Buy used: $9.37

Delivery Monday, January 16. Order within 16 hrs 23 mins

Or fastest delivery Tuesday, January 10

Used: Acceptable | Details

Sold by -OnTimeBooks-

Fulfilled by Amazon

Access codes and supplements are not guaranteed with used items.

Add to List

Added to

Unable to add item to List. Please try again.

Have one to sell?

Sell on Amazon

Flip to back Flip to front

Listen Playing... Paused You're listening to a sample of the Audible audio edition.
Learn more

See all 5 images

The Poetic Edda: The Mythological Poems Paperback – July 19, 2004

by Henry Adams Bellows (Translator)

227 ratings

4.3 on Goodreads

741 ratings

See all formats and editions

Price

New from

Used from

Kindle

"Please retry"

$8.76

—

Paperback

"Please retry"

$9.37

$9.59

$5.43

The vibrant Old Norse poems in this collection, which may have been brought together as early as the thirteenth century, authentically capture the ancient oral traditions of the Norsemen. In addition, their images of a mythical world profoundly influenced latter-day storytellers as Richard Wagner and J. R. R. Tolkien.
Known as the "Lays of the Gods," these mythological poems include the Voluspo, one of the broadest conceptions of the world's creation and ultimate destruction ever crystallized in literary form; the Hovamol, a compilation of sagacious counsels reminiscent of the biblical book of Proverbs; the Lokasenna, a comedy bursting with vivid characterizations; and the Thrymskvitha, a ballad of enduring loveliness.
The Poetic Edda is not only of the highest interest to students of antiquity; in the exceptionally detailed and complete translations included here, it offers lovers of poetry and myth some of the most remarkable surviving specimens from a distant age of poet-singers and oral traditions.

Print length

288 pages
Language

English
Publisher

Dover Publications
Publication date

July 19, 2004
Dimensions

5.25 x 0.75 x 8.5 inches
ISBN-10

0486437108
ISBN-13

978-0486437101
See all details

Jackson Crawford
4,852
Paperback
in Norse & Icelandic Sagas
13 offers from $15.00
Carolyne Larrington
910
Paperback
36 offers from $5.27
Snorri Sturlson
863
Paperback
$6.99
$9.64 shipping
Henry Adams Bellows
118
Paperback
$9.95
$9.95 shipping
Only 10 left in stock (more on the way).
Lee M. Hollander
461
Paperback
43 offers from $8.09
Snorri Sturluson
559
Paperback
58 offers from $2.69

Product details

Publisher ‏ : ‎ Dover Publications; 0 edition (July 19, 2004)
Language ‏ : ‎ English
Paperback ‏ : ‎ 288 pages
ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 0486437108
ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0486437101
Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 9.3 ounces
Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 5.25 x 0.75 x 8.5 inches

Best Sellers Rank: #238,063 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #45 in Norse & Icelandic Sagas (Books)
- #46 in German Poetry (Books)
- #6,619 in Classic Literature & Fiction

Customer Reviews:
227 ratings

Brief content visible, double tap to read full content.

Full content visible, double tap to read brief content.

Videos

Help others learn more about this product by uploading a video!

Upload your video

Products related to this item
Sponsored Hide feedback

Page 1 of 1Start overPage 1 of 1

Customer reviews

5 star		85%
4 star		8%
3 star		5%
2 star		1%
1 star		1%

How customer reviews and ratings work

Top reviews from the United States

There was a problem filtering reviews right now. Please try again later.

Stacy Sutter

It's a book

Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on July 11, 2022

Verified Purchase

Still reading, bought to compare. So far I like it.

Helpful

Oli

Print illegible on odd pages

Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on October 24, 2022

Verified Purchase

The rating is in reference to the poor print quality. The even pages are easy to read with crisp text. However, the text on the odd pages is blurry. Not sure if it was just my copy or if it’s a print quality issue in general.

Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on September 7, 2006

Verified Purchase

This is an excellent translation from Henry Bellows, easy to understand and with many footnotes. This is the version I use when I read the poems aloud.

The spelling he chose for transliterated names doesn't follow the common style, Voluspo is usually Voluspa, Hovamol is usually Havamal, etc, but these differences are minor and easy to get used to. The print is a facsmile (typical of this publisher) but clear and easy to read, and the binding is good quality (unlike products from some similar companies).

Unfortunately Dover only published half of the book, the section referred to to as the "Mythological Lays", and have omitted the "Heroic Lays", assuming I suppose that we'd only want to read the poems referring directly to the gods. They do clearly admit the omission at the beginning of the book. Much of the ancient scandinavian works we have are regarding heroes related to the gods, so to focus completely on the gods themselves is to miss pieces of the whole picture. Some researchers (in the minority) even suggest that the "Heroic Lays" are actually stories about the gods under different names, which was a very common practice (as you'll see when you read the poems that are included). So I consider the omission very unfortunate.

