Tag: Simon Brett

The Prose Edda

This is Part Three of Book One of Legends of The Ring: The Prose Edda by Snorri Sturluson (1179-1241) “an Icelander living during the remarkable literary flowering of the twelfth and thirteenth centuries which produced among other things the great Icelandic sagas” (Magee).

The translation is by Jean I. Young.

It was the rich heritage of poetry, much of which he quotes, that provided Snorri’s material for his Edda. He blends Norse history and mythology in this work. “His opening ‘Delusion of Gylfi’, in which the main mythological events and characters are depicted, is presented inside an elaborate framework of illusion and deception, conforming to the Church image of heathendom as trickery.” (Magee)

“King Gylfi ruled the lands that are now called Sweden….[he] was a wise man and skilled in magic” says Snorri. Disguised as an old man he visited Asgard (home of the gods) to discover the secrets of the Aesir (the main body of the Norse gods). By question and answer he is fooled by Loki, the mischief maker, as a device for explaining the creation and ultimate destruction of the universe. Taking the poem “Sibyl’s Prophesy” as his source we learn that ‘In the beginning/ not anything existed,/ there was no sand nor sea/ nor cooling waves;/ earth was unknown/ and heaven above/ only Ginnungagap [primal void] / was – there was no grass’. Thus the sun and stars, the seasons, the winds, humanity, and everything else. The main Aesir are named and their stories told.

We learn of Yggdrasil and its meaning. This is the ash tree “the best and greatest of all trees; its branches spread out over the whole world and reach up over heaven. The tree is held in position by three roots that spread far out; one is among the Aesir, the second among the frost ogres where once was Ginnungagap, and the third extends over Niflheim [the Underworld]….[the serpent] Nidhogg gnaws at the root from below….the hart devours it from above…”

Here are more of Simon Brett’s powerful engravings.

Predictions of the end of the world include “Surt will fling fire over the earth and burn up the whole world” and “the serpent churns up waves”, but there is hope that “While the world is being burned by Surt, in a place called Hoddmimir’s Forest, will be concealed two human beings called Lif and Lifthrasir [Life and Desire for Life]. Their food will be the morning dews, and from these men will come so great a stock that the whole world will be peopled…..”

The second part of The Prose Edda tells of the deaths of Fafnir, Regin, Sigurd, Brynhild, and the last of the Volsungs.

The Saga Of The Volsungs

This is Part One of Book One of The Ring Legends of Scandinavia. “We begin with what promises to be the furthest-reaching, fullest possible version on the human side of the Ring legends. The Saga of the Volsungs stretches from end to end of the story, telling of the two great families: the Volsungs, into which Sigurd is born, and the Gjukungs, into which he marries….. The Saga… was composed by an anonymous author between 1200 and 1270, probably 1260 and almost certainly in Iceland. As such it belongs to the flourishing Icelandic saga culture of the late twelfth and thirteenth centuries.” (Elizabeth Magee)

This version is based on the text edited and translated by R.G. Finch in London 1965.

This story involves myth, magic, superstition, deception, trickery, treachery, love triangles, family history, bloodthirsty conflicts, rivalry, and mystery.

Reminiscent of the death of William Rufus on a deer hunt in England’s New Forest, the tale begins with Bredi’s murder by Sigi, reputed to be a son of Odin. Throughout the saga Odin appears as a “man” with various descriptions and significant actions. Thus reality merges with myth, and magic, as in “….a large pair of stocks was fetched, and at a certain spot in the forest the ten brothers had their legs clamped in, and there they sat all day, and night came on. And at midnight an old she-wolf came out from the forest to where they were sitting in the stocks. She was large and evil-looking. What she did was to bite one of them to death, thereupon devour him, then go away…….on nine consecutive nights the same wolf appeared at midnight, and each time she she killed and ate one of them until all were dead and Sigmund alone remained.” Trickery is employed by Signy, daughter of King Volsung to outwit and destroy the wolf.

“Numerous spears hurtled through the air, and arrows, too, but his norns looked after him, so he remained unscathed….”. “Norns, according to Magee, “are semi-divine female beings who weave the web of fate: past, present and future; the valkyries are Odin’s wish-maidens, who ride through the heavens, sway battles, select those heroes selected for Valhall, and serve the inexhaustible brew of ale to them when they arrive. Some are said to be Odin’s own daughters….”

Most confusing for readers such as me is that names are variable and interchangeable. The Icelandic Sigurd is the German Siegfried. The Sigmund of the above paragraph is the father of Sigurd who also has a son Sigmund. I doubt that I will get my head around all these, although the translation is fluent and very readable, and there is a good glossary of names in the appendices; it is splendid story anyway.

In addition to the fluid prose we have much poetry such as “Gold is now rendered,/ recompense for you,/ much for my head./’Tis not luck will be/ the lot of your son:/ Death to you both it brings.” put in the mouth of Loki, the mischief maker of the gods. Brunhild’s comprehensive advice to Sigurd, beginning “War runes you must know/ if wise you would be. / On sword-guard grave them,/ on hilt sockets, / on hilt’s iron grip, / and twice say Tyr’s name” and continuing with such stanzas as “Speech runes you must know,/ to be spared, if you wish/ repayment of grief rendered./ Wind them about,/ weave them around,/ side by side set them/ there at that Thing/ where throngs shall come,/ all to full session faring”. Tyr is the god of war; Thing is the parliament. Further such advice such as “Watch out for trickery from your friends” is delivered in fluent prose.

