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A review by dee9401
The Poetic Edda by Unknown
5.0
I picked this volume up serendipitously, as part of a trade at one of my local used book stores. This was a fantastic volume. I'd never read any Norse mythology or epic poetry, only the snippets I'd picked up in comic books or movies. This was so much better and having read reams of Greek and Roman mythology and epics, it was cool to see the various similarities we humans have in explaining the world around us.
Several of the poems reminded me of Hesiod's Theogony (e.g. The Seeress's Prophesy, Vafthrudnir's Sayings, Grimnir's Sayings) as well as his Works and Days (e.g. The Sayings of the High One). The former when the Poetic Edda covers the history of the universe and the gods and people in it; the latter when it covers morals, duties, social contracts, and such. The Lay of Atli & the Greenlandic Poem of Atli were had similar instances to the Atreus and Thyestes dining "fiasco." I also saw the idea of asking for a decent burial from the one who kills you, like Hector asking Achilles in the Iliad, in the Greenlandic Poem of Atli (Verse 102-4, p. 233).
I loved the creation myth in the Seeress's Prophecy, especially this: "From the south, Sun, companion of the moon, / threw her right hand round the edge of the heaven, / Sun did not know where her hall might be, / the stars did not know where their place might be, / the moon did not know what power he had" (Verse 5, p. 4).
The Sayings of the High Ones had many useful nuggets, many of which pop up throughout the world and throughout time as useful aphorisms. For example: "The foolish man lies awake all night / and worries about things; / he's tired out when the morning comes / and everything's just as bad as it was" (Verse 23, p. 17). Also, on gluttony, we have: "Cattle know when they ought to go home, / and then they leave the pasture; / but the foolish man never knows / the measure of his own stomach" (Verse 21, p. 17). Finally, in today's world, this is still sage advice: "You should never bandy words / with a stupid fool" (Verse 122, p. 31).
The translation by Carolyne Larrington was wonderful. Her general introduction and the introductions to each poem were short, fantastic and eminently useful.
Several of the poems reminded me of Hesiod's Theogony (e.g. The Seeress's Prophesy, Vafthrudnir's Sayings, Grimnir's Sayings) as well as his Works and Days (e.g. The Sayings of the High One). The former when the Poetic Edda covers the history of the universe and the gods and people in it; the latter when it covers morals, duties, social contracts, and such. The Lay of Atli & the Greenlandic Poem of Atli were had similar instances to the Atreus and Thyestes dining "fiasco." I also saw the idea of asking for a decent burial from the one who kills you, like Hector asking Achilles in the Iliad, in the Greenlandic Poem of Atli (Verse 102-4, p. 233).
I loved the creation myth in the Seeress's Prophecy, especially this: "From the south, Sun, companion of the moon, / threw her right hand round the edge of the heaven, / Sun did not know where her hall might be, / the stars did not know where their place might be, / the moon did not know what power he had" (Verse 5, p. 4).
The Sayings of the High Ones had many useful nuggets, many of which pop up throughout the world and throughout time as useful aphorisms. For example: "The foolish man lies awake all night / and worries about things; / he's tired out when the morning comes / and everything's just as bad as it was" (Verse 23, p. 17). Also, on gluttony, we have: "Cattle know when they ought to go home, / and then they leave the pasture; / but the foolish man never knows / the measure of his own stomach" (Verse 21, p. 17). Finally, in today's world, this is still sage advice: "You should never bandy words / with a stupid fool" (Verse 122, p. 31).
The translation by Carolyne Larrington was wonderful. Her general introduction and the introductions to each poem were short, fantastic and eminently useful.