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The Saga of the Volsungs (Penguin Classics) Paperback – January 1, 2000

by Jesse L. Byock (Author, Translator), Anonymous (Author)
4.7 4.7 out of 5 stars 514 ratings
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One of the great books of world literature--an unforgettable tale of jealousy, unrequited love, greed, and vengeance.

Based on Viking Age poems and composed in thirteenth-century Iceland, The Saga of the Volsungs combines mythology, legend, and sheer human drama in telling of the heroic deeds of Sigurd the dragon slayer, who acquires runic knowledge from one of Odin's Valkyries. Yet the saga is set in a very human world, incorporating oral memories of the fourth and fifth centuries, when Attila the Hun and other warriors fought on the northern frontiers of the Roman empire. In his illuminating Introduction Jesse L. Byock links the historical Huns, Burgundians, and Goths with the extraordinary events of this Icelandic saga. With its ill-fated Rhinegold, the sword reforged, and the magic ring of power, the saga resembles the Nibelungenlied and has been a primary source for such fantasy writers as J. R. R. Tolkien and for Richard Wagner's Ring cycle.

For more than seventy years, Penguin has been the leading publisher of classic literature in the English-speaking world. With more than 1,700 titles, Penguin Classics represents a global bookshelf of the best works throughout history and across genres and disciplines. Readers trust the series to provide authoritative texts enhanced by introductions and notes by distinguished scholars and contemporary authors, as well as up-to-date translations by award-winning translators.

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Previous page
  1. Print length
    160 pages
  2. Language
    English
  3. Publisher
    Penguin Classics
  4. Publication date
    January 1, 2000
  5. Dimensions
    5 x 0.3 x 7.7 inches
  6. ISBN-10
    0140447385
  7. ISBN-13
    978-0140447385
  8. See all details
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Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Jesse Byock is a professor of Icelandic and Old Norse studies at UCLA. He is the translator of The Saga of the Volsungs and The Saga of King Hrolf Kraki for Penguin Classics.

Product details

  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ Penguin Classics (January 1, 2000)
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • Paperback ‏ : ‎ 160 pages
  • ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 0140447385
  • ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0140447385
  • Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 4.3 ounces
  • Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 5 x 0.3 x 7.7 inches
  • Customer Reviews:
    4.7 4.7 out of 5 stars 514 ratings

About the author

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Jesse Byock

Jesse Byock

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Jesse Byock is Prof. of Old Norse and Medieval Scandinavian Studies at the University of California(UCLA) and Prof. at UCLA's Cotsen Institute of Archaeology. He directs the Mosfell Archaeological Project in Iceland.

He is author of: Viking Age Iceland (Penguin); Medieval Iceland (UC Press); and Feud in the Icelandic Saga (UC Press). His translations from Old Norse include The Prose Edda: Norse Mythology (Penguin), The Saga of the Volsungs: The Norse epic of Sigurd (Penguin), The Saga of King Hrolf Kraki (Penguin), and Grettir´s Saga (Oxford). Download a -FREE ANSWER KEY- to Viking Language 1 learn Old Norse, Runes, and Icelandic Sagas at www.vikinglanguage.com

The Viking Language Series is a new method for learning Old Norse, runes, and Icelandic sagas. It concentrates on the most frequent words in the sagas, and beginners to advanced learn quickly. For two MP3 download audio albums with clear pronunciation of sagas and runes, search on Amazon Jesse Byock under All Departments or MP3 Music: Viking Language 1 Audio Lessons 1-8 (Pronounce Old Norse, Runes and Icelandic Sagas)-- and -- Viking Language 1 Audio Lessons 9-15.

Customer reviews

4.7 out of 5 stars
4.7 out of 5
514 global ratings

Top reviews from the United States

G. Johnson
5.0 out of 5 stars great story, great history/heritage
Reviewed in the United States on September 21, 2011
Verified Purchase
I recommend this book.
First, this is an interesting adventure/ set of adventures of ppl of long ago. Fun to read. The first half is mythical and has magical and religious elements (of pre-christian viking religion) with queer beasts, magical talismans and visiting gods. The second half is semi-historical with ppl who really lived in real places, and others who are speculated to be real ppl but their names while similar are different and so they may be fictional. However there is still some magic, and the ppl are often coexisting with other ppl from different eras, and so not really historical.)

Second, these tales show us (to some extent) how the ppl of old lived and thought and gives us a piece of our pre-Christian heritage. pretty much any citizen of UK and most of US are going to be related to the vikings). Maybe you don't need that history, but our culture is so awash in Roman and Greek culture, philosophy and myth (even tho we don't grow up on those writings as much as the generations up to 50 yrs ago did, so much language, expressions etc stem from there), not to mention the weight of Christian culture and thinking (nothing wrong with it, but again, it's not stories of N Euro ppl), that we have really forgotten a part of our heritage. It's really a big blank space.

