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The Poetic Edda: Stories of the Norse Gods and Heroes
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"The poems of the Poetic Edda have waited a long time for a Modern English translation that would do them justice. Here it is at last (Odin be praised!) and well worth the wait. These amazing texts from a 13th-century Icelandic manuscript are of huge historical, mythological and literary importance, containing the lion's share of information that survives today about the g
...more
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Kindle Edition, 390 pages
Published
March 15th 2015
by Hackett Publishing Company, Inc.
(first published 1270)
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Hailey
The poems Norse mythology is based upon. One of the two surviving texts from that time period we have to go off of. The other is the Prose Edda.
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Start your review of The Poetic Edda: Stories of the Norse Gods and Heroes

PLEASE NOTE: Due to poor organization of translations on this website, I must note that this is a review of Andy Orchard's translation of the "Poetic Edda", which he has titled "The Elder Edda: A Book of Viking Lore".
Being familiar with Andy Orchard's handbook on Norse mythology ("Dictionary of Norse Myth and Legend", 1997) and finding it to be a nice middle ground between Rudolf Simek's deeply flawed handbook and the limited scope of John Lindow's own, it was with high hopes that I waited for ...more
Being familiar with Andy Orchard's handbook on Norse mythology ("Dictionary of Norse Myth and Legend", 1997) and finding it to be a nice middle ground between Rudolf Simek's deeply flawed handbook and the limited scope of John Lindow's own, it was with high hopes that I waited for ...more

May 15, 2015
João Fernandes
rated it
it was amazing
·
review of another edition
Shelves:
norse-literature,
favorites

What I love the most about Norse literature and mythology is that the gods are all incredibly... for the lack of a better word, human. They suffer, they lust, they love, and they even seem to be quite mortal as far as gods go.
The Elder (or Poetic) Edda is a collection of 'poems' found in an ancient manuscript in Iceland, the Codex Regius.
The Elder Edda has a mythological section, with poems about the gods and the start and end of the world (the famous Ragnarok), and a heroic section.
I was surpri ...more

Jan 13, 2012
sologdin
rated it
liked it
·
review of another edition
Shelves:
medieval,
never-were-any-human-spirits-saved
famous for being one of the earliest plagiarisms of professor Tolkien's LotR.
...more

"Wits are needful for someone who travels widely,
anything will do at home;
he becomes a laughing-stock, the man who knows nothing
and sits among the wise."
- Hávamál
Arguably the greatest mythological masterpiece human civilisation has achieved, in my mind. But I'm biased for a variety of reasons; from being from the north, from researching its history and culture every day as a profession and from this being the main inspiration for my favourite literary author J. R. R. Tolkien.
I'll do a more prope ...more
anything will do at home;
he becomes a laughing-stock, the man who knows nothing
and sits among the wise."
- Hávamál
Arguably the greatest mythological masterpiece human civilisation has achieved, in my mind. But I'm biased for a variety of reasons; from being from the north, from researching its history and culture every day as a profession and from this being the main inspiration for my favourite literary author J. R. R. Tolkien.
I'll do a more prope ...more

Based on my limited knowledge, Dr Crawford seems to have done an excellent job with the material. An important read for anyone interested in primary sources on Norse mythology. The stories themselves are long on plot, short on character development.

The Poetic Edda is not a book you read from beginning to end like a novel. The Poetic Edda contains 35 poems, some of which are very complicated. I usually read and study one or a few poems at a time, put the book aside, and then get back to it later. But the more times I read the poems, the more I appreciate their poetic qualities and the glimpses they give into the deep mysteries and wisdom of Norse mythology.
Together with The Prose Edda by Snorri Sturluson, The Poetic Edda is the best medieva ...more
Together with The Prose Edda by Snorri Sturluson, The Poetic Edda is the best medieva ...more

May 26, 2009
Mike
rated it
liked it
·
review of another edition
Recommends it for:
native speakers of Anglo-Saxon, etins
The introduction states that the Edda is "a repository, in poetic form" of mythology and heroic lore "bodying forth both the ethical views and the cultural life of the North during the late heathen and early Christian times." It is also, for the most part, boring as fuck. It may be an interesting read if you are a fan of English before it got corrupted by all those French and Latin borrowings, or don't mind stopping several times a page to find out the meaning of an obscure or terribly archaic w
...more

