reach deep and unlearn contemporary rules in order to follow the narrative.
It's interesting, and certainly scholarly. Not my bag.
Similar, here. The introduction (55 pages) is a high wall explaining source, history, and spelling convention. Inside the wall is poetry in a style entirely new to me: a series of momentary impressions that connect like chain links. You have to reach deep and unlearn contemporary rules in order to follow the narrative.
It's interesting, and certainly scholarly. Not my bag.
April 20, 2012
Reading the Legend of Sigurd and Gudrun, one starts to get a feel for where Tolkien was coming from when he wrote the Lord of the Rings. Told in the style of a very old English epic poem, Tolkien has rewritten the ancient Norse Classics from the Elder Edda into two distinct stories, the Lay of the Volsungs and the Lay of Gudrun.
Many of the characters are easily recognizable by those possessing some familiarity with general Norse mythology (or anyone why has played Age of Mythology recently) - Loki, Odin, Brynhild (the valkyries) and of course the shining hall of Valholl (better known as Valhalla). Yet while on the surface, both lays (the technical term for this style of poem) deal with epic battles and tragic, honourable ends to noble heroes, I came away with the distinct impression that it was the women (Gudrun and Brynhild especially) who really decide the course of fate - at least once they are jaded.
I was surprised to find the poetic storytelling much more readable than I had initially anticipated. There is a rhythm and flavour to the prose that carries you along, even when you don't fully understand all the references: you still keep reading just to know what happens. That is one thing consistent with Lord of the Rings, Tolkien is truly a master story-teller, bringing together many different threads of these original classics and weaving them into his own cohesive version.
The lays themselves would have been quite confusing without the context of the commentaries, both by Tolkien himself (in the form of preserved notes and lectures) and by his son Christopher. I occasionally found my attention drifting through these notes, which are written in a similar form to the average university text book, but they were ultimately invaluable in understanding the book as a whole.
In the end, I was pleasantly surprised by this book and would highly recommend it to anyone with an interest in Tolkien's work, or classical mythology in general. It certainly inspired me to give epic poetry a go (I found it really hard to get the metre right and find words that actually fit). This sort of poetry is a meticulous art form and I admire the skill that has gone into crafting such a masterpiece.
Many of the characters are easily recognizable by those possessing some familiarity with general Norse mythology (or anyone why has played Age of Mythology recently) - Loki, Odin, Brynhild (the valkyries) and of course the shining hall of Valholl (better known as Valhalla). Yet while on the surface, both lays (the technical term for this style of poem) deal with epic battles and tragic, honourable ends to noble heroes, I came away with the distinct impression that it was the women (Gudrun and Brynhild especially) who really decide the course of fate - at least once they are jaded.
I was surprised to find the poetic storytelling much more readable than I had initially anticipated. There is a rhythm and flavour to the prose that carries you along, even when you don't fully understand all the references: you still keep reading just to know what happens. That is one thing consistent with Lord of the Rings, Tolkien is truly a master story-teller, bringing together many different threads of these original classics and weaving them into his own cohesive version.
The lays themselves would have been quite confusing without the context of the commentaries, both by Tolkien himself (in the form of preserved notes and lectures) and by his son Christopher. I occasionally found my attention drifting through these notes, which are written in a similar form to the average university text book, but they were ultimately invaluable in understanding the book as a whole.
In the end, I was pleasantly surprised by this book and would highly recommend it to anyone with an interest in Tolkien's work, or classical mythology in general. It certainly inspired me to give epic poetry a go (I found it really hard to get the metre right and find words that actually fit). This sort of poetry is a meticulous art form and I admire the skill that has gone into crafting such a masterpiece.
April 27, 2025
"Легенда про Сіґурда і Ґудрун"
Джон Роналд Руел Толкін
"Навкруги було чорно.
Очей вогонь твоїх,
вогонь очей твоїх
вигострював біль мені.
Пелени пітьми
перемогли мене."
В передмові до цієї прекрасної у всіх сенсах книжки знаходимо таку цитату Толкіна про улюблені книги свого дитинства:
«У мене було вельми мало охоти шукати закопані скарби чи боротися з піратами, тому «Острів скарбів» мене не вразив. З червоношкірими індіянцями було вже краще: в таких історіях були луки та стріли (я ж мав і маю геть не втолене бажання ��авчитися добре стріляти з лука), дивні мови, побіжні описи архаїчного трибу життя, а насамперед - ліси. Та край Мерліна й Артура був іще кращий, а найкраща - безіменна Північ Сіґурда з Вольсунґів, принца всіх драконів. Такі краї найсильніше збуджували моє бажання».
Я абсолютно солідарний з професором - "Острів скарбі" та ще нудятина, а "Едда" абсолютне блаженство.
Толкін на стільки закохався в цю книгу, що вирішив її переказати. Так постає "Легенда про Сіґурда і Ґудрун" в якій автор скомбінував всі існуючі джерела про найвеличнішого з Вольсуґів - Сіґурда і його дружину Ґудрун.
Без "Едди" ніколи б не існувало легендарної фентезійної трилогії, як і чи не всієї європейської літератури, драматургії та мистецтва загалом. Толкін читав про неї лекції, досл��джував поетику і кенінґи. Ось його порівняння древньої скандинавської і староанглійської поезій:
«Староанглійська поезія мала на меті широту, повноту, роздуми й елегійний ефект. Давньоскандинавська ж на меті має вихоплення ситуації, завдання удару, який запам'ятають, висвітлення миті спалахом блискавки i тяжіє до стислості, вагомого ущільнення мови у змісті й у формі...».
Тому поема Толкіна теж схожа на удари блискавки, які на секунду вихоплюють з темряви силуети богіві героїв їх подвиги та діяння. Абсолютний лаконізм та сувора естетика.
Розкоші оригіналу і перекладу відкриваються читачеві з найпершої сторінки. Алітераційна теогонія зачаровує:
Of old was an age
when was emptiness,
there was sand nor sea
nor surging waves;
unwrought was Earth,
unroofed was Heaven
an abyss yawning,
and no blade of grass.
The Great Gods then
began their toil,
the wondrous world
they well builded.
From the South the Sun
from seas rising
gleamed down on grass
green at morning.
Тим часом переклад Олени О'Лір:
Спершу була
порожнеча,
ні моря, ні ріні,
не ринули хвилі;
Землі ще не створено,
ні Тверді Небесної, -
безодня зяяла,
а зел - ні травинки.
Великі Богове
звели тоді світ цей
пречудесний
у праці важкій.
Сонце, на Півдні
з піни зійшовши,
вранці зело
зелене осяяло.
Хочеться перечитувати обидва варіанти і розглядати ці словесно-звукові візерунки.
Є в цім перекладі фраґмент, який я просто обожнюю:
Сходились Боги
на схилах вартованих,
про смертну годину
гадали пильно.
Розпалили знов Сонце
i полинуть веліли
срібному Місяцю
морем зоряним.
Фрей і Фрея
все файне плекали:
Древа, трепетні
трави і квіти;
Тор колісницею
торохкотів
крізь брами небесні
до брил-бескетів.
Знахідки просто геніальні - Фрея і Фрей - файне плекали, Тор - торохкотів!
І відразу після цього елеґантний натяк-пролог де згадується обранець Світу, кому й присвячена ця історія:
Одін премудрий
попрямує на землю,
вічно блукатиме,
провидячи горе,
Володар володарів
і обложених Богів,
посіє насіння
сонму героїв.
