The Poetic Edda (Oxford World's Classics) Paperback – July 15, 2009

The most entertaining and educational piece I have listened to

I used the product for amateur research in Norse Mythology. So educational!

A little Smaller then expected, came with some sort of brown smudge on the white banner?? Wont come off. Oh well. It isnt sticky so I don't mind. Light weight, has reat information, easy to understand.

Translation is a big deal. The smallest words interpreted different ways can change the whole meaning. This book was recommended by the Norroena Society as being one of the more accurate translations. Trying to translate the meaning and thinking of an ancient society that has been lost and crushed by Christian rule has a huge impact on the end result. What were the social norms at the time? How did our ancestors view nature, god's, marriage, property, community, and family?It's interesting to read the same stanza from different translations and the message is completely different in parts while the same in others.

I had the Hollander version for years and made the mistake of donating it. So I wanted to get another copy, so tried this version. It may be accurate but it's woefully unpoetic. I'm ordering the Hollander version again, but will keep the Oxford version for reference.

This is not to review the Eddic poems themselves, but Larrington's translation of them. I've given her translation five stars because it is the most accurate complete translation available in English, and as such, along with Ursula Dronke's editions, the only English translation to be recommended as an aid to the student reading the poetic Edda in Old Norse. That being said, while it is the best available, it is still not completely reliable, so be careful. For a proper study of the Poetic Edda you'll need to also consult the glossary of Lafarge and Tucker, the massive Frankfurt commentary (in German), as well as the editions of Jónas and Gísli published in Icelandic.For the reader not intending to read the Old Norse, I would say any of the translations of the Edda from Larrington, Orchard, Crawford, or Dodd can be recommended, each for different reasons.

I found the Larrington translation to be very readable and the introductory material and notes to be instructive and helpful.

Read it

This is, first off, a beautifully bound book with a gorgeous cover. Fabulously finished and tactile, the textured finish fairly begs you to open it. You don't get this with Kindle!The paper itself is of a quality thickness and texture, which adds to the reading experience.The Edda itself is quite dense to read, but comes with sound explanatory text and copious footnotes of varying quality when it comes to imparting additional illuminating information. The poetry is rendered well enough by the translator (I do not read Old Norse, so I can only judge on the metre, rhythm and sense of the translation), and sometimes lines jump out from the page with the precision and pungency of a well-chosen lyric.I would suggest that the Edda here would be a good complement to a general mythology of the Vikings for a general reader, while there are nuggets squirrelled away here that would appear to reflect closely upon Norse domestic life of the period. Several tales reflect obliquely or direcly upon the role and status of women in Norse society for example.In all it is a scholarly work that I am enjoying reading as my current bedtime book. Like all poetry, it is meant to be read aloud to fully savour the words within. I am enjoying revisiting aspects of tales that I have not looked at for many years.

It's been a great display item, people think I'm really smart and interesting for owning it. Don't even need to read it because other people are so threatend by my vastly superior intelligence that they don't ask about the contents. We all just acknowledge the vibe.

This is a review of the Oxford World Classics edition of 1996, a new translation by Carolyne Larrington. She provides a fifteen-page introduction, although each of the thirty-five ‘chapters’ has its own brief introductory words. Without the introductions I am not sure I would have understood what was being sung – and even with the introduction and notes I was still often unsure of “the allusions and obscurities.” In short, this book was not an easy or even enjoyable read. Her translation is direct and does not attempt to be poetic itself.‘The Poetic Edda’ (‘Edda’ means ‘poetics’) is an Icelandic compilation made around 1270. Still kept in Reykjavik, Larrington describes it as “an unprepossessingly-looking codex the size of a fat paperback.” It is therefore not one single poem, nor even one single conception, but a collection of different poems on different subjects. They are thought to date to the first millennium, that is before Christianity arrived in Scandinavia.Larrington tells us that the book has the “oldest and most original form” of many scenes we think about when considering the myths of the pagan north, its characters including the likes of Odin, Thor, Brunhilde, Sigurd, and Yggdrasill. Indeed, if I had read the ‘Kalevala’ with one ear on Sibelius, I read the ‘The Poetic Edda’ with my other ear on Wagner (for example ‘The Lay of Fafnir’). And the very first chapter – ‘The Seeress’s Prophecy’ – has the names of dwarves that Tolkien would later use. But there are many, many more names included. Indeed, there is a twenty-five-page index at the back of the book which lists almost a thousand.In short, this is a book I will keep for reference rather than as a good read.

Great item.Why is everything pre christian called mythology. I guess that makes cristianity true, right? Haha

The book itself is good.This review is for the Kindle format of the book.It is not properly formatted for Kindle. I could not adjust the font size as is standard in Kindle versions.I tried to contact customer service but there was no option to do so for this purchase, so I've returned it and ordered the paperback.Posting this review in the vain hope someone who can fix the issue will notice, for future readers.