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kasss 's review for:

Edda by Snorri Sturluson
5.0

I bought this beautiful edition (ISBN 9781904945574 by Gudrun Publishing) during my trip to Norway last year. It's huge, has lovely thick pages, and contains art inspired by the Edda spanning over 300 years from a wide variety of artists. The edition uses the translation by J.I. Young, and 'consists of narrative portions of The Prose Edda, including the whole of the Deluding of Gylfi and all the longer heroic tales incorporated in Poetic Diction' (and has an introduction by Vésteinn Ólason). It's unclear to me how complete the text is, and the text occasionally could use some extra context for readers who do not speak a Scandinavian language (lots of 'and this is why [x] is called [y]' referring to words and expressions that just don't make sense in English).

Potential issues with the translation aside, the art was a genuinely wonderful addition to just reading the Edda by itself and I highly recommend this edition. The stories itself are very interesting, too, and very enjoyable to read! Some stories are so familiar, others feel completely alien. It's fun to compare mythology across time and culture and see common as well as unique themes.