Вальгаллу він звів
гарну й простору:
покрівля - щити,
крокви - ратища.
Звідти круки летіли
довкруг Землі,
був при дверях на варті
суворий орел.
Повно гостей було,
їхня пісня
похмура,
вони чаркувалися,
свинину їли;
Владики земні
виглядали когось,
у бронях сидячи, -
обранця Світу.
Але ця історія трагічна. Чого лише вартує передсмертна промова Сіґрдіви:
«Вимолюю милість,
милість останню!
Вогнище в полі
щонайвище зведи;
обклади його тарчами
й одіннями сяйними,
окропи його кров'ю,
для нас красно пролитою!
Хай у ногах
буде хорт, по яструбу -
в кожній руці,
наші коні при збруї.
Поруч з ним поклади мене,
між нами - меча
без піхов сяйливого,
як у пам'ятну ніч.
Брюнгільд спали
в палаючім жевриві,
що в огні пробудилася
для біди жорстокої.
В яскріння це ввергни
найкращого владаря,
що як сонце в сутіні,
був же сонцем ранковим!»
Вогонь розпалили,
полинув дим,
пломінь загув,
плачем лунаючи.
Так Сіґурд преставився,
насіння Вольсунґа,
Спопеліла з ним Брюнгільд, -
полишило щастя всіх.
Я завжди дивувався тому, як мій улюблений письменник Хорхе Луїс Борхес постійно згадує "Едду", а особливо сцену з Сіґурдом та Брюнгільд, що лежать оголені, а між ними покладений меч Ґрам.
Тепер і я навіки зберіг у своєму ментальному палаццо цю сцену.
В цікавий спосіб Толкін переказує сюжет "Найдовшої пісні про Сіґурда", він постає у образах витканих на гобелені руками Ґудрун:
Синьошатого, ветхого
виткала Одіна;
легконогого Локі
з волоссям вогненним;
водоспади Андварі,
сповнені срібла,
золото Андварі
нанизала сяйливе.
Звелися Вольсунґа
величні хороми,
Древо розвісило
віття сплутане.
Даром Ґрімніра,
Держачись стійко,
сяйним, вимахував
Сіґмунд суворий.
Палати Сіґґейра
палали високі,
огорнуті пломенем,
огонь пожирав їх.
Вітаючи Сіґмунда,
Сіґню стояла там,
пломінь круг неї,
з-за пліч - огонь.
Сріблясті щити
в корабля у Сіґмунда;
хвилі - буремні,
бурунив їх вітер.
Линула Сінфйотлі
лодь погребна,
крізь бурю ведена
Одіном звільна.
Там Реґін у грані
багряній кував,
там над Ґрамом вимахував
молот між іскор.
Драконячий високо
видно шолом,
злото з-під чорного
черева зблискує.
Тінь за самотнім
тягнеться вершником,
злітає Ґрам
у злотистих піхвах;
сонцесяйний Сіґурд,
насіння Вольсунґа,
до двору Ґ'юкі
на Ґрані в'їжджає.
Вражає своєю могуттю останній бойовий клич братів-ніфлунґів Гуннара і Гьоґні:
«Прокиньтесь, прокиньтесь!
Палахкоче брань.
Шолом - на голову,
в долоню - меч.
Прокиньтесь, вої,
Вам випала слава!
У простору Вальгаллу
шлях стелиться вільний».
Звісно, що "Легенду" я раджу читати після "Едди", тільки тоді стає зрозумілою геніальна логіка професора. Він, як один з найвідоміших у світі християнських авторів не втримався й тут - зробив Сіґурда месією, рятівником Світу для котрого земні події стають тільки сходинкою, частиною ініціації та підготовки перед виправою до Асґарду де він,як обраний стане на чолі війська Одіна в день Раґнарьоку.
Особлива окраса книги - численні коментарі та додатки Крістофера Толкіна, рідко якому письменникові щастило мати такого відданого сина.
Тут знаходимо й уривки лекцій Толкіна старшого і примітки молодшого і чудову поему-переказ Раґнарьоку і часу Нових Молодих Богів, правління Бальдра. Є чудовий есей про істрричний зв'язок між бурґундами иа ніфлунґами, Атлі і Аттілою. Цікаво описаний парадокс двох Брюнгільд. Ілюстрації хоч і рідкісні, проте довершені - графіка Біла Сандерсона.
Ну і звісно ж абсолютно прекрасний переклад Олени О'Лір чий талант я пізнав ще читаючи "Беовульфа".
Дякую "Астролябії" за рідкісну насолоду - можливість паралельно читати оригінал і переклад.
А який же сильний кінець в цієї історії. Впевнений, що витвір Толкіна оцінили б найкращі зі скальдів:
Так слава минає
й тьмяніє злото,
гамір і галас
уговтує ніч.
Піднесіться ж на дусі,
діви й добродії,
пісню печальну
почувши стару.
На сьогодні - моя рецензія єдина написана українською мовою на Goodreads, на просторах інтернету за знайшов тільки один коротенький відгук. І мені від цього зовсім не сумно, бо почуваюсь причетним до правдивого рідкісного скарбу, доступного одиницям.
В моїй бібліотеці ж є кілька тисяч книг, але "Легенда" стоїть на полиці з найціннішими.
Джон Роналд Руел Толкін
"Навкруги було чорно.
Очей вогонь твоїх,
вогонь очей твоїх
вигострював біль мені.
Пелени пітьми
перемогли мене."
В передмові до цієї прекрасної у всіх сенсах книжки знаходимо таку цитату Толкіна про улюблені книги свого дитинства:
«У мене було вельми мало охоти шукати закопані скарби чи боротися з піратами, тому «Острів скарбів» мене не вразив. З червоношкірими індіянцями було вже краще: в таких історіях були луки та стріли (я ж мав і маю геть не втолене бажання ��авчитися добре стріляти з лука), дивні мови, побіжні описи архаїчного трибу життя, а насамперед - ліси. Та край Мерліна й Артура був іще кращий, а найкраща - безіменна Північ Сіґурда з Вольсунґів, принца всіх драконів. Такі краї найсильніше збуджували моє бажання».
Я абсолютно солідарний з професором - "Острів скарбі" та ще нудятина, а "Едда" абсолютне блаженство.
Толкін на стільки закохався в цю книгу, що вирішив її переказати. Так постає "Легенда про Сіґурда і Ґудрун" в якій автор скомбінував всі існуючі джерела про найвеличнішого з Вольсуґів - Сіґурда і його дружину Ґудрун.
Без "Едди" ніколи б не існувало легендарної фентезійної трилогії, як і чи не всієї європейської літератури, драматургії та мистецтва загалом. Толкін читав про неї лекції, досл��джував поетику і кенінґи. Ось його порівняння древньої скандинавської і староанглійської поезій:
«Староанглійська поезія мала на меті широту, повноту, роздуми й елегійний ефект. Давньоскандинавська ж на меті має вихоплення ситуації, завдання удару, який запам'ятають, висвітлення миті спалахом блискавки i тяжіє до стислості, вагомого ущільнення мови у змісті й у формі...».
Тому поема Толкіна теж схожа на удари блискавки, які на секунду вихоплюють з темряви силуети богіві героїв їх подвиги та діяння. Абсолютний лаконізм та сувора естетика.