Third, these old norse stories in addition to being an exciting adventure, have their share of wisdom about life in them as much as any of the old stories of the Gr/Roman/ Christian ones do.

I haven't read any other translation, and can't read the original, so I can't comment on the translation, but it reads well and clearly with easy to find notes that clarify or enlarge on the story/text. There are good essays/ appendices explaining history, culture, other works, as well as the family trees of the characters.
Altogether a good book.
8 people found this helpful
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Gendun
5.0 out of 5 stars Blood and Wine
Reviewed in the United States on December 3, 2010
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Medieval Icelandic literature is highly variable in quality and comprehensibility, but the Volsung Saga is a masterpiece of the genre, and here it is masterfully translated and presented by Byock. This edition includes extremely useful explanatory notes, a vital glossary of characters, and an introductory essay that is by itself worth the cost of this book.

Like many Icelandic sagas, this is a brooding history of semi-historical kings overshadowed by augers of doom. It exhults in shocking acts of violence that make "Medea" and "Titus Andornicus" seem restrained by comparison. The moral tone is ambivalent and grim, as its heroes slay, conquer, and betray themselves and one another under the watchful eyes and sometimes at the direction of the old Norse pantheon.

The pacing of the work and its frequent evocation of verse reminds the reader of its likely origins as a bardic work. The breathless leap from climax to climax is a bit fatiguing, and this book is best sipped.

If you are considering reading this work to enhance your understanding of Wagner's Nibelungen Ring, you should not hesitate to buy it. This saga informed Wagner's "poem" more than any other source material he consulted, and you'll find most of the principle events included within. Many interpretive puzzles that have baffled me for years were quickly resolved by reading this work; in many cases events that I found puzzling were simply reproduced faithfully from the source material.

To the student of history, mythology, opera, or literature, this book is an excellent and worthwhile read.
10 people found this helpful
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Peter Reeve
5.0 out of 5 stars Readable rendering of seminal saga
Reviewed in the United States on April 3, 2006
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This 13th century Icelandic saga of Sigurd the dragon slayer was rediscovered in 19th century Europe and was a prime source for Wagner's Ring cycle, especially the Siegfried part. Elements will also be found in Tolkien. Personally, I came to Norse mythology through the BBC's Adventures of Noggin the Nog (Did he ever put an end to Nogbad the Bad?).

It is a neglected tradition, as evidenced by the paucity of translations in print. We commonly talk of the Classical (Greek and Roman) and Judeo-Christian roots of our culture, but greatly underestimate the Norse and Celtic influences. The Volsung saga and the Niebelungenlied are among the best known and influential of the medieval epics and if you enjoy one you will probably enjoy the other. You might start with the Volsungs because theirs is the shorter and more coherent story, even though the more mythical and fantastic.

Byock's translation is very readable, reflecting the sparse, unadorned style of the original. His introduction is excellent, especially the notes on Wagner, in which he traces the influence of this work in the Ring.

The Saga of Ragnar Lodbrok and The Lay of the Raven follow the Volsung saga in the original manuscripts and form a continuous narrative. So why, as the Volsung saga is quite short, are they not all three published together in one volume? I felt rather short changed. Even so, I heartily recommend this book.
32 people found this helpful
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Top reviews from other countries

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Lilianne DUPAS
5.0 out of 5 stars Passion
Reviewed in France on March 11, 2024
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Mon achat était destiné pour un cadeau qui a été très apprécié malheureusement je ne peux vous en dire plus
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Frithnanth
4.0 out of 5 stars Maravillosa literatura nórdica
Reviewed in Mexico on May 16, 2019
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Buen libro para conocer algo de la literatura nórdica. El libro llegó a tiempo y bien.
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Zach Bromfield
5.0 out of 5 stars Epic Norse Saga that inspired Tolkien.
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on February 5, 2020
Verified Purchase
Epic, immersive and a tragic story. Very dark and ideal inspiration for fantasy and poetry writers who enjoy Norse Sagas. This is one of the definites and one of the stories Tolkien himself worked on in his studies and used as inspiration for his tales of Turin and Glaurung as well as of course the magic ring in the dwarf andvari’s magic ring.
2 people found this helpful
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Kimberly
5.0 out of 5 stars Nice
Reviewed in India on January 1, 2019
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Interesting book...very strange stories. Though they are referred to in the Edda ...so I’m glad I read this first...so it was easy to understand what the Prose Edda was referring to.
One person found this helpful
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J. Huggins
5.0 out of 5 stars So far so good, I'm still only through the intro
Reviewed in Canada on January 21, 2015
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So far so good, I'm still only through the intro, but this is a very good version.
Has the same bookish feel as the Penguin Classics Sagas of the Icelanders.
One person found this helpful
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