The Story of the Volsungs with Excerpts from the Poetic Edda

Project GutenbergProject Gutenberg · United StatesDec 2019

Rating 4.2

Word count: 308K words
Chapters: 31

Summary

Project Gutenberg was the first provider of free electronic books, or eBooks. Michael Hart, founder of Project Gutenberg, invented eBooks in 1971 and his memory continues to inspire the creation of eBooks and related technologies today.The Story of the Volsungs (Volsunga Saga); with Excerpts from the Poetic EddaAuthor: ,Language: English, Class: PT: Language and Literatures: Germanic, Scandinavian, and Icelandic literatures, Release Date: Dec 1, 1997

Editor's review

This English-language edition sets The Story of the Volsungs alongside excerpts from the Poetic Edda, offering Chinese readers a direct path into the heart of Norse heroic legend. The saga follows the fate of a family, showing how oaths, vengeance, treasure, and destiny drive the story forward layer by layer; the Edda excerpts supplement the mythological background and character voices in verse, and reading the two together reveals the interplay between prose narrative and poetic tradition. As a public-domain ebook, it is better suited as a primary text for study or personal interest than as an introductory guide: the translation is archaic, and names of people and places are dense, so readers must trace the genealogies as they go. Its strengths are its compact length and clear structure, giving direct access to the classic account of the Volsung family and a reference point for later works such as the Nibelungenlied. Best read closely in quiet moments, with notes to track relationships, or as supplementary material for a course on Norse literature.

Who it's for

A good fit for

Readers with a basic interest in Norse myth and heroic epic who are willing to read English primary texts.
Students and researchers of Germanic philology or comparative literature who need primary texts.
Fans who have read related adaptations and want to trace the early narratives of the Volsung story.
Self-learners who want to build English reading stamina through short primary texts.

Not a good fit for

Complete beginners who rely on Chinese and want an easy introduction to Norse myths.
Readers expecting modern novel-like fluency and extensive explanatory notes.
Readers with little patience for genealogies, place names, and archaic personal names, who are easily confused.

Reading tips

Read the saga proper first, then compare the Edda excerpts on the same characters and events, noting differences.
Prepare a character relationship chart and update it as you read, to avoid confusion from repeated names and family branches.
Pause after each stage to retell the plot and confirm the threads of fate and motives for vengeance.
If the English is difficult, read a Chinese summary first, then return to the original to appreciate the wording and verse rhythm.

About the publisher

Project Gutenberg United States · Founded in 1971

Project Gutenberg is a digital publishing project focused on public-domain ebooks. Its publishing direction centers on classic literary works whose copyright has expired, covering genres such as poetry, drama, fiction, and epic. Representative books include Lyrical Ballads by Wordsworth and Coleridge, Proust's Du côté de chez Swann, Shakespeare's Macbeth and The Complete Works of William Shakespeare, Homer's The Iliad, Dante's La Divina Comèdia: Purgatòri, Cervantes's The History of Don Quixote, Volume 2, and Grahame's The Wind in the Willows. Its author resources consist mainly of classic Western writers such as Wordsworth, Proust, Shakespeare, Homer, Dante, Cervantes, Grahame, and Tolstoy. Its publishing feature is the provision of freely accessible ebooks in EPUB and Kindle formats; it is not a traditional publisher, and publicly available information is limited.

FAQ

Does this book include the complete Poetic Edda?

No. The title states that it is The Story of the Volsungs with excerpts from the Poetic Edda, so the Edda portion is not complete but consists of passages related to the Volsung story. Read the saga as the main line and treat the excerpts as supplementary material; do not expect the full Edda.

Can I read it without prior knowledge of Norse myth?

You can, but it will be challenging. The text assumes some familiarity with the gods, heroic genealogies, and ancient Norse geography, and names and titles repeat frequently. It is advisable to read a concise introduction to Norse myth or a character list first, then approach the original, which will make understanding much smoother.

What is the status of this ebook edition?

This is an English public-domain ebook released by Project Gutenberg, with release information dated December 1, 1997. It provides freely available original text, usually without modern scholarly notes or a detailed introduction, so it is suitable for reading alongside your own reference materials.

Does reading this book help with understanding other works?

Yes. The Volsung legend shares characters and motifs with the Nibelungenlied, Wagner's Der Ring des Nibelungen, and other works. Reading this primary text first makes it easier to recognize which plot elements come from tradition and which are later reworkings when you encounter adaptations.

This site is an index: you start “Search all sources” in your browser, and the entries it lists all point to third-party sites; please judge their availability yourself.

About the author

Project Gutenberg Author

Project Gutenberg is not a single author but a nonprofit digital library founded by Michael Hart in 1971 and one of the world's earliest free ebook platforms. It relies on volunteers to digitize, proofread, and freely distribute public-domain works and is now operated by the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation. Its collection contains 2,692 works, mainly religious texts, epics, and story collections, including the King James Bible and the Douay-Rheims volumes, the epic Mahabharata, a literal translation of the Arabian Nights, and Danish editions of the Old and New Testaments. Public information is limited, and its nature is closer to a public-interest compiling and dissemination body; these texts are open to the public, easy to consult and circulate, and have had a profound influence on the spread of ebooks and the preservation of public-domain resources.