Розкоші оригіналу і перекладу відкриваються читачеві з найпершої сторінки. Алітераційна теогонія зачаровує:
Of old was an age
when was emptiness,
there was sand nor sea
nor surging waves;
unwrought was Earth,
unroofed was Heaven
an abyss yawning,
and no blade of grass.
The Great Gods then
began their toil,
the wondrous world
they well builded.
From the South the Sun
from seas rising
gleamed down on grass
green at morning.
Тим часом переклад Олени О'Лір:
Спершу була
порожнеча,
ні моря, ні ріні,
не ринули хвилі;
Землі ще не створено,
ні Тверді Небесної, -
безодня зяяла,
а зел - ні травинки.
Великі Богове
звели тоді світ цей
пречудесний
у праці важкій.
Сонце, на Півдні
з піни зійшовши,
вранці зело
зелене осяяло.
Хочеться перечитувати обидва варіанти і розглядати ці словесно-звукові візерунки.
Є в цім перекладі фраґмент, який я просто обожнюю:
Сходились Боги
на схилах вартованих,
про смертну годину
гадали пильно.
Розпалили знов Сонце
i полинуть веліли
срібному Місяцю
морем зоряним.
Фрей і Фрея
все файне плекали:
Древа, трепетні
трави і квіти;
Тор колісницею
торохкотів
крізь брами небесні
до брил-бескетів.
Знахідки просто геніальні - Фрея і Фрей - файне плекали, Тор - торохкотів!
І відразу після цього елеґантний натяк-пролог де згадується обранець Світу, кому й присвячена ця історія:
Одін премудрий
попрямує на землю,
вічно блукатиме,
провидячи горе,
Володар володарів
і обложених Богів,
посіє насіння
сонму героїв.
Вальгаллу він звів
гарну й простору:
покрівля - щити,
крокви - ратища.
Звідти круки летіли
довкруг Землі,
був при дверях на варті
суворий орел.
Повно гостей було,
їхня пісня
похмура,
вони чаркувалися,
свинину їли;
Владики земні
виглядали когось,
у бронях сидячи, -
обранця Світу.
Але ця історія трагічна. Чого лише вартує передсмертна промова Сіґрдіви:
«Вимолюю милість,
милість останню!
Вогнище в полі
щонайвище зведи;
обклади його тарчами
й одіннями сяйними,
окропи його кров'ю,
для нас красно пролитою!
Хай у ногах
буде хорт, по яструбу -
в кожній руці,
наші коні при збруї.
Поруч з ним поклади мене,
між нами - меча
без піхов сяйливого,
як у пам'ятну ніч.
Брюнгільд спали
в палаючім жевриві,
що в огні пробудилася
для біди жорстокої.
В яскріння це ввергни
найкращого владаря,
що як сонце в сутіні,
був же сонцем ранковим!»
Вогонь розпалили,
полинув дим,
пломінь загув,
плачем лунаючи.
Так Сіґурд преставився,
насіння Вольсунґа,
Спопеліла з ним Брюнгільд, -
полишило щастя всіх.
Я завжди дивувався тому, як мій улюблений письменник Хорхе Луїс Борхес постійно згадує "Едду", а особливо сцену з Сіґурдом та Брюнгільд, що лежать оголені, а між ними покладений меч Ґрам.
Тепер і я навіки зберіг у своєму ментальному палаццо цю сцену.
В цікавий спосіб Толкін переказує сюжет "Найдовшої пісні про Сіґурда", він постає у образах витканих на гобелені руками Ґудрун:
Синьошатого, ветхого
виткала Одіна;
легконогого Локі
з волоссям вогненним;
водоспади Андварі,
сповнені срібла,
золото Андварі
нанизала сяйливе.
Звелися Вольсунґа
величні хороми,
Древо розвісило
віття сплутане.
Даром Ґрімніра,
Держачись стійко,
сяйним, вимахував
Сіґмунд суворий.
Палати Сіґґейра
палали високі,
огорнуті пломенем,
огонь пожирав їх.
Вітаючи Сіґмунда,
Сіґню стояла там,
пломінь круг неї,
з-за пліч - огонь.
Сріблясті щити
в корабля у Сіґмунда;
хвилі - буремні,
бурунив їх вітер.
Линула Сінфйотлі
лодь погребна,
крізь бурю ведена
Одіном звільна.
Там Реґін у грані
багряній кував,
там над Ґрамом вимахував
молот між іскор.
Драконячий високо
видно шолом,
злото з-під чорного
черева зблискує.
Тінь за самотнім
тягнеться вершником,
злітає Ґрам
у злотистих піхвах;
сонцесяйний Сіґурд,
насіння Вольсунґа,
до двору Ґ'юкі
на Ґрані в'їжджає.
Вражає своєю могуттю останній бойовий клич братів-ніфлунґів Гуннара і Гьоґні:
«Прокиньтесь, прокиньтесь!
Палахкоче брань.
Шолом - на голову,
в долоню - меч.
Прокиньтесь, вої,
Вам випала слава!
У простору Вальгаллу
шлях стелиться вільний».
Звісно, що "Легенду" я раджу читати після "Едди", тільки тоді стає зрозумілою геніальна логіка професора. Він, як один з найвідоміших у світі християнських авторів не втримався й тут - зробив Сіґурда месією, рятівником Світу для котрого земні події стають тільки сходинкою, частиною ініціації та підготовки перед виправою до Асґарду де він,як обраний стане на чолі війська Одіна в день Раґнарьоку.
Особлива окраса книги - численні коментарі та додатки Крістофера Толкіна, рідко якому письменникові щастило мати такого відданого сина.
Тут знаходимо й уривки лекцій Толкіна старшого і примітки молодшого і чудову поему-переказ Раґнарьоку і часу Нових Молодих Богів, правління Бальдра. Є чудовий есей про істрричний зв'язок між бурґундами иа ніфлунґами, Атлі і Аттілою. Цікаво описаний парадокс двох Брюнгільд. Ілюстрації хоч і рідкісні, проте довершені - графіка Біла Сандерсона.
Ну і звісно ж абсолютно прекрасний переклад Олени О'Лір чий талант я пізнав ще читаючи "Беовульфа".
Дякую "Астролябії" за рідкісну насолоду - можливість паралельно читати оригінал і переклад.
А який же сильний кінець в цієї історії. Впевнений, що витвір Толкіна оцінили б найкращі зі скальдів:
Так слава минає
й тьмяніє злото,
гамір і галас
уговтує ніч.
Піднесіться ж на дусі,
діви й добродії,
пісню печальну
почувши стару.
На сьогодні - моя рецензія єдина написана українською мовою на Goodreads, на просторах інтернету за знайшов тільки один коротенький відгук. І мені від цього зовсім не сумно, бо почуваюсь причетним до правдивого рідкісного скарбу, доступного одиницям.
В моїй бібліотеці ж є кілька тисяч книг, але "Легенда" стоїть на полиці з найціннішими.
