Project Gutenberg's The Story of the Volsungs, (Volsunga Saga), by Anonymous

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Title: The Story of the Volsungs, (Volsunga Saga)
With Excerpts from the Poetic Edda

Author: Anonymous

Release Date: December, 1997 [EBook #1152]
Posting Date: August 7, 2008
Last Updated: October 25, 2008

Language: English

Character set encoding: ASCII

*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE STORY OF THE VOLSUNGS ***

Produced by Douglas B. Killings

THE STORY OF THE VOLSUNGS, (VOLSUNGA SAGA)

WITH EXCERPTS FROM THE POETIC EDDA

By Anonymous

Originally written in Icelandic (Old Norse) in the thirteenth century
A.D., by an unknown hand. However, most of the material is based
substantially on previous works, some centuries older. A few of these
works have been preserved in the collection of Norse poetry known as the
"Poetic Edda".

The text of this edition is based on that published as "The Story of
the Volsungs", translated by William Morris and Eirikr Magnusson (Walter
Scott Press, London, 1888).

Douglas B. Killings

SELECTED BIBLIOGRAPHY:

RECOMMENDED READING--

Anonymous: "Kudrun", Translated by Marion E. Gibbs & Sidney Johnson
(Garland Pub., New York, 1992).

Anonymous: "Nibelungenlied", Translated by A.T. Hatto (Penguin Classics,
London, 1962).

Saxo Grammaticus: "The First Nine Books of the Danish History",
Translated by Oliver Elton (London, 1894; Reissued by the Online
Medieval and Classical Library as E-Text OMACL #28, 1997).

INTRODUCTION

It would seem fitting for a Northern folk, deriving the greater and
better part of their speech, laws, and customs from a Northern root,
that the North should be to them, if not a holy land, yet at least
a place more to be regarded than any part of the world beside; that
howsoever their knowledge widened of other men, the faith and deeds of
their forefathers would never lack interest for them, but would always
be kept in remembrance. One cause after another has, however, aided
in turning attention to classic men and lands at the cost of our own
history. Among battles, "every schoolboy" knows the story of Marathon
or Salamis, while it would be hard indeed to find one who did