Then Brynhild laughed - all the hall resounded - / just one time with all her heart: / 'Well may you enjoy the lands and followers / now you've brought the brave prince to his death'
Collected in the 13th century in the Codex Regius, the body of poetry here straddles Old Norse myth and heroic poetry from probably around the 10th century, a time when the pagan North was becoming Christianised. The heroic verse is primarily from the complicated tales of Helgi, Sigurd, Gunnar and the valkyrie Sigrd ...more
Collected in the 13th century in the Codex Regius, the body of poetry here straddles Old Norse myth and heroic poetry from probably around the 10th century, a time when the pagan North was becoming Christianised. The heroic verse is primarily from the complicated tales of Helgi, Sigurd, Gunnar and the valkyrie Sigrd ...more

Translations like this are what saves ancient literature otherwise doomed to death by obscurity. Dr. Crawford brings the Poetic Edda to life in a clever way that is easily accessible to all readers, without dumbing it down. Translations of the Edda have a high barrier to entry--they have to presuppose knowledge that casual readers generally neither have nor want, and the language tends to be difficult. This translation beautifully strikes that knife's edge balance between modernization and remai
...more

Jul 06, 2020
Thomas
rated it
really liked it
·
review of another edition
Shelves:
western-canon,
religion
Jackson Crawford's translation reads like Lattimore's translation of Homer; both of them sound overly literal at times, but in each case the original shines through. The poems here often read like fragments -- sometimes they are exactly that, fragments -- which again enhances the feeling that you're reading something closer to the original than the many reconstituted versions of the stories. I came to the Poetic Edda via Neil Gaiman's very entertaining Norse Mythology, and I came to that via Wag
...more

It turns out that I have a real thing for Scandinavian literature. Reading this and the sagas has made me a little obsessed with the idea of visiting Iceland. It’s hard for me to separate my thoughts on the eddas from my thoughts on the sagas and the most recent Sigrid Undset novel I’m reading, but I’m going to try to keep everything to it’s proper review space.
Alright. The Elder Edda (or Poetic Edda) is the written version of the oral-tradition base material from which the later Younger/Prose ...more
Alright. The Elder Edda (or Poetic Edda) is the written version of the oral-tradition base material from which the later Younger/Prose ...more

Where else can you find a joint source for half of Tolkien's names and a good chunk of Marvel comics?
The Poetic Edda is the crux of Norse mythology and I won't presume to aspire to heavy or valued literary criticism here. I appeal as a lay reader to lay readers – you need to work your way through this book as you would any classic piece. You need this book as source material for your own stories, as enjoyment for life, and as a platform upon which to build an understanding of modern stories.
As ...more
The Poetic Edda is the crux of Norse mythology and I won't presume to aspire to heavy or valued literary criticism here. I appeal as a lay reader to lay readers – you need to work your way through this book as you would any classic piece. You need this book as source material for your own stories, as enjoyment for life, and as a platform upon which to build an understanding of modern stories.
As ...more

So... yeah. I'm not sure why I had to be a fully-grown adult before it ever occurred to me that I could read this, but I probably would have gotten a bit bored at a younger age.
Takeaways:
1. Tolkein was a huge Norse Fanboy. I mean, so was C. S. Lewis to an extent (I'm looking at you, Fenris Ulf, captain of the White Queen's guard), but a full third of Tolkein's named characters are named in the very first poetic Edda. This cracks me up.
2. All the great stories borrow from other great stories in t ...more
Takeaways:
1. Tolkein was a huge Norse Fanboy. I mean, so was C. S. Lewis to an extent (I'm looking at you, Fenris Ulf, captain of the White Queen's guard), but a full third of Tolkein's named characters are named in the very first poetic Edda. This cracks me up.
2. All the great stories borrow from other great stories in t ...more

It's been so long since I read this book, I need to reread it to give it another review.
...more

The first few poems were absolutely amazing & packed with allusions to mythological stories or lines of wisdom. The rest of the poems are mostly unrelated to each other & perhaps are best read separately at your own leisure.
This Oxford Edition is rather clumsy because the poems themselves require so many notes to understand what they are referring to. I would have preferred footnotes instead because of how important these notes are for making these poems readable. About halfway through, I stopp ...more
This Oxford Edition is rather clumsy because the poems themselves require so many notes to understand what they are referring to. I would have preferred footnotes instead because of how important these notes are for making these poems readable. About halfway through, I stopp ...more

Jul 26, 2013
Cymru Roberts
rated it
really liked it
·
review of another edition
Shelves:
other-ancients
The gods of antiquity are our super heroes of today. Marvel has transformed most of the Norse gods into comic book characters, for better or for worse I don't know. I am inspired by the tales of glorious gods and I was interested in any overlap that may occur between the Norse and Greek pantheons. This text met and exceeded my expectations, but contained many lays that would only appeal to a completist or college-level student of Norse mythology.
The lays are epic in scope, encompassing the begin ...more
The lays are epic in scope, encompassing the begin ...more

A great read containing Norse mythology prose and poetry. Jackson Crawford did a wonderful job with the translation, while still maintaining the Old Norse feel to the poetry meter and stories. His introduction is very helpful to any readers that may want a refresher on the common Gods and heroes discussed in these writings. Very enjoyable!