October 12, 2009
As soon as I found this hardbound edition in the bookstore, I snapped it up. This 350-page book contains J.R.R. Tolkien's interpretation of the two ancient epic poems from the Poetic Edda of the Icelandic peoples. Tolkien's son, Christopher has compiled and edited his father's work on the "Lay of the Volsungs" and the "Lay of Gudrun." This is earthy and spare poetry; rich in story and tradition; and provides a tangible connection to our ancestors and their mythology more than a thousand years ago. This is a book to read, re-read, and study; and, I have to say, it somehow feels canonical, as "Beowulf" is considered to be. Christopher Tolkien's notes and comments on his father's work help place these poems in their proper context. Finally, I see that some of the ideas and concepts developed in Tolkien's fiction are the direct result of his life-long fascination and study of the Poetic Edda. I highly recommend this book; it is real a treasure!
July 4, 2019
It amazes me how this old mythology, drawn from a long gap of time, can effect me in such deep, profound ways. Tolkien created this poetic version of a story drawn from the ancient Volsung Saga. It reads like "Game of Thrones" and feels like "The Lord of the Rings." It impacted me in a deep emotional way and inspired me in awe.
I want to read everything Tolkien, including all his translations, stories, biographies, and mythologies inspiring him. He stands by far my favorite author. I have ordered "The Poetic Edda," "The Prose Edda," "Beowulf" (translated by Tolkien), and "The Nibelungenlied: Prose Translation." These four only start the mythology journey. This may be a long quest!
If anyone else would like to check some of these out, I found this website with a few Tolkien influences to start the journey.
http://www.leavesofgoldpress.com/tolk...
I want to read everything Tolkien, including all his translations, stories, biographies, and mythologies inspiring him. He stands by far my favorite author. I have ordered "The Poetic Edda," "The Prose Edda," "Beowulf" (translated by Tolkien), and "The Nibelungenlied: Prose Translation." These four only start the mythology journey. This may be a long quest!
If anyone else would like to check some of these out, I found this website with a few Tolkien influences to start the journey.
http://www.leavesofgoldpress.com/tolk...
March 11, 2011
Tolkien's scholarship is always pretty impressive, even if it's out of date, now. Reading the bits of his lectures pieced together by his son is very interesting, and I rather wish I could attend them. (If I could be a member of Connie Willis' time travelling department of historians, I'd go visit Tolkien if I could.)
It's also amazing how much work he did on keeping the metre and language of Old Norse in a modern English version of the stories. The verse itself is probably the main attraction for readers. The story can be difficult to follow, but I think once you get into the swing of it -- or if you know the basic ideas already -- it's no harder to follow than a translation of The Saga of the Volsungs, though it is obviously in verse whereas that is mostly prose.
It's also amazing how much work he did on keeping the metre and language of Old Norse in a modern English version of the stories. The verse itself is probably the main attraction for readers. The story can be difficult to follow, but I think once you get into the swing of it -- or if you know the basic ideas already -- it's no harder to follow than a translation of The Saga of the Volsungs, though it is obviously in verse whereas that is mostly prose.
September 13, 2011
Pure Tolkien classic. Excellent example of Tom Shippey's idea of "writing into the gap"
February 22, 2019
Aside from being a legendary figure who pretty much defined high fantasy as we know it today, J.R.R. Tolkien was a scholar whose main interests were Old English and Old Norse literature. "The Legend of Sigurd & Gudrún" leans very heavily on those interests, and not at all on epic quests of elves and hobbits.
I mention this because I was checking out the other reviews for this and I got the feeling that some people might expect this to be fantasy in the sense in which the Peter Jackson movies are fantasy. And, well, it's not. It's fantasy in the sense in which "Beowulf", the poem, is fantasy.
"The Legend of Sigurd & Gudrún" is a retelling of Old Norse poetry, in a poetic form that's very similar to that of Old Norse poetry: long poems, alliterative short stanzas. They sound quite epic. Look!
Unfortunately, this occasionally makes for a difficult read. Tolkien's language can be quite old, words can be used in ways which were probably popular a few centuries ago, and don't quote me on this, but I think the poems assume some sort of familiarity with the story. Which I don't have, since my education lacked things like the "Nibelungenlied", which is apparently similar.
Aaanyways. There are two poems in this book, the second basically being a sequel to the first.
The legend of Sigurd begins with the making of the world: the Norse gods are happily minding their own business, when a seer tells them that the end of the world will come, and there'll be a huge battle, the Ragnarok, which will decide the fate of all gods. If Odin wants to win, he needs a hero who's his descendant, and who died once, to fight for him.
Hence, Valhalla (here, Vallholl) is created as an afterlife where great heroes go after they die, spending time being merry and waiting until the end of days, when they'll go to battle again. There's a plot with a ring going down from generation to generation and causing trouble, because of something Loki did (of course), and a few great heroes descended from Odin rising one after the other and having impressive adventures.
Then comes the "world's chosen", Sigurd, who slays a dragon, wins the heart of a Valkyrie, wins a kingdom and then proceeds to die tragically because he married the wrong woman and wooed the Valkyrie for a friend, thus making her quite angry (it turns out "bait and switch" was a thing back then, too, but it was much more dangerous). Odin may have caused this to happen, because he needed a hero.
The second poem is about Sigurd's wife, who is quite angry about the fact that her husband was in love with another woman, and died, and the people who killed him are her own brothers, so she runs off to the woods. But her brothers and mother bring her back and make her into the wife of Attila the Hun, and that turns into a full-blown tragedy.
The poems, as I've said, are EPIC. They sound amazing. They're awesome to read out loud. They're also difficult to understand especially if, like me, you kind of suck when it comes to names.
Luckily, while the poems themselves are around 100 and 50 pages respectively, the rest of this 380-page book has commentaries written by Christopher Tolkien, complete with what happened, what happened in the original Old Norse poems, what the weird words mean, and what's up with the poetic style. They can be skipped, they can be read completely, or you can just do what I did and look up the things that seem interesting.
I'm in awe of J.R.R. Tolkien's work here - it's not easy to write verse, especially when it has such strict rules as Old Norse poetry does. Never mind the fact that he was trying to single-handedly bring back into fashion that type of verse that's been dead for a thousand years, and making it sound good in modern English. It makes my geeky heart tremble with joy, even more so than the tale of Bilbo Baggins. It's inspiring, and wonderful - and if I could have actually figured out the plot easily without endnotes, I'd have given this a full five stars.
I mention this because I was checking out the other reviews for this and I got the feeling that some people might expect this to be fantasy in the sense in which the Peter Jackson movies are fantasy. And, well, it's not. It's fantasy in the sense in which "Beowulf", the poem, is fantasy.
"The Legend of Sigurd & Gudrún" is a retelling of Old Norse poetry, in a poetic form that's very similar to that of Old Norse poetry: long poems, alliterative short stanzas. They sound quite epic. Look!
Dread shapes arose
from the dim spaces
over sheer mountains
by the Shoreless Sea,
friends of darkness,
foes immortal,
old, unbegotten,
out of ancient void.
To the world came war:
the walls of Gods
giants beleaguered;
joy was ended.
The mountains were moved,
mighty Ocean
surged and thundered,
the Sun trembled.
The Gods gathered
on golden thrones,
of doom and death
deeply pondered,
how fate should be fended,
their foes vanquished,
their labour healed,
light rekindled.
Unfortunately, this occasionally makes for a difficult read. Tolkien's language can be quite old, words can be used in ways which were probably popular a few centuries ago, and don't quote me on this, but I think the poems assume some sort of familiarity with the story. Which I don't have, since my education lacked things like the "Nibelungenlied", which is apparently similar.
Aaanyways. There are two poems in this book, the second basically being a sequel to the first.
