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.

William Shakespeare's King Lear : a graphic novel

William Shakespeare's King Lear : a graphic novel / by Gareth Hinds. – Cambridge : Thecomic.Com 2007.
122 p. : col. ill. ; 28 cm.
ISBN: 9781893131064
1st ed.

1. Graphic novels. 2. Lear, King (Legendary character) -- Comic books, strips, etc. I. Shakespeare, William, 1564-1616. King Lear. II. William Shakespeare's King Lear. III. King Lear.

741.5973

This is the most successful adaptation of Shakespeare to the graphic medium that I have read. Wisely, Hinds keeps large parts of the original dialog so the poetry and the passion of the play are undiluted. In supplementary notes at the end of the text he explains his choices.

To the text he has added superlative composition. Dialog is presented in a script typeface of his own design that’s clear to read and complementary to the composition. For most of the work he either adapts or abandons the traditional comic panels. He uses line—sometimes a dotted line to indicate the path of a character across the page—to move readers’ eyes through the story. So the most emotionally charged scenes brilliantly swirl and hurl across the page. Towards the end of the book watercolor washed illustrations contrast with adjacent sharply inked lines to highlight the King and Cordelia, at first in his joy at being found by her and reconciled and then in his overwhelming grief at her death.

Hinds also uses the graphic medium to produce an effect that would not be possible in a stage production, a panorama. The first use is static. Lear’s castle is shown in the dark and from a distance on page 11 to close the first scene. More action is introduced on page 23 the reader sees Edmund at first conferring with Curan on the center left of the page and then below laying in wait to deceive his brother who is approaching from a dark path on the right side of the page, all this done in a single dark blue and green full page panel. But the more engaging use of the effect begins on page 32 Gloucester is pleading with Cornwall not to put Kent in the stocks in a panel on the upper left, immediately to the right in a circular panel Cornwall proceeds to do so anyhow. This panel is outlined in a large red circled connected to the same action in smaller scale in the large, more than half page panel below as Edgar emerges from the hole high in the tree in which he has been hiding and views the scene from afar. In the following full page to the right he strips himself down against a plain white background to transform himself into mad Tom. On the next page (again a full-page panel) he slips over the wall to escape as Lear and his company approach in the background. On page 38 the swirling winds of the upcoming storm dominate the page as Edgar creeps away and Cornwall and Regan approach to confront the enraged Lear. Nine pages later, tiny white outlines of Lear, Kent and the Fool stand beneath the lighting flash and a great “KRAKOOOM!” of thunder. A dramatic double page spread of the clash of the British and French armies sweep across pages 94-95, a scene that necessarily happens off stage in the play.

The Life and Opinions of Tristram Shandy, Gentleman

The life and opinions of Tristram Shandy, gentleman / Laurence Sterne ; read by Anton Lesser.—Franklin : Naxos Audio Books 2009
15 sound discs (19 hr., 2 min.) : digital ; 4 3/4 in. + 32 p. booklet ; ill.
ISBN: 9789626349670

1. Autobiography--Authorship--Fiction. 2. English wit and humor. 3. Experimental fiction. 4. Parent and child--Fiction. 5. Stream of consciousness fiction.

823.6

This is a very silly book. It’s strewn full of humor from wordplay, typographical shenanigans, and mock scholarship to slapstick and bawdy ****** innuendo. There are a few random bits of Tristram’s life and opinions scattered randomly in the book—and it is a very random book—although Tristram himself is a very minor character being at the same time an omnipresent and garrulous narrator. He provides mountains of opinion from his father, Walter whose opinions are strong, scholarly, forcefully put, and occasionally contradictory, and from his humble and effacing Uncle Toby (especially when he gets on his HOBBY-HORSE, military fortifications!) and from their neighbors Dr. Slop and The Reverend Mr. Yorick, who stop by to offer their varied learned scientific and theological advises. There is also a chapter on mustaches, a chapter on noses—quite a lot about noses—poor Tristram doesn’t have much of one due to Dr. Slop’s sloppy use of the forceps at birth—and a chapter on chapters.

Lesser's vocal characterizations are excellent. The reader, director, and producers are also to be congratulated on their skillful and ability to turn *********, omissions, and squiggly lines and other typographical jokes into a properly silly aural experience.

Hereville: How Mirka Got Her Sword

Hereville : how Mirka got her sword / Barry Deutsch ; colors by Jake Richmond.-- New York : Amulet Books, c2010.
137 p. : chiefly col. ill. ; 24 cm.
ISBN: 9780810984226 (hbk.)
Author’s note: I drew Hereville on my computer using Photoshop and a Cintique tablet, which is a kind of interactive pen-on-screen tool. Jake the colorist, also used Photoshop to digitally add color to my black-and-white artwork.”

1. Jewish girls -- Comic books, strips, etc. 2. Fantasy comic books, strips, etc. 3. Jews -- Conduct of life -- Comic books, strips, etc. 4. Witches -- Comic books, strips, etc. 5. Trolls -- Comic books, strips, etc. 6. Graphic novels.

741.5973

One day on her way to school Mirka Hirschberg discovers a house that she’s never seen before in her town of Hereville and in the yard of this house is a woman pruning a tree while floating ten feet off the ground. Mirka plucks one of the enormous grapes hanging on the fence of the house, and she’s set upon by a monster. The monster turns out to be a pig, but since Hereville is town inhabited only by Orthodox Jews, Mirka has never seen one, and doesn’t know what to call it until enlightened by her more worldly step-sister. Since Mirka’s ambition in life is to be a dragon slayer, she vows that she’s not going to be defeated by a pig. But when she sets a trap for the pig, she ends up having to battle a troll!

Zita the Spacegirl: Book 1

Zita the spacegirl : Book 1 : Far from home / by Ben Hatke.-- New York : First Second, c2010.
182 p. : col. ill.; 22 cm.
ISBN: 9781596434462 (pbk.)

1. Graphic novels. 2. Human-alien encounters – Comic books, strips, etc. 3. Science fiction comic books, strips, etc.

741.5973

At the bottom of a fresh meteor crater Zita and her friend Joseph discover a strange artifact. In its center is a large red button. Zita thinks she should push it. Joseph begs her not to, so, of course, she does. A large crack appears in reality, black tentacles reach out and drag Joseph in. Then it snaps shut. Zita gathers her courage, presses the button again, and dives in after him. Like Dorothy’s trip to Oz, Zita finds herself in a land beyond belief filled with strange creatures. But it’s also a doomed world, destined to be struck by an asteroid in three days. Can Zita find Joseph, rescue him, and escape before the asteroid strikes? She can, but she’ll need a little help from her friends.