The Poetic Edda ─ Mythological Poems II

This volume presents four of the most intricate and fascinating mythological poems of the Poetic Edda, distinct in theme and style. They are played out between the twilight of Porr's old religion and the daybreak of the new. A man, sure that enemies are near, enters a hall full of diners at a table and calls out `Blessings on the givers'. At once he is welcomed and fed above all he is talked to and encouraged to talk himself; lively debates, discussions, and the sharing of confidences follow. This is `Havamal', an exploration the nature of human knowledge notable for its unforgettable
`Hymiskvida' is an extended variation on the biblical motif of Christ's fishing of the World Serpent, Leviathan, that imprisons the earth. The Norse gods need a bigger cauldron for their festive ale, and can only find it in giant Hymir's home at the World's End. Porr and Tyr take on the quest and are led to success by a dazzling angel, Hymir's girlfriend, who guides flashes of beauty and despair. Porr with imperturbable accuracy to win the cauldron. Porr hooks the World Serpent when fishing with Hymir for supper.

`Grimnismal' is a grandiose monologue by Ooinn as the `Masked God', tortured by fire when in disguise as a wizard. When the king's young son pities him and gives him water, the anger leaves him and he glimpses a new future. The old world flashes back in fascinating scenes of memory, but the present world is in dissolution to be washed in the flood of new life.

`Grottasongr' is a play longing to be acted. Two giant girls are kept as slaves by the Danish King to work at a magic grindstone that they threw long ago into Denmark when playing. They grind out not only gold but kindness and pity. In his avarice the King gives them no rest or refreshment. As he falls asleep to the mill's sound, the girls, bitterly comparing him to their giant kinsmen, drive the mill to destruction.

Ursula Dronke provides parallel translations and new and illuminating textual readings of these celebrated works, which complement those poems contained in The Poetic Edda Volume II: Mythological Poems (1997). Together with the five major texts in that volume, they comprise the richest and most outstanding corpus of mythological poetry preserved in Europe after that of ancient Greece. The poems in the present volume are characterised particularly by their dramatic power and their keen awareness of aspects of contemporary Christian thought.

Ursula Dronke is Emeritus Vigfusson Reader in Ancient Icelandic Literature and Antiquities, University of Oxford; and Emeritus Fellow, Linacre College, Oxford