ly
records never extend over more than one generation, and sometimes they
deal with but a few years. They are half-way between romance and
history, with the balance oftenest in favor of truth. In this group are
found _Egils Saga_, known at second hand to Warton, the _Eyrbyggja
Saga_, translated by Walter Scott, and the _Laxdaela Saga_. It is the
_Laxdaela Saga_ that gives the story told by Morris in "The Lovers of
Gudrun." Among sagas it is famous for its fine portrayal of character.

The saga and the poem tell the story of two neighboring farms, Herdholt
and Bathsted, whose sons and daughters work out a dire tragedy. Kiartan
and Bodli are the son and foster-son of the first house, and Gudrun is
the daughter of the second. These are the principal personages in the
drama, though the list of the other _dramatis personae_ is a long one.
Not only in the name of its heroine does the story suggest the
_Nibelungenlied_. The machinery of the Norse stories resembles the
German story's in many of its parts. In this version of Morris, the main
features of the saga are kept, and distracting details are properly
subordinated to the principal interest. Through the nineteen divisions
of this story the interest moves rapidly, and wonder as to the issue is
never lost. As a story-teller, Morris is distinctly powerful in this
poem, and all the qualities that endear the story-teller to us are here
found joined to many that make the poet a favorite with us. There are no
lyrics in the poem--the original saga was without the song-snatches that
are often found in sagas--but there are dramatic scenes that recall the
power of the Master-poet. Least of all the poems in the _Earthly
Paradise_ does "The Lovers of Gudrun" show the Chaucerian influence, and
the reader must be captious indeed who complains of the length of this
story.

To the unenlightened reader this poem reveals no traits that are
un-English. What there is of Old Norse flavor here is purely spiritual.
The original story being in prose, no attempt could be made to keep
original characteristics in verse-form. So "The Lovers of Gudrun" can
stand on its own merits as an English poem; no excuses need be made for
it on the plea that it is a translation.

Local color is not laid on the canvas after the figures have been
painted, but all the tints in the persons and the things are grandly
Norse. This story is a true romance, in that the scene is far removed
from the present day, and the