The Saga of the Volsungs: With the Saga of Ragnar Lothbrok

Description

From the translator of the bestselling Poetic Edda (Hackett, 2015) comes a gripping new rendering of two of the greatest sagas of Old Norse literature. Together the two sagas recount the story of seven generations of a single legendary heroic family and comprise our best source of traditional lore about its members-including, among others, the dragon-slayer Sigurd, Brynhild the Valkyrie, and the Viking chieftain Ragnar Lothbrok.

Jackson Crawford earned his Ph.D. in Scandinavian Studies at the University of WisconsinMadison, and an M.A. in Linguistics from the University of Georgia. He is currently Instructor of Nordic Studies and Coordinator of the Nordic Program, University of Colorado Boulder.

This is a wonderfully supple and idiomatic modern translation of the most important account of the legendary Sigurd the Dragon-Slayer and his family in Old Norse-Icelandic literature. Crawfords version is vivid, clear, and exciting, tracing the intrigues, killings, battles, and magic that shape the lives of Sigurds kindred. Coupled with it is the brilliant sequel, the Saga of Ragnar Lothbrok. Rarely translated into English before, the saga tells of Sigurds daughter and her husband, the unparalleled Viking king and hero, Ragnar, who is also a dragon-slayer. Lively and fresh, with gripping dialogue and intense scenes of action, the saga has long deserved to be better known. In Jackson Crawford it has found the perfect translator. -- Carolyne Larrington, Professor of Medieval European Literature, University of Oxford