Customer Reviews

The Poetic Edda (Oxford World's Classics)

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The "Elder" or "Poetic" Edda is the modern name for a set of Old Norse mythological (mainly about gods) and heroic (mainly about humans) poems, found in a limited number of Icelandic manuscripts, the most important of which is damaged, and missing pages, and does not agree with other copies, and quotations in other medieval texts. The exact list of poems included varies slightly, with editors and translators having a little leeway. The "World's Classics" series from Oxford University Press finally included a translation of this famous collection in its list in 1997; it has since been reprinted in the slightly refurbished and renamed series of "Oxford World's Classics."

{Perhaps I should add that, like five earlier reviewers, I have taken for granted the importance and high literary quality of the Elder Edda, and concentrated on whether this particular translation is worth your time -- and money.}

Although some reviewers have complained that Carolyne Larrington's translation is inaccurate, it has been favorably received by the academic community on the grounds of its exceptional accuracy. (It is on a Cambridge University syllabus too, although this may reflect, in part, its availability.)

Part of the problem may be that Larrington is following the 1983 revision of the Neckel-Kuhn text edition, without giving specific notice of all of its decisions on how to resolve contradictions in the manuscript evidence. (A reader who consults the notes at the end will find some of them, particularly regarding the ordering of stanzas.) Most previous translators produced eclectic versions, based on a variety of older editions, and often noting their own departures from the then-standard text editions. For those without access to the latest revised version of Kuhn's revision of Neckel's turn-of-the-century critical edition, Larrington's departures from the familiar are likely to seem arbitrary.

She also seems to be making full use of the latest in linguistic scholarship -- another reason for departing from familiar readings.

Of course, some of her translations may well be wrong -- translators have to make decisions among various options, and the format of this book does not allow for full discussions of such problems. Some problems have no easy answer; for example, there are lists of names, most of which, but not all, were chosen for their obvious meanings; should any of them be translated in the main text? I found many points on which I would differ, preferring the arguments advanced by other scholars, but any other amateur, but enthusiastic, reader could probably come up with an entirely different list. I appreciate having her version available.

What I find a more serious problem is that the translation is not really all that pleasant to read, and, although valuable to the serious student, is not likely to attract the merely curious. Despite being set up in stanzas, it is extremely prosy. This was probably the result of a decision to prefer precision to literary form, but, after comparing translations of sample passages going back to William Morris in the nineteenth century, I can't say that I am completely convinced. I could be wrong; I would not be astonished to find that someone fell in love with Old Norse literature through this version. But I do think that some older versions would serve this purpose better, despite many shortcomings, due in part to age.

I offer, as examples, two other complete versions in English. Henry Adams Bellows' translation (from the American-Scandinavian Foundation, 1923) was at least interesting to read aloud, despite numerous shortcomings, both as a translation and as poetry. (It was out of print, except in a very expensive limited edition, but was available in digital form, and is being reprinted in its original two-volume format, at a much more reasonable price, by Dover; as of summer 2004, "Mythological Poems" has appeared.) Lee M. Hollander's attempt at an alliterative verse rendering (University of Texas, also 1923, second edition, 1962, and still in print in paperback) is sometimes a little hard to follow, but at least the reader is kept aware that the original is a metrical composition. (I once worked through a good part of Hollander's text-edition-for-students of "Seven Eddic Lays," so his translation seems to me comparatively clear -- and, allowing for some liberties due to meter, mostly very accurate, since it matches his editing and glossary!) Larrington's stanza divisions, by comparison, seem to be there strictly as points of reference.

Curiously, neither of these translations is mentioned, so far as I can see, anywhere in the present volume; nor is another, more recent, American translation, by Patricia Terry, which has undergone several revised printings. Larrington discusses in detail translations published in Britain, which is fair enough; but she somehow omits the expanded edition of Auden and Taylor's "The Elder Edda: A Selection" as "Norse Poems" (1981), which does contain the whole standard Eddic "canon."