This was a trippy adventure, and there's a lot I want to say about it, but I'll start by saying that it was an incredible read for those with the patience to read ancient literature. And believe me, it takes a lot of patience; it is poetry from a dead language which often doesn't translate in a stirring way. However, after reading the Poetic Edda itself (not really the four additional poems they tack on to the end of this book), you walk away with a feeling about the inescapability of fate. Many
...more

The metres used by the skalds, the court poets of the Norse chieftains, were among the most complex and difficult metres ever used regularly by poets. As such, the success of a translation of the Elder Edda should maybe be best judged by how well it conveys the complexity of the original. Andy Orchard's version is vigorous and contemporary, doing a good job of conveying the meaning of the original verse without attempting much in the way of replicating their structure. This may be an inevitable
...more

4.5 Stars
I read this during two different time periods, and had two different reactions.
I started it in the summer and felt it was interesting but also hard to hold the information of what was going on. When I came back to it in the fall, I was able to seep into it and truly love the stories. It was also extremely helpful to listen to a work like this because I often am unable to figure out how to pronounce the names. Audiobooks really help you out that way! I also loved that they included trans ...more
I read this during two different time periods, and had two different reactions.
I started it in the summer and felt it was interesting but also hard to hold the information of what was going on. When I came back to it in the fall, I was able to seep into it and truly love the stories. It was also extremely helpful to listen to a work like this because I often am unable to figure out how to pronounce the names. Audiobooks really help you out that way! I also loved that they included trans ...more

When you consider the fact that pre-Christian Scandinavian cultures, at least the ones responsible for the stories written down in the Edda, believed the world was created from the dismembered body of a giant, then you begin to realize that it's not going to be a trip to Mr. Roger's Neighborhood.
Even the gods are doomed, and when Odin, boss of the gods, is constantly trying to find secret wisdom to avert the prophesied battle that will kill the gods, you know you're screwed.
Not for the faint ...more
Even the gods are doomed, and when Odin, boss of the gods, is constantly trying to find secret wisdom to avert the prophesied battle that will kill the gods, you know you're screwed.
Not for the faint ...more

The Voluspa is the first poem of the Edda. It tells of the birth of the world, the giants and the gods, a few things in their lives, and then Ragnarok. It is one of the most beautiful, poignant, and sad things I've ever read. The world is out to get you and everyone dies, that's what Norse mythology teaches us.
Note on the translation: I mostly read Carolyn Larrington's UNrevised translation. I had the great fortune of getting a copy of Ursula Dronke's Voluspa and it is superior in every way as f ...more
Note on the translation: I mostly read Carolyn Larrington's UNrevised translation. I had the great fortune of getting a copy of Ursula Dronke's Voluspa and it is superior in every way as f ...more

If for no other reason, this translation is remarkable for its scrupulous adherence to English words of Germanic origin - I cannot recall a single instance of finding a Greek or Latin root. The language and meter are deliciously archaic, and give a feel for the grammatical richness which has now largely fallen away from our modern tongue.

Really interesting! But hard going... So many names and mothers and fathers and sons and daughters and gods and names and more names and places. Hard to get your head around...
Better review to come!
Better review to come!

Buried beneath the earth / are horrible sorrows, / the desperate things / that make the elves weep. / Early in the morning, / everything that has caused / someone unhappiness / will be remembered anew." (Hamthismal, Stanza 1)
Jackson Crawford translates and edits the The Poetic Edda, a Norse collection of mythical and heroic poems dating back to before the 14th century AD. I found a beautiful challenge in these stories; not only in the poetry itself but in the context of an early morality system ...more

Oh, if I read this book before Gaiman's Nordic Mythology, I would feel so much better.
It was really informative (especially all commentaties added by the translator) and the whole thing had it's old story charm. Definitely big 4,5 from me, maybe because I had to read it quickly and didn't sank much into the stories. ...more
It was really informative (especially all commentaties added by the translator) and the whole thing had it's old story charm. Definitely big 4,5 from me, maybe because I had to read it quickly and didn't sank much into the stories. ...more

Apr 08, 2018
Rebecca Jane
rated it
really liked it
·
review of another edition
Shelves:
classics-poetry
3.5 stars.
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