Reviews

The Poetic Edda by Unknown

Only show reviews with written explanations

lgrunwald's review against another edition

5.0

5 out of 5!

This is a review of the revised edition by Carolyne Larrington.

Honestly, all I have to say is....wow! This was an absolutely brilliant (in my opinion the best) english translation of the Poetic Edda to date. Not only is Carolyne Larrington's introduction of the book worth the price alone but the way she lays everything out in such an accessible way while keeping with the poems rhythms is so inspiring! Her extensive notes and comments also add so much depth and value and historical context to each of the poems. Her revised edition also includes poems not originally included in the original Codex Regis such as: Baldr's Dreams (Baldrs Draumar), The List of Rig (Rígsþula), The Song of Hyndla (Hyndluljóð,) The Song of Grotti (Grottasǫngr), Groa's Chant and The Sayings of Fiolsvinn (Svipdagsmál), The Waking of Angantyr (Hervararkviða), and an additional edition of the Vǫluspá that was in the Hauksbók. Which, was apparently a 14th century of prose written for Haukr Erlendsson who was an Icelandic official. Very cool!

From the creation of the world, the deaths of the gods, the adventures of Odin and Thor, the story of Sigurd the dragon slayer and his vengeful wife Gudrun the Poetic Edda is an absolute masterpiece. My personal favourites from this edition have to be the first version of The Seeres's Prophecy, Sayings of the High One, The Lay of Fafnir, Poem of Atli, and The Song of Grotti.

cayley_graph's review against another edition

Go to review page

dark mysterious fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

I started off disliking all of the stories, with my modern sensibilities. Wayland the smith is dubious with consent, at best, with his wife (the one that leaves him without a glance backwards) and then punishes the king that imprisoned him by murdering his sons and raping his daughter. It’s a story from a hard and harsh world. When Loki insults the gods, he insults the women by calling them promiscuous and he insults the men by likening them to women and/or calling their wives promiscuous. Alviss is a bearable story. Thor protects his daughter (Tolkien copied his trick of using sunrise to turn the evil-doer into stone) and I liked all the names of the things and the places. Also, this book is where Tolkien sourced all the names of the dwarves and many other place names, like Mirkwood. In the end, I was engrossed by the Völsunga saga and the power of story.

phatcat1877's review against another edition

Go to review page

adventurous challenging dark medium-paced

4.0

pigeonindustrialcomplex's review against another edition

Go to review page

adventurous medium-paced

3.5

disconightwing's review against another edition

Go to review page

3.0

Narrator is the worst narrator and that's why the three stars. I needed something to listen to at work.

fieldofhats's review against another edition

Go to review page

adventurous challenging emotional funny informative inspiring medium-paced

5.0

As a Norse Pagan, it’s hard to rate this book. These are the stories of my Gods and the great heroes of their culture. Not all of them are great; some are disturbing, some are boring, and others are hard to follow. But these stories and poems really are wonderful. And Jackson Crawford’s translation is amazing! I loved that he included not only the Havamal, but the fun and heartfelt Cowboy Havamal. I haven’t read any other translations (although I plan to rectify that soon), but this one was a very good beginner-friendly one.