The legend of Sigurd begins with the making of the world: the Norse gods are happily minding their own business, when a seer tells them that the end of the world will come, and there'll be a huge battle, the Ragnarok, which will decide the fate of all gods. If Odin wants to win, he needs a hero who's his descendant, and who died once, to fight for him.
Hence, Valhalla (here, Vallholl) is created as an afterlife where great heroes go after they die, spending time being merry and waiting until the end of days, when they'll go to battle again. There's a plot with a ring going down from generation to generation and causing trouble, because of something Loki did (of course), and a few great heroes descended from Odin rising one after the other and having impressive adventures.
Then comes the "world's chosen", Sigurd, who slays a dragon, wins the heart of a Valkyrie, wins a kingdom and then proceeds to die tragically because he married the wrong woman and wooed the Valkyrie for a friend, thus making her quite angry (it turns out "bait and switch" was a thing back then, too, but it was much more dangerous). Odin may have caused this to happen, because he needed a hero.
The second poem is about Sigurd's wife, who is quite angry about the fact that her husband was in love with another woman, and died, and the people who killed him are her own brothers, so she runs off to the woods. But her brothers and mother bring her back and make her into the wife of Attila the Hun, and that turns into a full-blown tragedy.
The poems, as I've said, are EPIC. They sound amazing. They're awesome to read out loud. They're also difficult to understand especially if, like me, you kind of suck when it comes to names.
Luckily, while the poems themselves are around 100 and 50 pages respectively, the rest of this 380-page book has commentaries written by Christopher Tolkien, complete with what happened, what happened in the original Old Norse poems, what the weird words mean, and what's up with the poetic style. They can be skipped, they can be read completely, or you can just do what I did and look up the things that seem interesting.
I'm in awe of J.R.R. Tolkien's work here - it's not easy to write verse, especially when it has such strict rules as Old Norse poetry does. Never mind the fact that he was trying to single-handedly bring back into fashion that type of verse that's been dead for a thousand years, and making it sound good in modern English. It makes my geeky heart tremble with joy, even more so than the tale of Bilbo Baggins. It's inspiring, and wonderful - and if I could have actually figured out the plot easily without endnotes, I'd have given this a full five stars.
December 30, 2024
"Of old was an age
when was emptiness,
there was sand nor sea
nor surging waves;
unwrought was Earth,
unroofed was Heaven—
an abyss yawning,
and no blade of grass."
I first picked up this book thinking it either a translation of Elder Edda or an original work from the realm of Middle-earth; instead, I was delightfully surprised to have stumbled upon something quite different altogether. The Legend of Sigurd and Gudrún (containing the Völsungakviða en Nýja and Guðrúnarkviða en Nýja) is, to use Christopher Tolkien's words, an "ordering and clarification, a bringing out of comprehensible design or structure," of the old Norse Eddaic poems. The Völsung and Niflung legends are full of contradictions and nebulosities—Tolkien has reinterpreted these essential legends into a comprehensive narrative. It should be noted that Tolkien is far from attempting to water-down the Eddas to suit modernity's palate. This is no the Norse rendition of Arthur Waley's take on Journey to the West, but rather a project that intends to reimagine what the skalds of old could have envisioned—all through the versatile medium that is the English language (which is greatly appreciated as my comprehension of Old Icelandic is gauche at best).
The volume is accompanied by not a small amount of commentary supplied by the ever-insightful Christopher Tolkien, a source which I found tremendously helpful in grasping a fuller enjoyment of the "New Lays." In a similar vein to Lewis' Preface to Paradise Lost, there are certain elements expounded upon which must be understood in order to properly enjoy the work (particularly if one is, much like myself, a stranger to the Edda apart from D'Aulaires). For one, understanding of the telos of the form is invaluable. On a line-by-line basis, the author's intent is directed to evoking distinct, scenic impressions—atmospheric and visceral tableaux of sorts.
Tolkien's use of Eddaic meter (in this case the fornyrðislag stanza) is awe-inspiring. His lifts, dips, and alliteration are all expertly employed, but he's far from a slave to the form. He employs unique and delightfully startling language—from his occasionally-Homeric epithets and tasteful repetitions to his Beowulf-esque kennings and distinctly Nordic diction, his dissembling of the medium is masterful. This is a work that deserves to be read aloud.
Above all, the work is robed in a sense of "Pure Northernness." There's an atmosphere I've been searching for since Beowulf, one that rings true with the deepest, oldest marrow of my being—an aura of open plains and hoar forests and hard skies and red-eyed wolves and inky oceans and taught sails and clanging shields and cold iron and glittering gold. Tolkien manages to evoke all this and more, truly rekindling my love of the North. Pairs well with Wagner's Sigfried Idyll and Anna Thorvaldsdottir's "In the Light of Air."
"A wolf thou gavest me
for woe's comfort,
in my brethren's blood
he bathed me red."
when was emptiness,
there was sand nor sea
nor surging waves;
unwrought was Earth,
unroofed was Heaven—
an abyss yawning,
and no blade of grass."
I first picked up this book thinking it either a translation of Elder Edda or an original work from the realm of Middle-earth; instead, I was delightfully surprised to have stumbled upon something quite different altogether. The Legend of Sigurd and Gudrún (containing the Völsungakviða en Nýja and Guðrúnarkviða en Nýja) is, to use Christopher Tolkien's words, an "ordering and clarification, a bringing out of comprehensible design or structure," of the old Norse Eddaic poems. The Völsung and Niflung legends are full of contradictions and nebulosities—Tolkien has reinterpreted these essential legends into a comprehensive narrative. It should be noted that Tolkien is far from attempting to water-down the Eddas to suit modernity's palate. This is no the Norse rendition of Arthur Waley's take on Journey to the West, but rather a project that intends to reimagine what the skalds of old could have envisioned—all through the versatile medium that is the English language (which is greatly appreciated as my comprehension of Old Icelandic is gauche at best).
The volume is accompanied by not a small amount of commentary supplied by the ever-insightful Christopher Tolkien, a source which I found tremendously helpful in grasping a fuller enjoyment of the "New Lays." In a similar vein to Lewis' Preface to Paradise Lost, there are certain elements expounded upon which must be understood in order to properly enjoy the work (particularly if one is, much like myself, a stranger to the Edda apart from D'Aulaires). For one, understanding of the telos of the form is invaluable. On a line-by-line basis, the author's intent is directed to evoking distinct, scenic impressions—atmospheric and visceral tableaux of sorts.
Tolkien's use of Eddaic meter (in this case the fornyrðislag stanza) is awe-inspiring. His lifts, dips, and alliteration are all expertly employed, but he's far from a slave to the form. He employs unique and delightfully startling language—from his occasionally-Homeric epithets and tasteful repetitions to his Beowulf-esque kennings and distinctly Nordic diction, his dissembling of the medium is masterful. This is a work that deserves to be read aloud.
Above all, the work is robed in a sense of "Pure Northernness." There's an atmosphere I've been searching for since Beowulf, one that rings true with the deepest, oldest marrow of my being—an aura of open plains and hoar forests and hard skies and red-eyed wolves and inky oceans and taught sails and clanging shields and cold iron and glittering gold. Tolkien manages to evoke all this and more, truly rekindling my love of the North. Pairs well with Wagner's Sigfried Idyll and Anna Thorvaldsdottir's "In the Light of Air."
