The Legend of Sigurd and Gudrún

by J.R.R. Tolkien

Book Overview

Many years ago, J.R.R. Tolkien composed his own version of the great legend of Northern antiquity, recounted here in The Legend of Sigurd and Gudr?n. In the Lay of the V?lsungs is told the ancestry of... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0547273428
• Release Date: May 2009
• Publisher: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
• Length: 377 Pages
• Weight: 1.13 lbs.
• Dimensions: 8.3" x 1.0" x 5.5"

Customer Reviews

If you liked Beowulf, the Iliad, the Odyssey...

and other stories of that ilk, you will love this! And, you'll find hints of LOTR and the The Silmarillion: a dangerous ring, a dragonslayer, Mirkwood, dwarves, enchanted swords, and tragic romances. It's all there. Be forwarned that without Christopher Tolkien's notes and commentaries, it's hard to make sense of some of the verses. Christopher's writing style can also be dry and confusing at times, but I felt that the two legends were worth the work of consulting the commentaries every now and again. I hope this review helps.

Tolkiens version of the Legend taken from disparate sources

In my opinion as a tolkien devotee one can never get enough tolkien. I salivate at the mere thought that one day his translations of the beowulf poem being published, or his unfinished the Fall of Arthur. The book has another excellent scolarly dissertation by Tolkien. This time on the Elder or poetic Edda, or saemunds edda. The poetry in his recreation is powerfull and though not the same metre as the anglo saxon mode of beowulf has just as much power in its verse. This reminds me a bit of seamus heaneys beowulf in the sheer beauty of some of its passages. I think this book gives a bit more light shed on what tolkien called his love of northerness. The bits and pieces of surviving germanic legend later christianized. Here the heros have no hope it is the tradgedy of the heroic code of the primitive germanic pagan and a tragic story much like Turin and the Children of Hurin. Much more like the Norse Ragnarok. I think it was once likened by tolkien that these myths are like an eternal sunless winter as interpreted in my own words. Where he found the myths of the greeks and romans to be under the suns warmth. Though i might disagree with him there the greek myths are savage and bloody just as much as the german myths are.

There is crying of ravens, cold howls the wolf

When J.R.R. Tolkien wasn't teaching philology at Oxford or penning classic fantasy novels, he did some retellings of old poetry. VERY old poetry. "The Legend of Sigurd and Gudrun" is one such work: a verse working of the Norse legend of the hero Sigurd and his adventures, as well as the two doomed women who loved him. The wording is a bit awkward in places, and a good chunk of the book's content is commentary by his son Christopher Tolkien -- but the deep-rooted mythic story and Tolkien's vivid prose are gorgeous. After exploring the gods and their glittering Valholl, Tolkien introduces the bitter dwarf Andvari and his magic ring, the greedy dragon Fafnir, and the tragic tale of Sigmund, Sigurd's daddy. Sigurd was tricked into slaying Fafnir for his treacherous foster father, and gained a hoard of cursed gold and a roasted dragon heart. Then he learns of the beautiful Valkyrie Brynhild, who is doomed to "wed the World's chosen" only, and sleeps in a fortress of flames. Though he wakes Brynhild, Sigurd claims that he isn't going to marry her until he has a kingdom of his own -- and he gets one too. But in the process, he falls in love with the beautiful Gudrun and marries her. When his brother-in-law Gunnar wants the finest woman in the world, Sigurd tricks Brynhild into marrying Gunnar instead. This betrayal -- and a cursed ring given to both Gudrun and Brynhild -- leads to lies, hatred, death, and a devastating tragedy that destroys more than one person's life. "The Lay of Gudrun" is a sort of sequel to the Sigurd legend: after Sigurd dies, Gudrun goes a little nuts in her woodland house and ends up being wed against her own wishes (courtesy of her witchy mom) to the king of the Huns, Atli. Of course, everything goes wrong for the poor woman -- and her brothers Gunnar and Hogni rush to attack Atli. "The Legend of Sigurd and Gudrun" is not for those who only like to read Tolkien's Middle-Earth stories. Sure, there's a cursed ring and a mention of "Mirkwood," but the rest of it is pure Norse saga infused with gods, sorrow, magic and ancient battles. But it's a fascinating story, and you can hear the ring of the elves and the Rohirrhim in some of the stately passages ("Hail O sunlight/and sun's rising"). It's also very complex story, with lots of gory battles, doomed love affairs, and everybody involved ending up miserable and/or dead -- in particular, the bleak yet exquisite finale of "The Lay of Gudrun" is astonishing. And Tolkien does make you feel for the two lead characters of Sigurd and poor, tragic Gudrun (whose only crime was to love her husband), even if Sigurd is kind of a jerk. Brynhild just comes across as a snotty ice queen. And Tolkien's wordcraft is pretty smooth, easily read if you're used to epic poetry. There are a few awkward moments ("Last night I lay/where loath me was/with less liking/I may lay me yet"), but most of it is easy to decipher and to follow. And the words are usually quite vivid, beautifully written (

