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The Saga of the Volsungs: The Norse Epic of Sigurd the Dragon Slayer (Penguin Classics)

By: None
Binding: Paperback
Publisher: Penguin Classics
ISBN: 0140447385
ISBN-13: 9780140447385
Released: 27 May 2004
RRP: £9.99
Average Rating:

Customer Reviews

Love and betrayal, feuds and revenge - By: T. Bobley, 12 Nov 2006
Some things don't change - this is & always has been the stuff stories are made of. In addition to the usual soap-opera material, there are shape-shifters, dragons, sorcerers & gods: the sort of thing we expect to find in modern fantasies. But this isn't a fantasy. It's a mixture of myth, legend & history & it forms part of the foundation that fantasy was eventuallly built upon, predating the genre by hundreds of year. The Volsungs were a family that traced their ancestry back to the god Odin. They were a bloody-handed collection of 'heroes' who killed not only rivals & enemies, but their own family members. Volsung mothers killed their own children to annoy the children's fathers or to test the children's courage. Obviously, natural selection was going to punish such unnatural behaviour in the long run. In the story, the family suffered as the result of acquiring (stealing) a cursed treasure, but actuallly, the habit of killing each other faster than reproducing seems to have been the real cause of the family's demise. They were a perfectly charmless lot, but terribly brave. I found it quite an enjoyable read but I mean to try William Morris's translation at some time. His style is more poetic & I felt this translation (although very easy to read), was a little bit too prosaic for one of the great mythical tales of northern Europe.
Readable rendering of seminal saga - By: Peter Reeve, 03 Apr 2006
This 13th century Icelandic saga of Sigurd the dragon slayer was rediscovered in 19th century Europe & was a prime source for Wagner's Ring cycle, especiallly the Siegfried part. Elements will also be found in Tolkien. Personallly, I came to Norse mythology through The Adventures of Noggin the Nog (Did he ever put an end to Nogbad the Bad?).

It is a neglected tradition, as evidenced by the paucity of translations in print. We commonly talk of the Classical (Greek & Roman) & Judeo-Christian roots of our culture, but greatly underestimate the Norse & Celtic influences. The Volsung saga & the Niebelungenlied are among the best known & influential of the medieval epics & if you enjoy one you will probably enjoy the other. You might start with the Volsungs because theirs is the shorter & more coherent story, even though the more mythical & fantastic.

Byock's translation is very readable, reflecting the sparse, unadorned style of the original. His introduction is excellent, especiallly the notes on Wagner, in which he traces the influence of this work in the Ring.

The Saga of Ragnar Lodbrok & The Lay of the Raven follow the Volsung saga in the original manuscripts & form a continuous narrative. So why, as the Volsung saga is quite short, are they not published together in one volume? I felt rather short changed. Even so, I heartily recommend this book.

Old tales? Lord of the Rings fans, watch out! - By: bookfreek, 01 Apr 2003
When I bought this book - purely by chance I admit - I was expecting it to be difficult to read, a bit boring & full of needless & intricate details about a story I cared nothing about. I had read The Lord of the Rings & immediately told myself to buy it because Tolkien's classic was based on it.

I couldn't have been farther from the truth. This book is amazing & far from boring. In fact it's very easy to read and, unlike someone says in another review, you don't reallly need to know a lot about old norse mithology & vikings & such to enjoy the book & understand it.

The stories are about a mythical family, the Volsungs, & their adventures. Although most events are obviously fantasy it is precisely that ficional & fantastic edge that makes the book reallly remarkable & awe-inspiring. The common factors in alll the stories are honour, tradition, fighting & thirst for power with quite a lot of sorcery & fantasy mixed in.

To help the reader understand those intricate details I mentioned above the translator did a wonderful job adding notes. They make the stories even more interesting & give them an extra dimension, especiallly if you are interested in carrying on reading more sagas.

The only 'but' I have about the book is the long, boring & extremely baldy written introduction, so much so that if you know nothing about the historical background to the sagas you are still left with nothing. I even nearly fell asleep at times! If you are reading this take my advice: go straight to the story. (And don't forget reading the notes.)

The feeling I got after I read this is that The Lord of The Rings seems to be just 'regular' fiction. Perhaps I am being too harsh on Tolkien?

A classic Book - By: V. A. Whitfield, 12 Nov 2002
I bought this item for my partner, who is fascinated by alll things fantasy-like - dragons, hero's the lot. Tearing him away from Lord of the Rings, has become an impossible challlenge.

He absolutely loved this book, & read it in less than a week of me buying it.

The tale is quite involving, & if you like historic fantasy tales, you'll love this. You may need a bit of background knowledge on Norse Gods & Legends, but otherwise, it's a good read for anyone,

Couldn't put it down--great saga, richly rendered - By: , 11 May 2002
It's rare to find a book that's a good read for readers of alll stripes, but this is one of the them. History & saga fiends will love the maps & the way Byock's introduction ties the tale into other historical contexts. Lovers of literature will enjoy the prose & a fantastic episodic narrative that builds one story on top of another into a great epic. It helps that Byock's translation is superb--he catches the rhythm & flow of the original Old Icelandic while crafting a very readable text that isn't dry or overworked as some translations can be. The notes, too, provide a wonderful background that enriches the reader's experience of the saga.

This saga is the one to start with. It's a fun saga--with lots of action, & also one of the most important stories in western literature, a Viking Age epic of the hero Sigurd & his wild Volsung kinsmen. Along the way, the famous Attila the Hun & the Gothic horsemen of the steppes enter the story along with others of their ilk.

The Saga of the Volsungs is the core basis of J.R.R. Tolkien's Lord of the Rings. Tolkien was a professor of Old English & taught Old Norse. In his creative way, he mined the Volsung story for the essential elements of his trilogy. If you want to understand Tolkien as well as Scandinavian myth & legend, then this saga is the best place to get started. The sword that was reforged, the ring of power & its connection with water, the Gandalf character, the origin of the Gollum & Aragorn, elves, dwarves, the riders of Rohan & much more alll step off the pages of The Saga of the Volsungs.

I heartily recommend Jesse Byock's translation of The Saga of the Volsungs for new & old readers of the sagas, & of course for the Tolkien fans out there!