(It should added that "The Poetry of the Elder Edda," by Andy Orchard, announced some time ago as forthcoming in Penguin Classics, has yet to appear, as of Fall 2005; some on-line sources now list it for Spring 2008! The first part of a five-volume text, translation and commentary by Ursula Dronke was published in 1969, but only reached the second -- superb -- volume in 1997, with nothing since. Work on a more manageable bi-lingual edition was recently announced by Edward Pettit on his "Leaves of Yggdrasill" site, raising hopes once again.)

Handy book with nice format and readable translation. However there's virtually no context here as far as a meaningful introduction to the individual works or the work as a whole. The individual introductions are cursory at best, written in a dismissive "Oxford" tone which assumes the reader is familiar with the works and their context. Imagine mixing up the books of the Bible, and removing most of the study annotations now included in most versions. Reading the Prose Edda first was EXTREMELY helpful, as Snorri does what the editor of this book should have tried harder to do herself. If you know little or nothing of Norse mythology, you'll be lost if you start with this book; but after the Prose Edda, things become much more meaningful.

While it's popular to criticise the Hollander translation of The Poetic Edda for being more poetic than accurate, compared to Larrington's version, his is nearly ideal.

I've been studying eddic poetry for years, both in the original and in translation, and recently picked up a copy of this book because several friends insisted it is more accessible and easily read. I immediately saw why it is often suggested as an alternative to the archaic language sometimes used by Hollander, but simultaneously horrified. Of course, no translation will ever convey the full nuances of a text, but I found numerous places where Larrington either lost all subtext to a passage, or was simply inaccurate.

I would only recommend this translation for comparison to others, such as Hollander, Bellows or even Thorpe. The work simply does not stand on its own as a trustworthy edition.

The Edda is for the Nordic European countries, what the Iliad meant for the old Greek. It is THE TREASURY - in a poetical form - of their MYTHOLOGY and of lots of their heroic stories and the wisdom of their proverbs.
This book embodies the ethics and the cultural life during the transition period from paganism to christianity (about 8th until 13th century). A world opens of gods, supernatural beings and creatures AND of the protagonists of a heroic (pre-)history. The existence of man in his natural environment and the place of "the family" in the world they lived in, as for so gets a meaningful, coherent interpretation.

The songs of the gods make a mysterious power of attraction on the reader of today. In the "vision of the famous visionary VOLUSPA", birth and decline of the old world of gods are treated AND at the same time the author made a sketch of the new world order. This vision remains, up until these days, the peak, THE highlight of Nordic literature. The heroic poems are a true glorification of the past. The power of the characters in the poems, as well as the events that take place here, go beyond the "normal-human life" out of later times. What is more, the tragic adventures and fortunes of the family, the race of the "NIBELUNGEN" have been a tremendous source of inspiration for so many writers, thinkers, even musicians. I hereby think in special about the famous, outstanding collection of opera's by the German composer Richard WAGNER: his "RING DES NIBELUNGEN", which gives such a fantastic, colourful insight in what happened centuries ago!

This work is one of the main sources for Nordic AND German mythology which gives a splendid view on the misty (sic!!) "WALHALLA" of the Western European, more specific the Icelandic-Scandinavian AND German, Dutch even English ancestors.
THE EDDA IS A BOOK FOR EVERYONE, as the Iliad or Odyssey are, and like the two latter is SO IMPORTANT for the development and evolution of Europe. A book from the top of the shelves of REAL GREAT WORLD LITERATURE, easily readable for ALL OF YOU.
A PIECE OF MY HEART, WARMLY AND VERY HIGHLY RECOMMENDED FROM THE BOTTOM OF MY WHOLE BEING !!

Translating poetry will always be problematic. There is the decision to make whether to emulate the form, or concentrate on the meaning.

Larrington tends toward the latter. This is probably the best kind of translation for those wanting to become familiar with the narrative. Once the reader knows the tales, it is time to move on to a version like Hollander. Harder to read but more reminiscent of the poetry of the original. I like to go close to transliterating, using the English cognates when possible, although it certainly makes the meaning difficult, it does have a satisfying effect. However, to really appreciate the striking rhythm & alliteration of the verse form, one really needs to recite the Old Norse out loud.

Neither kind of translation will capture the subtleties of the words chosen for their ambiguity or being suggestive of other words. Both kinds of translation, as well as the original, have an important place in one's library.