"A wolf thou gavest me
for woe's comfort,
in my brethren's blood
he bathed me red."
November 12, 2020
Moved to gwern.net.
March 17, 2024
3.5/5
This read felt like scraping the bottom of the barrel of the interest I have in the figure and folklore of the person known as J.R.R. Tolkien. Sure, I had some genuine interest once the ball got rolling on the historical personages that these legends likely crystallized around, and it did make me more than a little interested in finally returning to the The Silmarillion and giving it the mature engagement I wasn't capable of producing ten, if not twenty, years ago. However, while Tolkien's son certainly wasn't on the level of Amazon and the rest of the filth that's currently torturing the Middle Earth canon into an infantile cash cow, there were just too much holier-than-thou isms combined with weird combinations of ultra casual and ultra academic for me to not get forcibly disengaged too often a time. In any case, this is apparently my seventh work read that can be somewhat argued to be of Tolkien senior's own design, and judging by the results, whatever reading I should do in the future should either be rereads, firmly ensconced in the land of LotR, or come from a more objective viewpoint than that of the author's descendants and/or intellectual property managers. Not the worst thing to have figured out after less than 400 pages lent from a local library, and I wish the next reader of this copy as fruitful an experience (if not more so).
This read felt like scraping the bottom of the barrel of the interest I have in the figure and folklore of the person known as J.R.R. Tolkien. Sure, I had some genuine interest once the ball got rolling on the historical personages that these legends likely crystallized around, and it did make me more than a little interested in finally returning to the The Silmarillion and giving it the mature engagement I wasn't capable of producing ten, if not twenty, years ago. However, while Tolkien's son certainly wasn't on the level of Amazon and the rest of the filth that's currently torturing the Middle Earth canon into an infantile cash cow, there were just too much holier-than-thou isms combined with weird combinations of ultra casual and ultra academic for me to not get forcibly disengaged too often a time. In any case, this is apparently my seventh work read that can be somewhat argued to be of Tolkien senior's own design, and judging by the results, whatever reading I should do in the future should either be rereads, firmly ensconced in the land of LotR, or come from a more objective viewpoint than that of the author's descendants and/or intellectual property managers. Not the worst thing to have figured out after less than 400 pages lent from a local library, and I wish the next reader of this copy as fruitful an experience (if not more so).
December 21, 2018
Yes, five stars. ‘That good?’ you ask. Yup, I think so. Let me explain.
Anyone that knows about Norse legend knows that the sources present pretty much the opposite of a cohesive narrative. Between the Völsung Saga (c. 1200s), the Prose Edda of Snorri Sturluson (1179-1241), and the older multi-authored and anachronistically titled ‘Poetic Edda’ (850-1050), which is largely composed of one manuscript called the Codex Regius, which is itself multi-authored by poets over a vast range of years, one can see how sitting down and writing out a comprehensible storyline that also stays ‘true’ to the original material is basically an impossible task.
But let’s say someone did this. Someone with a real working knowledge of these texts and their language actually worked out a unified narrative. Would it be worth 5 stars then? No, not for me anyway. There’s still a lot of critical criteria to fill.
First, since it is a poem, there is the technicalities of the poetry itself. Again, one who writes modern English poetry but seeks to capture the feel and metre of Old Norse verse must be immensely learned and also artistically gifted. Tolkien stays true to the Old Norse here and gives us proper structure, metre, and alliteration. That’s pretty cool. But we’re only just approaching 5 stars. What about the story itself, its narrative force, and its ability to make you feel the emotions of the cast while also immersing you into the culture of the times?
Well, I’m glad you asked, because I believe it succeeds in all these areas as well. The story itself is vast and intimate at the same time. We get a sweeping saga spanning the Norse gods, the Völsungs, and the Niflungs, all of which are linked and intertwined in a logical way. Despite this wide scope, we still get a close look at the lives of the main characters—Sigmund, Sigurd, Brynhild, and Gudrún. The word choice and word pictures are excellent and Tolkien doesn’t let the constraints of metre and form shackle his ability to make a narrative impact. I could go on and on here, but here’s one examples of why I think we’ve now arrived at 5 stars.
This is not my first foray into Norse Myth and Legend. I’m not an expert in any stretch of the imagination, but between books and podcasts I already had a good idea of who the characters would be and a general knowledge of the plot points. Previously I had focused mostly on the figure of Sigurd. He’s a compelling guy—heroic and tragic, destined for both greatness and sorrow. He kills the dragon Fafnir, obtains a magical ring, and wields an ancient and reforged sword. Pretty LOTR of him and pretty cool. His murder of Regin is genuinely conflicting: we never find out if Regin actually intended to betray him, but alas, I digress. What Tolkien’s version did was open up my eyes to the tragedy of Brynhild and Gudrún, and make me care so deeply for both of them. As a reader, I always just naturally cast Gunrún as the the obstacle to Sigurd and Brynhild’s happiness; but the flip side is also true. They are both the heroine; neither is a real villain. The real villain is fate—and also Grimhild. Tolkien’s writing is the main reason why I can have so much empathy for a character that is otherwise cut off from me by language, culture, and era.
Take these two stanzas:
My sons I slew
seared with madness:
keen it bites me
most clinging woe.
There sits beside me
son nor daughter;
the world is empty,
the waves are cold.
They slew Sigurd:
my sorrow deepest,
my life’s loathing,
my life’s disease.
Sigurd, Sigurd,
on swift Grani
lay saddle and bridle
and seek for me!
Wow. I mean, these are Gunrún’s last words before her suicide, with the full weight of her life so connected to the fated Völsungs before her, and Tolkien does not fail to let the reader feel that weight. Masterful.
So, yes, in summary, it is worth 5 stars.
Anyone that knows about Norse legend knows that the sources present pretty much the opposite of a cohesive narrative. Between the Völsung Saga (c. 1200s), the Prose Edda of Snorri Sturluson (1179-1241), and the older multi-authored and anachronistically titled ‘Poetic Edda’ (850-1050), which is largely composed of one manuscript called the Codex Regius, which is itself multi-authored by poets over a vast range of years, one can see how sitting down and writing out a comprehensible storyline that also stays ‘true’ to the original material is basically an impossible task.
But let’s say someone did this. Someone with a real working knowledge of these texts and their language actually worked out a unified narrative. Would it be worth 5 stars then? No, not for me anyway. There’s still a lot of critical criteria to fill.
First, since it is a poem, there is the technicalities of the poetry itself. Again, one who writes modern English poetry but seeks to capture the feel and metre of Old Norse verse must be immensely learned and also artistically gifted. Tolkien stays true to the Old Norse here and gives us proper structure, metre, and alliteration. That’s pretty cool. But we’re only just approaching 5 stars. What about the story itself, its narrative force, and its ability to make you feel the emotions of the cast while also immersing you into the culture of the times?
Well, I’m glad you asked, because I believe it succeeds in all these areas as well. The story itself is vast and intimate at the same time. We get a sweeping saga spanning the Norse gods, the Völsungs, and the Niflungs, all of which are linked and intertwined in a logical way. Despite this wide scope, we still get a close look at the lives of the main characters—Sigmund, Sigurd, Brynhild, and Gudrún. The word choice and word pictures are excellent and Tolkien doesn’t let the constraints of metre and form shackle his ability to make a narrative impact. I could go on and on here, but here’s one examples of why I think we’ve now arrived at 5 stars.
