Sunday, July 10, 2011

D'Aulaires' Book of Norse Myths

D'Aulaires' book of Norse myths / by Ingri and Edgar Parin D'Aulaire ; preface by Michael Chabon. – New York : New York Review of Books, [2005], c1967.
xiii, 154 p. : ill. (some col.) ; 31 cm.
ISBN: 9781590171257
Includes index
Originally published as Norse Gods and Giants. Garden City : Doubleday, 1967.

1. Giants – Mythology. 2. Gods, Norse. 3. Mythology, Norse.

293.13

The creation of the world, Frost Giants, and Gods as recorded by the Icelandic eddas is presented by the D'Aulaires in color filled large format lithographs and clear English prose. Originally published as Norse Gods and Giants, short introductions of the Aesir Gods and the Jotun follow the creation story. These in turn are followed by the adventures of Loki and Thor, and then the final battle of Ragnarokk. A helpful index that includes a pronunciation guide is appended.

The Poetic Edda

The Poetic Edda / translated with an introduction and explanatory notes by Lee M. Hollander.— 2d ed., revised. -- Austin : University of Texas Press, [1962]
xxix, 343 p. 24 cm.
Contains pronunciation guide, glossary, index and list of names
Selected Bibliography: p. 327-328
LCCN: 61-10045
ISBN: 0292764995 (paperback)

1. Edda Sæmundar --Translations into English. 2. Eddas --Translations into English. 3. Mythology, Norse – Poetry. 4. Nibelungen --Romances. 5. Old Norse poetry --Translations into English. 6. Sagas --Translations into English. 7. Siegfried (Legendary character) --Romances.

839.61

I was fortunate to have recently read the D'Aulaires' Book of Norse Myths before I tackled this more challenging read, which the D'Aulaires had cited as their source. The University of Texas, where he was Professor of Germanic Languages, in 1962, published Professor Hollander’s revised translation. The Edda, literally grandmother in Old Norse, is a collection of poems by different poets arranged to tell the stories of the Norse gods and heroes. “Collected by an unidentified Icelander, probably during the twelfth or thirteen century, The Poetic Edda was rediscovered in the seventeenth century by Danish scholars.” In order to retain as much of the poetry of the original, much of which comes from alteration, Hollander made a point of using as many Germanic derived words as he could in his translation. Many of the words he chose did not come from modern English. For example, hight instead of named, eke instead of also, rede instead of counsel, etc. A glossary is included as an appendix, but of the above three examples, only the first is included. While this adds to the authentic sound, there is a trade-off in comprehension. I found myself alternating back and forth between the text, the footnotes and an online edition of the Oxford English Dictionary. Even so, it’s a very lively collection of poems, full of battles, revenge, gods, giants, and even a talking dragon. Part of the verve comes from Hollander himself who is frank and forthright in his opinions. For example part of his introduction to the sequence “The Plaint of Oddrun,” includes his opinion that, “Aesthetically, too, the poem is inferior. Though facile, it is full of inconsistencies and irrelevancies, due in this instance, not only to a problematic and utterly disordered text, but also to the mediocrity of the poet."

The Children of Odin

The children of Odin : the book of northern myths / by Padraic Colum ; illustrated by Willy Pogany. – New York : Collier, 1984, c1920.
271 p. : ill. ; 22 cm.
ISBN: 0027228908

1. Mythology, Norse. 2. Volsunga saga. English. 3. Nibelungen.

293.13

Norse mythology retold as a very satisfying prose narrative by Irish writer Colum. It has remained a favorite since its first publication in 1920. Like the D'Aulaires, he draws upon the material of the Eddas with the addition of the heroic tales of Sigurd, the Volsungs, the Nibelung, and their cursed treasure.

Who Fears Death

Who fears death / Nnedi Okorafor. – New York : DAW Books, [2010]

386 p. ; 24 cm.

ISBN: 9780756406172

1. Africa – Fiction. 2. Fantasy fiction. 3. Feminist fiction. 4. Genocide --Fiction. 5. Magic --Fiction. 6. Racially mixed people -- Africa --Fiction.

813.6

In the future, in an Africa that is almost entirely desert, angry and determined Onyesonwu (her name means Who fears death?) demands that the village sorcerer Aro teach her the Great Mystic Points. He refuses because she is a girl. She is also Ewu, a racially mixed child, a child of weaponized rape. Her biological father was part of the army that burned her mother’s village to the ground. He was also a powerful evil sorcerer. In addition to her unusual skin color, Onyesonwu has also inherited his magical power. Using the raw power of her untrained magic she forces Aro to take her as a student. She will use her magic, her anger and her determination to stop the genocide and save her people.