The Poetic Edda Volume II: Mythological Poems

by Dronke, Ursula

• ISBN13: 9780198111818
• ISBN10: 0198111819
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 1997-12-04
• Publisher: Clarendon Press

Summary

This volume presents a wholly new edition of five of the most brilliant and celebrated poems of the Poetic Edda: 'The Sibyl's Prophecy', 'The Rigmarole of Rigr', 'Wayland's Poem', 'Skirnir's Lay', and 'Loki's Quarrel'. New textual readings and interpretations are established. New light is shedon the Franks Casket and on King Alfred's interest in Wayland; new links are found between the Viking and Christian worlds. A close translation accompanies the text to give the non-specialist reader a transparent and rhythmic sense of the original. For each poem the sequence of ideas is traced inthe introduction and the interpretation substantiated by a detailed commentary. Much consideration is given to the themes of the poems and the ancient ideas in which they are rooted: analogues come from many sources - Irish, Anglo-Saxon, Sanskrit, African, and Finnish. The excellence and variety ofthe poems give a rare insight into the genius of oral poets of the Viking age.

Table of Contents

PREFACE	vii	(3)
LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS	x	(1)
THE MANUSCRIPTS	xi	(1)
THE PRINTED TEXT	xii	(2)
Symbols Used in the Texts	xiii	(1)
ABBREVIATIONS	xiv
VQLUSPA	3	(158)
Contents	3	(4)
Text and Translation	7	(18)
Introduction	25	(80)
Commentary on the Text	105	(49)
Appendix: Baldrs Draumar Text, Translation, and Commentary	154	(7)
RIGSPULA	161	(80)
Contents	161	(1)
Text and Translation	162	(12)
Introduction	174	(41)
Commentary on the Text	215	(26)
VQLUNDARKVIDA	241	(90)
Contents	241	(2)
Text and Translation	243	(12)
Introduction	255	(46)
Commentary on the Text	301	(26)
Index of Personal Names	327	(4)
LOKASENNA	331	(44)
Contents	331	(1)
Text and Translation	332	(17)
Introduction	349	(7)
Commentary on the Text	356	(19)
SKIRNISMAL	375	(40)
Contents	375	(1)
Text and Translation	376	(10)
Introduction	386	(18)
Commentary on the Text	404	(11)
BIBLIOGRAPHY	415