Books like The Poetic Edda: The Mythological Poems

It feels undoubtedly strange to review this book. In a manner of speaking, like e.g. rating the Bible; the book had (and still has) such an enormous impact on the Western history and culture that rating it feels utterly wrong. It is somewhat similar with the Edda. Its influence in literature cannot be put into proper words. However, the Edda is not a smooth read. In the translation of Bellows one can more often than not encounter archaic words or sentence structures that are unusual not only in English but generally since epic poetry has a unique style one finds nowhere else. Firstly, one has to get used to it. Secondly, it is necessary to pay attention to the footnotes and process what is said due to the complicated language. Thirdly, it takes time. A lot of it actually, despite the fact that this book is comparatively short. I still loved it though. From the very first page and until the very last. And after my class where we compared several translations I also feel obliged to note that Bellows translation is among the best in its precision and beauty of language. Several recent translations lack the same charm and attention when it comes to minor details of the poems, so a recommendation - if you want a beautiful and more precise translation of the Poetic Edda read Bellows. It starts off with the prophecy of the Vǫluspá who talks about the creation of the world, the world-ash Yggdrasil, the fate of the Gods, Ragnarök and the creation of a new, better world. The Vǫluspá was also one of my personal favourites. Plenty of myths, names, descriptions of the nine worlds that the ash Yggdrasil harbours and in the end a rather epic battle with all kinds of gods and monsters. Right after it comes another favourite of mine - Hávamál. A collection of proverbs and wise counsels from Odin. Advices how to live properly, how to aquire wisdom and how e.g. not to act around those who are superior. Actually, this one genuinely provides a lot of useful advices, even for present day people, perhaps because fundamental truths about codes of behaviour never change regardless whether you live in the 12th century or the 21st. It is simultaneously one of the most puzzling poems of the Poetic Edda and exists in no other manuscript but the infamous Codex Regius. Okay, sorry, this is a lot of random trivia. Fact is - it is beautiful, useful, and interesting both from the cultural, mythological and literary points of view. I will not dive into detail about every poem this translation contains but instead mention one more. The Lokasenna. Basically an exchange of insults between Loki and the other gods and goddesses whose attemps to talk back are rather ineffective. It's hilarious, simply hilarious, okay? Loki has something to say about everyone and what he says is far from flattering, a lot of funny and embarrassing stories of the gods come up and they, of course, get royally pissed off about it. Of course the Poetic Edda is also interesting to look at from the POV of - how much did Christianity actually influence the poems and myths of the Norse people? What motifs are reoccurring and why? Where can parallels be found and so on and so forth. The Edda is in every sense a piece of literature worth reading, especially for those who adore Tolkien's works and Epic Fantasy since there are plenty of motifs and occurances taken from the old Norse myths. Highly recommended.