As I explained earlier, Simon Brett’s powerful illustrations are given in a block between pages 360 and 361. This is because there is so much overlap in the stories that each engraving could serve more than one part of the book.

Here are today’s offerings which may well be repeated as we progress through the work.

This evening we dined on more of the roast lamb with the addition of mushrooms and fresh vegetables. Neither of us imbibed.

Reading And Listening

This afternoon Elizabeth visited for a while wishing me well as she was at a wedding on my birthday.

After this I listened to the Test Match between England and West Indies on BBC News when not reading the introduction to

The first of these images is of the boards, back and front, of my edition; the second the Title Page and Frontispiece by Simon Brett.

Elizabeth Magee has gathered and woven together the array of saga, myth, and legend from the Germanic and Scandinavian peoples drawn on by Wagner in his Ring series. Because of the nature of the collection, involving similar but differently told stories from differing sources, Simon Brett’s powerful illustrations are gathered together in one block.

In Scandinavian mythology Yggdrasil, the frontispiece image, is most significant. “Underlying it is a whole cosmos, a universe created by the interaction of fire and ice and embedded in the great void. Central to the cosmos is the World Tree, Yggdrasil. According to Snorri, the three roots securing it reach down to the underworld Niflheim, out to the frost ogres and up to the sky among the gods and light elves. Its branches spread up to heaven and over the earth. The world is formed of concentric circles, surrounded by sea. Midgard is the home of humankind; rimward are the giants, and right at the hub is Asgard, seat of the gods on earth. Bifrost, the rainbow bridge, brings the gods every day from earth to heaven. Within the earth dwell dwarfs and dark elves.” (Magee)

I will follow the editor’s sections and add the pictures as I work my way through the book.

This evening we dined at The Lazy Lion in Milford on Sea, where I enjoyed fish pie with a minted melange of peas and other green veg followed by a summer fruits créme brulée with which I drank Flack’s Double Drop; Jackie’s choice was sun-dried tomato and pesto with halloumi cheese with which she drank Diet Cola.

Clarissa

I spent much of a dull but dry day finishing my second reading of

prompted by the ‘Richardson’s Novels’ essay in Leslie Stephen’s ‘Hours in a Library’, in which he praises this as the best of the author’s works.

Originally published in serial form during 1747-48, then in eight bound volumes, The Folio Society edition has been packed into two volumes comprising

1,500 tightly compressed pages containing well over a million words, of which this is an example.

If you are able to cast your mind back almost 300 years to a time without television soaps, with no internet, devoid of printers or photocopiers; when reading was done by candlelight and sedan chairs served as taxis; if you are satisfied with the leisurely journey offered by the lengthy prose which entertained those of that era you may well be entranced by this novel.

If you enjoy a fast pace of economical language leading to a quick conclusion; if you prefer watching your serials on streamed television freeing you from deferred gratification before you race ahead to the next, you probably wouldn’t last the course.

Yes, this is a long haul, and perhaps you would need to be an ex-marathon runner forced to slow down to take it on. The first time I read it I was commuting for an hour and a half each way on an intercity train.

Nevertheless this tragic tale presented in the form of exchanges of letters of varying lengths relaying differing perspectives on the same events is in fact compelling reading, if you don’t nod off. It is difficult to write without spoilers – as regular followers will know I try not to reveal the story, but perhaps I can point out that Richardson begins and ends with a duel, an example of his neatly tying up all the strands.

Each of the main protagonists details events and their inner thoughts to a trusted friend with whom they are not necessarily in agreement. Thus morals, honour, deception and devious devices are explored. The language, grammar, and sentence construction is not so different from today, but it is necessary to understand how the writers express themselves. Several copies of the correspondence were sometimes made and passed backwards and forwards to recipients. All this without modern reproductive devices.

A woman, once married, had no rights to property – any she owned became that of her husband, whom she was bound to obey. Although there is now no uniform marriage service in UK it is only 100 years since the female partner was no longer expected to “obey”. Jackie and I can’t quite remember, but we believe that when we first married in 1968, she vowed to obey me; not so in 2017.

It can be seen then, that one motive for marriage was the acquisition of assets and thus the potential enrichment of a family. This is one of Richardson’s themes, as is the domination of the husband.

Angus Wilson’s introduction to this edition is knowledgable and informative.

I am still limited in the number of illustrations I am able to include in posts, so I cannot feature every one of Simon Brett’s drawings.

This one ‘Meeting at Dusk’, appears opposite the sample page 166 above, which conveys the lady’s sensible mistrust.

‘Mr Solmes at Breakfast’ accurately conveys the oppressive atmosphere;

while ‘Miss Howe Writes a Letter’

has, on the reverse, an indication of the deception being employed.

Skilled as these illustrations are, they are rather too evocative of the text for me to include some of the more upsetting ones.

Late this afternoon Becky brought Flo and Ellie home and stayed the night.

We dined on another of Jackie’s shepherd’s pies with similar vegetables as yesterday with which she finished the Sauvignon Blanc, I drank more of the Douro, and the others abstained.