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The Saga of the Volsungs (Penguin Classics)…
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The Saga of the Volsungs (Penguin Classics) (edition 2000)

by Jesse L. Byock, Anonymous, Jesse L. Byock (Translator)

MembersReviewsPopularityAverage ratingMentions
1,6122010,898 (3.85)29
The Saga of the Volsungs is an Icelandic epic of special interest to admirers of Richard Wagner, who drew heavily upon this Norse source in writing his Ring Cycle and a primary source for writers of fantasy such as J. R. R. Tolkien and romantics such as William Morris.A trove of traditional lore, it tells of love, jealousy, vengeance, war, and the mythic deeds of the dragonslayer, Sigurd the Volsung.Byock's comprehensive introduction explores the history, legends, and myths contained in the saga and traces the development of a narrative that reaches back to the period of the great folk migrations in Europe when the Roman Empire collapsed.… (more)
Member:fairywiccagal
Title:The Saga of the Volsungs (Penguin Classics)
Authors:Jesse L. Byock
Other authors:Anonymous, Jesse L. Byock (Translator)
Info:Penguin Classics (2000), Paperback, 160 pages
Collections:Your library
Rating:
Tags:College, Celtic and Norse Myth

Work Information

The Saga of the Volsungs by Anonymous

  1. 20
    Nibelungenlied by Anonymous (inge87)
  2. 20
    The Legend of Sigurd and Gudrún by J. R. R. Tolkien (ed.pendragon)
    ed.pendragon: Worth comparing the original saga (in translation) with Tolkien's modern English version of the tale in verse.
  3. 00
    Bloodtide by Melvin Burgess (isabelx)
    isabelx: Bloodtide is a really interesting telling of The Saga of the Volsungs.
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» See also 29 mentions

Showing 1-5 of 20 (next | show all)
The extant heroic literary core of all things Nordic.

It catalysed Wagner’s Gesamtkunst - which may however have failed the test of modernity - & Tolkien’s ultimately equivalent, but freer, notion of “sub-creation” (=worldbuilding), which today is exploding beyond his wildest dreams.

NB: The Penguin Classics edition features excellent intro, notes, & glossary by the (younger back then) grand old man of Icelandic & Norse studies, Jesse Byock. ( )
  SkjaldOfBorea | Jan 5, 2024 |
Spoiler! Everybody dies.

This is a fine saga, as sagas go, certainly less focussed on number-of-cattle-owned than Njal's Saga.

Very clearly the product of multiple retellings: events such as the Sigurd/Brynhild meeting are retold a few times, with some hasty back-filling to call one or the other a dream (no doubt in response to some plaintive "Grandpa, you told us they got married last week!" cries), and there is quite a bit of "stay tuned for next week's campfire" prophecy going on. ( )
  mkfs | Aug 13, 2022 |
The more I read of the Scandinavian/Norse mythologies, the more it is obvious there is no definitive text. The tales have been repeated, retold, and reformed. Neil Gaiman and Joanne Harris did a good job in their books...This version was portrayed as one long family saga. I loved the story of the sword in the tree, with the tree's name appearing very similar to "Bram Stoker". Even the churches have scenes depicting a Nordic king killing a dragon taken from these tales. Just like biblical stories, these stories began with "the word" as it was in the beginning, then everything eventually written down, stories travelled across the continents with the migrations of the people, adapted, enhanced, made to fit in with current thought, used to strengthen opinions towards political arguments. Once written down it became much more difficult to adapt the tales, but you can still extract the elements...the king who had two sons who competed...the wife who could not conceive a child...the brother and sister in love...adding the fanciful elements of magic: apple, sword, transformative beings (shapeshifters)...and romancing the locations so that the listeners/readers can emphatically understand the characters' journeys. I can see a parallel in these tales with todays modern soap operas. Stories of families' betrayal, bitterness, feuds, love, murder, deceit (but no magic). I had to listen to Richard Wagner's Ride of the Valkyries.
The Senna (contest of insults, making use of the worst possible affronts in the culture - effeminacy, passive homosexuality, offences punishable by outlawry) reminded me of a computer game I played in the 1990s "Monkey Island", where you had to play a contest of insults to progress. (Are your haemorrhoids flaring up again?). ( )
  AChild | Dec 19, 2021 |
This is really quite good epic norse poetry, it does go on a bit too long towards the end but overall better than Beowulf and a real treat for any Lord of the Rings fans. You can see the origin of Aragorn and Arwen as well as Eowyn, Gandalf, the ring and Isildur's sword.
Of course the vast differences in where the stories go is also part of the fun. Speaking of fun, you might find it lacking in the latter parts as it turns into a real tragedy, still compelling though. Torn between a 3 or 4 score for this one but a i said a little long winded.
I read the full version (i think) by William Morris 1876. ( )
  wreade1872 | Nov 28, 2021 |
Considering that the culture which recorded this saga of the Volsung kits was so different rom thos who wrote the King Arthur legends it is surprising how many abject similarities there are between the two. Who knows which was actually recorded or told first (oral traditions being what they are), but there was clearly some cross-cultural influence occurring. The recurring motifs of kinsman betrayal are more prevalent for the Volsungs than for Arthur, but it is clear that families brought together for diplomacy or through betrayal for love/sex will always result in chaos and death. It makes me wonder how drunk these people were if there's so much wife-swapping goping on - since obviously being magically disguised can't be a reality. Maybe they were so completely callous when it came to sex and offspring that such practises were commonplace. ( )
  JaimieRiella | Feb 25, 2021 |
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» Add other authors (3 possible)

