Customer Reviews

The Elder or Poetic Edda (Viking Club Translation Series)

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

This is my absolute favorite English/Old Norse Translation of the Poetic Edda. It has marvelous woodcut illustrations and is side by side Old Norse and English, giving the reader an instant feel for the beauty in the poetic meter of the Original. Bray's translation is soft and artful and at times emotional, and yet the power behind the epic words is not at all compromised. For the Eddic enthusiast, Norse Lore scholar, or heathen devotee this book is worth every penny of its $100+ sales price. It succeeds where Lee Hollander's very literal acedemic translation feels dry and boring. This book is a treasure no Norse Mythology library should be without.

I have had this edition of the Edda Saemundar for many years now (the Viking Society first published it in 1908), and consider it the most valuable simply because it is in both Old Norse and English. This makes it possible to unquestioningly follow the original as closely as possible. The Viking Society has always maintained high standards of scholarship.

First of all, I really like this book, and am saddened that it's currently out of print. Some have expressed some criticism with the "Christianization" of the material, particularly in some of the illustrations, but it still is a favorite.

Sombody should explain to these knuckleheads at Amazon that the title of the book is indeed "the Elder or Poetic Edda"; however, it is attributed (mistakenly) to an Icelandic bishop named Saemendur; Saemunder's first name is not Edda. The actual author is unknown. Olive Bray is the translator.

Lavrans Reimer-Møller
Cambridge MA
USA

This book is very readable and the drawings give a added attraction to the book,a great translation