The Legend of Sigurd & Gudrún

and other stories of that ilk, you will love this! And, you'll find hints of LOTR and the The Silmarillion: a dangerous ring, a dragonslayer, Mirkwood, dwarves, enchanted swords, and tragic romances. It's all there. Be forwarned that without Christopher Tolkien's notes and commentaries, it's hard to make sense of some of the verses. Christopher's writing style can also be dry and confusing at times, but I felt that the... Read Full Review

In my opinion as a tolkien devotee one can never get enough tolkien. I salivate at the mere thought that one day his translations of the beowulf poem being published, or his unfinished the Fall of Arthur. The book has another excellent scolarly dissertation by Tolkien. This time on the Elder or poetic Edda, or saemunds edda. The poetry in his recreation is powerfull and though not the same metre as the anglo saxon mode... Read Full Review

When J.R.R. Tolkien wasn't teaching philology at Oxford or penning classic fantasy novels, he did some retellings of old poetry. VERY old poetry. "The Legend of Sigurd and Gudrun" is one such work: a verse working of the Norse legend of the hero Sigurd and his adventures, as well as the two doomed women who loved him. The wording is a bit awkward in places, and a good chunk of the book's content is commentary by his son... Read Full Review

A few corrections need to be made to the reviews already here. First: This book is NOT a translation. It is a set of two original poems by Tolkien, with supplemental materials. The poems retell one of the most famous stories in Norse legend--the sources are the two Eddas, the Volsunga Saga, and others--but Tolkien gives here his own version. The poem is in the medieval Norse meter and style, but it is a new version, again,... Read Full Review

Anyone who reads J.R.R. Tolkien knows that he was an engaging story teller, an erudite scholar, and a lover of language. In The Legend of Sigurd and Gudrun we see all three aspects as clearly displayed as in any of his previously published material. From his earliest school days Tolkien loved the old Norse legends and "The Great Story of the North," told in the ancient Norse languages which were part of the ancestry of... Read Full Review