This is not my first foray into Norse Myth and Legend. I’m not an expert in any stretch of the imagination, but between books and podcasts I already had a good idea of who the characters would be and a general knowledge of the plot points. Previously I had focused mostly on the figure of Sigurd. He’s a compelling guy—heroic and tragic, destined for both greatness and sorrow. He kills the dragon Fafnir, obtains a magical ring, and wields an ancient and reforged sword. Pretty LOTR of him and pretty cool. His murder of Regin is genuinely conflicting: we never find out if Regin actually intended to betray him, but alas, I digress. What Tolkien’s version did was open up my eyes to the tragedy of Brynhild and Gudrún, and make me care so deeply for both of them. As a reader, I always just naturally cast Gunrún as the the obstacle to Sigurd and Brynhild’s happiness; but the flip side is also true. They are both the heroine; neither is a real villain. The real villain is fate—and also Grimhild. Tolkien’s writing is the main reason why I can have so much empathy for a character that is otherwise cut off from me by language, culture, and era.
Take these two stanzas:
My sons I slew
seared with madness:
keen it bites me
most clinging woe.
There sits beside me
son nor daughter;
the world is empty,
the waves are cold.
They slew Sigurd:
my sorrow deepest,
my life’s loathing,
my life’s disease.
Sigurd, Sigurd,
on swift Grani
lay saddle and bridle
and seek for me!
Wow. I mean, these are Gunrún’s last words before her suicide, with the full weight of her life so connected to the fated Völsungs before her, and Tolkien does not fail to let the reader feel that weight. Masterful.
So, yes, in summary, it is worth 5 stars.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
April 26, 2023
In the discussion about the translation Christopher Tolkien shares some of his father's notes on his intentions for the translation. The style is intended to have a lot of impact, even at the expense of clarity, just like JRR Tolkien felt the original authors did. I can see that for people who know the stories well, such exciting, vivid language might bring the stories to life, but as someone who has only a vague knowledge of the story it makes it very hard to follow.
I didn't find Christopher Tolkien's notes to say anything interesting so I stopped reading them. He says that he isn't going to have experts discuss how our understanding of the contents of the poems has changed since Tolkien wrote it because he wanted to focus on his father and for us to hear his father's voice. This is very frustrating because I would have found that interesting and it almost seems like Christopher feels that good natured critique would spoil the work. As an academic surely JRR Tolkien would disagree?
I didn't find Christopher Tolkien's notes to say anything interesting so I stopped reading them. He says that he isn't going to have experts discuss how our understanding of the contents of the poems has changed since Tolkien wrote it because he wanted to focus on his father and for us to hear his father's voice. This is very frustrating because I would have found that interesting and it almost seems like Christopher feels that good natured critique would spoil the work. As an academic surely JRR Tolkien would disagree?
June 6, 2018
One of my favourite tales of all time is that of the heroic lays in the Poetic Edda. It tells of Sigurd the Dragonslayer, Brynhild the Valkyrie and Gudrun the Burgundqueen. Its a story that spans centuries and have a different folktale version all over europe, though the most famous is that of the Poetic Edda, and the German Nibelungenlied.
I was psyched when I saw that Tolkien had worked on a translation of this, and even more so when I realised that there were notes and -imagine this- his own tries at eddic poetry.
The text is sectioned into scholarly notes on the heroic lays as they are in the Poetic Edda and the Saga of the Volsungs, what Tolkien chose to use in his rendition as well as Christopher Tolkien's own thoughts and work. If you, like me, is a total nerd for old norse literature and Tolkien's scholarly work then this is a must read.
I was psyched when I saw that Tolkien had worked on a translation of this, and even more so when I realised that there were notes and -imagine this- his own tries at eddic poetry.
The text is sectioned into scholarly notes on the heroic lays as they are in the Poetic Edda and the Saga of the Volsungs, what Tolkien chose to use in his rendition as well as Christopher Tolkien's own thoughts and work. If you, like me, is a total nerd for old norse literature and Tolkien's scholarly work then this is a must read.
December 19, 2021
Sort of the definitive secret origin of Middle-Earth, Tolkien’s interest in old European lore that in the present day has its closest links to Norse mythology (chiefly in the form, now, of Marvel Comics’ Thor), Attila the Hun, and Wagner’s “Ride of the Valkyries” (and a reference in Tarantino’s Django Unchained). Among the vast breadth of material collected is a hopeful early note that all this may one day become as famous as The Iliad, which is probably never going to happen. And yet in gaining Tolkien as a proponent, and eventually this volume detailing so much scholarship, that day becomes less improbable. Some fairly impressive gymnastics are involved in trying to separate the material from its most well-known title, the Edda. Students of literary history would greatly benefit from reading this.
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November 21, 2024Τίτλος: The Legend of Sigurd and Gudrún
Συγγραφέας: J. R. R. Tolkien
Έτος Έκδοσης: 2010
Είδος: Φαντασία, Ποίηση
Αναγνωστική Απόλαυση: 7/10
Τόλκιν ο μεταφραστής παύλα ακαδημαϊκός είναι αυτός και όση απόλαυση σου δίνει ένα μεσαιωνικό έπος τόσο σου δίνει και ο Τόλκιν.
Αναγνωστική Άνεση: 9/10
Άνετη γραμματοσειρά ράχη και εξώφυλλο.
Βαθμός Πρότασης: 8/10
Κατάλληλο για όσους τους ενδιαφέρει ο Τόλκιν η σκανδιναβική μυθολογία η ποίηση και ο μεσαίωνας γενικότερα
Βαθμός Μάθησης: 8/10
Μέσα από αυτή την ποιητική εκδοχή του Τόλκιν πάνω στα Σκανδιναβικά έπη έμαθα κάτι περισσότερο και αναβάθμισα την άκρως ελλιπή μου γνώση στην σκανδιναβική λογοτεχνία.
Σύνολο: 8/10
Συγγραφέας: J. R. R. Tolkien
Έτος Έκδοσης: 2010
Είδος: Φαντασία, Ποίηση
Αναγνωστική Απόλαυση: 7/10
Τόλκιν ο μεταφραστής παύλα ακαδημαϊκός είναι αυτός και όση απόλαυση σου δίνει ένα μεσαιωνικό έπος τόσο σου δίνει και ο Τόλκιν.
Αναγνωστική Άνεση: 9/10
Άνετη γραμματοσειρά ράχη και εξώφυλλο.
Βαθμός Πρότασης: 8/10
Κατάλληλο για όσους τους ενδιαφέρει ο Τόλκιν η σκανδιναβική μυθολογία η ποίηση και ο μεσαίωνας γενικότερα
Βαθμός Μάθησης: 8/10
Μέσα από αυτή την ποιητική εκδοχή του Τόλκιν πάνω στα Σκανδιναβικά έπη έμαθα κάτι περισσότερο και αναβάθμισα την άκρως ελλιπή μου γνώση στην σκανδιναβική λογοτεχνία.
Σύνολο: 8/10
October 10, 2017
Opravdu nikdy jsem nebyla na poezii a prozatím si myslím, že ani nikdy nebudu, ale v případě Tolkiena vždy ráda jednou za čas udělám výjimku. V těchto knihách mi Tolkien vždy dokazuje, že byl opravdu člověkem na pravém místě. Zůstalo nám toho po něm tolik, ale přesto tak málo.
