Tag: Snorri Sturluson

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 Heroic Poems Of The Elder Edda

This is Part Two of Book One of Legends of the Ring, taken from Patricia Terry’s “Poems of the Elder Edda” which she has translated apart from three versions from Elizabeth Magee. “compiled in Iceland round 1270 by an anonymous collector or copyist, the collection contains poems composed somewhere in Scandinavia during the tenth and eleventh centuries”. (Magee)

“Originally the poetry collection had no title. The name Elder Edda was adapted from the term Snorri Sturluson coined: Edda, which he used for his own prose work recounting Scandinavian pre-Christian beliefs…..the poems are clearly older than the prose, even if they were written down later……The poems fall into two main groups. One is a set of mythological poems, which we shall return to later. The second group is heroic, and it is these poems that interest us here.” (Magee)

These poems tell the story of Sigurd and his dynasty as mirrored by the Saga of the Volsungs, expressing the key moments and emotions in a much more beautifully poetic manner than could the prose narrative.

Whoever has been primarily responsible for the poetry in this book has presented luscious, flowing, language with a love of alliteration following the original expressive form of verse. Highlights of the story display intense emotions of passion, drama, and action, linked together with short prose passages.

Leaving the details of the tale for those wishing to read for themselves, I can say that these poems are in four groups: Of Heroes, Swanmaidens and Valkyries; Sigurd Ascendant; Sigurd’s Death; Death of the Niflungs; and End of the Line.

As has been seen in https://derrickjknight.com/2024/07/12/the-saga-of-the-volsungs/ myth plays a large part in the sagas.

“Swanmaidens fly through the air wearing their feathers; once they have landed, however, they set their feather cloaks aside and become as other women. A mortal man can gain power over a swanmaiden by hiding her feather cloak so that she can no longer fly away. ……….

….”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….” (Magee)

I offer a few phrases from the verses in order to illustrate the complexity of the alliterations:

“Blades were burning in bloody wounds,/ Long swords lowered….” from The Lay of Hakon

“He set bear steaks to roast on the fire -/ high blazed the faggots from seasoned fir trees,/ wind-dried wood, warming Volund.” from The Lay of Volund

“……….Grani’s bride/ gold-bitted, good at galloping; ” from The First Lay of Helgi Hunding’s Bane

“What kind of fish can swim the falls/ but fails to ward off woe?” from The Lay of Regin

“few things worry a worthy king” from The Lay of Fafnir

The poetry is rich in simile and metaphor.

Advice given to Sigurd by Sigrdrifa, the valkyrie in her eponymous lay is almost identical as that of Brunhild in https://derrickjknight.com/2024/07/12/the-saga-of-the-volsungs/

Here are Simon Brett’s muscular illustrations pertinent to this section.