Author nameRoleType of authorWork?Status
Anonymousprimary authorall editionsconfirmed
Byock, Jesse L.Translatorsecondary authorsome editionsconfirmed
Byock, Jessie L.Introductionsecondary authorsome editionsconfirmed
Ennis, JaneIntroductionsecondary authorsome editionsconfirmed
Faulkner, PeterEditorsecondary authorsome editionsconfirmed
Febbraro, AnnalisaTranslatorsecondary authorsome editionsconfirmed
Grimstad, KaarenEditorsecondary authorsome editionsconfirmed
Gutman, Robert W.Introductionsecondary authorsome editionsconfirmed
Harris, WilliamTranslatorsecondary authorsome editionsconfirmed
Koch, LudovicaIntroductionsecondary authorsome editionsconfirmed
Koch, LudovicaEditorsecondary authorsome editionsconfirmed
Kuldkepp, MartTranslatorsecondary authorsome editionsconfirmed
Magnusson, EirikrTranslatorsecondary authorsome editionsconfirmed
Moosburger, Théo de BorbaTranslatorsecondary authorsome editionsconfirmed
Morris, WilliamTranslatorsecondary authorsome editionsconfirmed
Otten, MarcelTranslatorsecondary authorsome editionsconfirmed
SPARLING, H. HALLIDAYEditorsecondary authorsome editionsconfirmed
Sparling, Henry HallidayIntroductionsecondary authorsome editionsconfirmed
van den Toorn, M.C.Introductionsecondary authorsome editionsconfirmed
Webb, PhilipCover designersecondary authorsome editionsconfirmed
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To my daughter Ashley and the fun we had telling the Sigurd story on a trout fishing trip

(Penguin Classics version, translated by Jesse L. Byock)
First words
Here we begin by telling of a man who was named Sigi, and it was said that he was the son of Odin.

(translated by Jesse L. Byock)
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(Click to show. Warning: May contain spoilers.)
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The Saga of the Volsungs is an Icelandic epic of special interest to admirers of Richard Wagner, who drew heavily upon this Norse source in writing his Ring Cycle and a primary source for writers of fantasy such as J. R. R. Tolkien and romantics such as William Morris.A trove of traditional lore, it tells of love, jealousy, vengeance, war, and the mythic deeds of the dragonslayer, Sigurd the Volsung.Byock's comprehensive introduction explores the history, legends, and myths contained in the saga and traces the development of a narrative that reaches back to the period of the great folk migrations in Europe when the Roman Empire collapsed.

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Book description
Written by an unknown author in thirteenth-century Iceland, The Saga of the Volsungs is the greatest of the mythic-legendary tales of early Scandinavia. A prose work with epic sweep that tells the extraordinary story of Sigurd the dragon slayer, the saga is based on ancient cycles of heroic poetry carried to Iceland by Norse seaman during the Viking Age.

The saga, whose roots reach deep into the oral culture of the ancient North, recounts the loving and warring of tribal kings and great heroes. Attila the Hun, Valkyries (warrior women of power and anger), and the war god Odin all play major roles. Woven into the medieval narrative is invaluable information concerning early beliefs, including the magical treasure of the Rhine, stories of giants, gods, and creatures. The tale of the hero Sigurd and his family the Volsungs was hugely popular in the Viking world, and the Icelandic saga is related to the medieval German poem the Nibelungenlied. Richard Wagner based much of his Ring of the Nibelung on The Saga of the Volsungs. The Introduction to this edition will open up the world of the sagas to the expert and non-expert alike.
Publisher's description: An unforgettable tale of princely jealousy, unrequited love, greed and vengeance, the Saga of the Volsungs is one of the great books of world literature.
Based on Viking-Age poems, the saga combines mythology, legend and sheer human drama. At its heart are the heroic deeds of Sigurd the dragon slayer who acquires runic knowledge from one of Odin's valkyries. Yet it is also set in a very human world, incorporating oral memories of the fourth and fifth centuries, when Attila the Hun and other warriors fought on the northern frontiers of the Roman empire. An illuminating Introduction links the historical Huns, Burgundians and Goths with the events of this Icelandic saga, whose author claimed that Sigurd's name was 'known in all tongues north of the Greek Ocean, and so it must remain while the world endures'. With its ill-fated Rhinegold, the sword reforged, and the magic ring of power, the saga resembles the Nibelungenlied. It has been a primary source for fantasy writers, such as William Morris and J. R. R. Tolkien, and for Richard Wagner's Ring Cycle.
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An edition of this book was published by Penguin Australia.

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