Despite that complaint I think this book is worth the cost. Unless you want to print your own (the Bellows translation is in the public domain), this book is an excellent choice for what it does have. Just be aware of what you're missing.

Edit: Dover has recently announced that they will finally release the second half of the book, The Poetic Edda: The Heroic Poems (Dover Value Editions)

36 people found this helpful

Helpful

Josef Downour

Good version

Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on March 8, 2021

Verified Purchase

Thought this was a good version with interesting notes. Very easy to read and breaks down some parts with relevant information that is simple for a first time reader.

Helpful

KE

It is a great resource. Tough to understand as a beginner.

Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on September 24, 2021

Verified Purchase

It is a great resource. Tough to understand as a beginner.

Helpful

Claire Rowe

They are excellent translations, excellent reads

Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on August 15, 2015

Verified Purchase

I deliberated a lot about which versions of the Havamal, and the other stories and poems from the Eddas to buy. I needn't have worried about these particular works. They are excellent translations, excellent reads, and the printing and covers are done nicely. If you're looking to read and learn about the Poetic Eddas, the Havamal (which is included in the Eddas), etc., this is an excellent choice. I almost bought a book of Norse stories that were adapted from these original texts. I'm glad I bought these instead. This is great for any Norse/Nordic Wiccan, Asatru, or just anyone with a deep interest in mythology.

One person found this helpful

Helpful

Dunja

Good looking book

Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on November 19, 2019

Verified Purchase

I bought this as a gift so I don't know if it is any good. But the print and cover look nice and the delivery was fast so I would recommend it.

Helpful

TomDarkwulf87

The First Half of the Poetic Edda

Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on May 7, 2014

Verified Purchase

Though this IS only the first half of the Poetic Edda (don't know why Dover chose to split it into two books), this is easily one of the best translations out there. Very thorough with lots of foot notes that are super helpful and informative. Bellows does a wonderful job of making the mythological lays very easy and interesting to read, while keeping as close the original format of the poems as possible. Definitely a must buy for any Heathen or fan of Norse mythology!

7 people found this helpful

Helpful

Top reviews from other countries

limner

A great translation of the Poetic Edda but only contains the first half of it.

Reviewed in the United Kingdom 🇬🇧 on October 3, 2018

Verified Purchase

This is a reprint of the 1923 publication of the first part of Bellows translation of the Poetic Edda from the Icelandic. The language used is of its time, somewhat archaic and resembles that used by the Victorian poets or perhaps the King James Bible. Therefore some readers may find it difficult. However if this isn't an issue this is a great translation. The author manages to get the flavour of the different types of poem and echoes the form whilst giving an honest translation which is illuminated by copious, informative footnotes.
These are absolutely essential since the poems allude to myths, events and relationships outside them that you need to understand before you can comprehend them properly. These are, however, clearly written and make this translation a much easier read than many of the more academically aimed texts. (I cannot be the only person who is infuriated by some translator's refusal to call a kenning a kenning but insist on referring to it as a periphrastic description throughout. )
For the reader, like myself, who is just beginning to explore the Edda this is definitely one of the translations to get.
(I say one of the translations, because, if my experience with Beowulf is anything to go by, you will probably end up with a few, ranging from poets attempts to recreate a recognisable, but loosely translated, piece of enjoyable poetry to word for word translations.)
The only downside to this inexpensive edition of the Poetic Edda, which is well laid-out and printed on better paper than most paperbacks, is that it only the first half of the work. If you want the rest - The Heroic Poems - you will have to buy the other volume reprinted by Dover.
I do not believe this is not as clearly signposted as it should be in the description and may be a source of irritation. So if you are choosing your Poetic Edda on the basis of price alone you have to add the cost of the other volume to this one to compare prices properly.

4 people found this helpful

D. Nye

Should state in description that this is only half of the Poetic Edda

Reviewed in the United Kingdom 🇬🇧 on September 15, 2019

Verified Purchase

Very disappointed to find that this book only contains half of the Edda, when there are comparably priced full versions on sale here! Particularly as it was the missing 'heroes' section I was looking to glean more information from.....

One person found this helpful

Edgar

Kindle version is ruined by bizarre referencing system

Reviewed in the United Kingdom 🇬🇧 on August 6, 2020

Verified Purchase

Instead of numbers the footnotes are given symbols which take up more and more of the page as the book progresses, completely spoiling the look and flow of the text.

Ben Jackson

Fantastic book! Set out so it's user friendly

Reviewed in the United Kingdom 🇬🇧 on October 1, 2017

Verified Purchase

Fantastic book! Set out so it's user friendly, especially for those not well versed in old Norse poetry. An excellent buy!