Sweyn
The Rune Primer

It is good to find an edition with Norse names translated into English. I have the Viking Society's bi-lingual edition of 1903 with the entire text in Old Norse, but with many obscure names left untranslated. For the information of the reviewer who thinks Gandalfr means Wind Elf, it doesn't; it means Wand Elf. Vindalfr means Wind Elf. What is more critical than whether names are translated or not is that they be kept in the order in which they are found in the original Norse text. All of the lists of names in the Eddas were deliberately arranged. For this reason modern translations that rearrange the names for stylistic reasons impoverish the original texts; I am referring mainly to Auden's translation which is nothing more than an elegant butchery!

While reasonably readable, this translation suffers from some serious issues that will be troublesome to anyone with a serious interest in these texts.

First of all, the most immediately glaring issue is how gloss-crazy Larrington goes. "Norn" to "fate," "thurs" to "giant," "jötunn" to "giant" and on and on. This is a book about Norse mythology, right? It makes using the index a nightmare and turns this into a poor reference piece. Whether Larrington wants you to know it or not, these are specific concepts to Germanic mythology and they do not exactly gloss their classical counterparts.

As another reviewer noted, Old Norse proper nouns are sometimes pointlessly translated into the main text. This is pointless because there is an included Index of Names (with translations when given). A lot of these names have competing etymologies; they're uncertain. Just throwing whatever Larrington prefers in there makes for obvious problems.

Still, you could do worse than this translation (at least it doesn't rhyme...) but I was just hoping for more. This work *deserves* better.

I recommend comparing stanzas to the translations of Thorpe and Bellows. Further, if you can (somehow) get Ursula Dronke's Poetic Edda translations instead, do so. Dronke's edition includes the Old Norse alongside her masterful, long-labored translations. It is, as of yet, incomplete and obscenely expensive per volume, but maybe in time it will become available in a mass market edition. Here's hoping!

As a fan of Richard Wagner's "Der Ring des Nibelungen" (and as an admirer of The Nibelungenlied), I just had to read The Poetic Edda. This epic is as grand as Beowulf, and as ethereal as The Kalevala. Many of the Norse mythological figures (Thor, Loki, Fafnir, etc.) are present, and do so many things. I would have to say that this is one of my favorite European epics, ranking with The Nibelungenlied and the Kalevala.

And now for the translation. Many reviewers here have agreed that Carolyne Larrington is a bit off in places (with many desciptive narratives taken way too literally). To me, the thing that bothers me the most is the use of modern language in a few parts. Loki uses the modern phrase "What's up with the ..." in one page, and then he just flat out says "You farted", without being so roundabout, in another page.

But of course, not every translation for a non-English story is perfect. So this one should be a good one for beginners. Now I heard there was another translation for the Edda that was far more complex (in fact, TOO complex for the average reader). I guess I should try my luck and see if I can go through it in less than a month.

All in all, The Poetic Edda is a wonderful epic, and I do believe that High School students will probably be interested in it (if it's not required reading, of course).

This is a very nice, easily used, and inexpensive edition of The Poetic Edda. One of the primary sources for Norse mythology, the Poetic Edda is an Icelandic compilation of Old Norse poetry. Much is only fragments of longer works and due to loss of other texts, parts are obscure. All of this came to us through a single manuscript thought to be compiled by one unknown scholar. Whoever this individual was, we owe him (as he probably was) a debt of gratitude for this collection of often arresting and consistently interesting poetry. Recounting of myth, collections of wise saying, and parts of the major myth cycle involving Sigurd, Fafnir, and the Volsungs, are all contained in the Poetic Edda. While only a scholar with some sophistication in the language can know for sure, the translations struck me as powerful and readable. The introduction, footnotes, glossary, and bibliogrpahy are all useful. A very enjoyable adn readable volume.

Larrington's translation of the Poetic Edda finally makes the tales of the Norse Gods and Goddesses accessible! This is the first translation that I have seen in modern easy to understand English. The wisdom of the Icelandic Skalds is as resonant today as it was 700 years ago. This is a great way to introduce yourself to the rich body of Germanic Mythology, and to the study of the Asatru religion. I highly reccomend this book.