September 3, 2021
pura epica
July 2, 2025
This was an excellent read. I thoroughly enjoyed this book!!!
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June 16, 2009What a treat it is to find yet more from the pen of Tolkien. That there has continued to be a frequent publication of new works throughout the decades following his death is a testament to the Professor's vast literary output and imagination; that he wrote lengthy works such as this one, which could simply never have been published if not for the sucess of "The Lord of the Rings," is of course a testament to Tolkien as a poet and a storyteller. Something like this is only written because the author is moved to write it, with little or no hope of an audience.
Naturally the literary merits (or lack thereof) of this as a single work of poetry is a separate matter. It is surprising to see Tolkien restraining himself in this, a poetic retelling of the Norse cycle of Völsung-legends, and one is inclined towards the unexpected sensation "There's not much here." The point made by Christopher Tolkien in the "Introduction" is invaluable here: Tolkien was quite deliberately aiming to imitate the style of the Old Norse heroic poetry, resulting in something quite different than (perhaps) most readers expect from Tolkien. In one of his lectures, Tolkien spoke of the difference (this is quoted on p. 7) between Old English verse, in which "breadth, fullness, reflection, elegiac effect, were aimed at" (this might as well have been said of most of Tolkien's writings!), and the Old Norse, which "aims at seizing a situation, striking a blow that will be remembered, illuminating a moment with a flash of lightning..." A reader of Tolkien's "Sigurd and Gudrún" may be tempted to feel disappointed by the brevity; but this, too, this literary style of terseness and series of striking images can be powerful, because it should be seen as something deliberate and artful, and appreciated as such. If it is not often slow and elegiac, it is powerful and striking. The poetry is often very moving, and filled with many good, memorable things: for example, Högni pounding on the door of his enemies, or the sympathetic and interesting figure of Gudrún (the elimination of her memory-loss by Tolkien makes for a far more interesting character). I look forward to future re-readings.
Any feeling of disappointment over brevity may be compounded by the deceiving thickness of the poems' pages: the poems are printed half-line by half-line, thus leaving wide margins, instead of the two half-lines of a full verse printed on one line with a tabbed space for the caesura, as is standard for editions of Old English poetry. Perhaps this latter option should have been adopted by Christopher Tolkien, despite his father's wishes -- I also incline to the feeling that it makes the verses easier for beginners to this meter to scan.
The extra material is most welcome. This includes notes by Christopher Tolkien (detailed as ever), covering both his father's manuscripts and scholarly opinions about the Norse poems; a lecture and commentary on the Norse poems by Professor Tolkien; and an unexpected goodie, a poem on Ætla (Attila) in Old English by Professor Tolkien appended to the rear (which has the distinction of providing us with literally the single existing Old English poem about Attila the Hun!).
It is enjoyable for those familiar with the Norse originals to see how Tolkien handles long-standing scholarly debates or discrepancies in the various versions of the story (for example it was interesting that he chose to follow the version of the ring-transmission as given by Snorri, which I always took to be the unnecessarily complicated one as it involves TWO rings instead of one). The sudden appearance of the opening lines of the Old English "Battle at Finnsburh" in Gunnar's mouth, during the last assault, was a treat; so too was a development with the Goths under Atli's rule which is entirely original to Tolkien. For those not already familiar with the stories, the brevity mentioned previously will naturally make for some confusion, though Christopher Tolkien's notes fill in these gaps nicely. It may be wondered how many readers want to take the time to consult "the Notes" at the rear; but it is well worth it to take the time to dive deeper into these stories which so moved and inspired Tolkien and many others, and which still do so now.
Naturally the literary merits (or lack thereof) of this as a single work of poetry is a separate matter. It is surprising to see Tolkien restraining himself in this, a poetic retelling of the Norse cycle of Völsung-legends, and one is inclined towards the unexpected sensation "There's not much here." The point made by Christopher Tolkien in the "Introduction" is invaluable here: Tolkien was quite deliberately aiming to imitate the style of the Old Norse heroic poetry, resulting in something quite different than (perhaps) most readers expect from Tolkien. In one of his lectures, Tolkien spoke of the difference (this is quoted on p. 7) between Old English verse, in which "breadth, fullness, reflection, elegiac effect, were aimed at" (this might as well have been said of most of Tolkien's writings!), and the Old Norse, which "aims at seizing a situation, striking a blow that will be remembered, illuminating a moment with a flash of lightning..." A reader of Tolkien's "Sigurd and Gudrún" may be tempted to feel disappointed by the brevity; but this, too, this literary style of terseness and series of striking images can be powerful, because it should be seen as something deliberate and artful, and appreciated as such. If it is not often slow and elegiac, it is powerful and striking. The poetry is often very moving, and filled with many good, memorable things: for example, Högni pounding on the door of his enemies, or the sympathetic and interesting figure of Gudrún (the elimination of her memory-loss by Tolkien makes for a far more interesting character). I look forward to future re-readings.
Any feeling of disappointment over brevity may be compounded by the deceiving thickness of the poems' pages: the poems are printed half-line by half-line, thus leaving wide margins, instead of the two half-lines of a full verse printed on one line with a tabbed space for the caesura, as is standard for editions of Old English poetry. Perhaps this latter option should have been adopted by Christopher Tolkien, despite his father's wishes -- I also incline to the feeling that it makes the verses easier for beginners to this meter to scan.
The extra material is most welcome. This includes notes by Christopher Tolkien (detailed as ever), covering both his father's manuscripts and scholarly opinions about the Norse poems; a lecture and commentary on the Norse poems by Professor Tolkien; and an unexpected goodie, a poem on Ætla (Attila) in Old English by Professor Tolkien appended to the rear (which has the distinction of providing us with literally the single existing Old English poem about Attila the Hun!).
It is enjoyable for those familiar with the Norse originals to see how Tolkien handles long-standing scholarly debates or discrepancies in the various versions of the story (for example it was interesting that he chose to follow the version of the ring-transmission as given by Snorri, which I always took to be the unnecessarily complicated one as it involves TWO rings instead of one). The sudden appearance of the opening lines of the Old English "Battle at Finnsburh" in Gunnar's mouth, during the last assault, was a treat; so too was a development with the Goths under Atli's rule which is entirely original to Tolkien. For those not already familiar with the stories, the brevity mentioned previously will naturally make for some confusion, though Christopher Tolkien's notes fill in these gaps nicely. It may be wondered how many readers want to take the time to consult "the Notes" at the rear; but it is well worth it to take the time to dive deeper into these stories which so moved and inspired Tolkien and many others, and which still do so now.
October 2, 2018
I am not qualified to rate this book. The poetry has a lovely rhythm--I'm glad I read it in audio--but it is, as Christopher Tolkein admits, full of lacunae; it's really written for people who already have a deep understanding of the Eddas, and I am not that person. And while Christopher Tolkein provides detailed editorial notes, he delves so deep into the weeds of how the stories evolved that I am still left with an unclear picture of what the story is. (Also, he has an irritating tendency to define words that don't need defining. I know what glamoured and meted and boon mean, thanks. Although toft was a new one for me.)
But still, I'm not sorry I read it for the sake of passages like this. Even if I don't really understand the context, it's a hell of a death scene:
But still, I'm not sorry I read it for the sake of passages like this. Even if I don't really understand the context, it's a hell of a death scene:
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