Tolkien turns Norse

A few corrections need to be made to the reviews already here. First: This book is NOT a translation. It is a set of two original poems by Tolkien, with supplemental materials. The poems retell one of the most famous stories in Norse legend--the sources are the two Eddas, the Volsunga Saga, and others--but Tolkien gives here his own version. The poem is in the medieval Norse meter and style, but it is a new version, again, not a translation. Second: These poems are not epics. I have already read a couple of reviews complaining that for epic poetry it isn't "epic" enough. But they aren't intended to be epic. As the introduction makes clear, Norse poetry had no epic mode (although Old English did). What epic verse does for some cultures the Saga did for the Norsemen. These poems are lays, which have a different intended effect, which is discussed in the introduction. Who needs to read this book? Certainly people who like The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings but hated The Children of Hurin when it came out recently, and who never got through the Silmarillion, will most likely not want this. If, when you read The Lord of the Rings, you skip the poems and songs, you should definitely skip this. On the other hand, if the Tolkien's poetry is especially attractive to you this may interest you. If you're interested in Tolkien's other writings, though, you probably will want this. For instance, if you've read vol. 3 of The History of Middle Earth, The Lays of Beleriand, you will know the sort of thing you're in for. On the other hand, if you don't care or don't know much about Tolkien's own invented mythology, this book will still fascinate you if you have an interest in Old English or medieval Icelandic literature. While this book is in general unconnected with Tolkien's own Middle-earth, it does shed some interesting light on it here and there. The Sigurd legend is, of course, related to Tolkien's legend of Turin Turambar. Seeing Tolkien in full heathen mode allows us to draw interesting contrasts with the "redeemed" paganism of his own mythology. Furthermore, Tolkien adds certain elements of his own to the traditional story of the Volsungs which are not irrelevant to the interpretation of his other writings. His interpretation of the heathen myth provides clues to his attitude to myth and its creation which are unique in his writings. This is not *merely* a retelling, but an artistic re-working of the old tale in light of his Tolkien's own insights, interests, and concerns, as well as a virtuoso display of versecraft in an authentic medieval style and meter which, to my knowledge, no other modern author has mastered so well. This book, then, is not for everyone. But all the negative reviews I've seen blame it for not being something else. For what it is, it is excellent. For those interested in its content or its form, and for true lovers of Tolkien's work, it's a must-have.

Tolkien As A Master Scholar

Anyone who reads J.R.R. Tolkien knows that he was an engaging story teller, an erudite scholar, and a lover of language. In The Legend of Sigurd and Gudrun we see all three aspects as clearly displayed as in any of his previously published material. From his earliest school days Tolkien loved the old Norse legends and "The Great Story of the North," told in the ancient Norse languages which were part of the ancestry of Anglo-Saxon. During the 1930s, while simultaneously composing the stories and legends which eventually became The Silmarillion, Tolkien translated the Elder Edda and the Lay of the Volsungs. These are now produced here as The Legend of Sigurd and Gudrun, edited by Christopher Tolkien and enhanced with copious material drawn from his father's other writings and lectures. While this material is a translation and not Tolkien's own creation, thus lacking some magic, it has the potential to be a fascinating read which will open a world as engrossing as anything in Middle earth or Valinor. Much of the verse will remind readers of the heroic songs of the Rohirrim or the Elves. Bill Sanderson's small illustrations, derived from carvings from an ancient Norwegian church and depicting the most famous of Sigurd's deeds, the slaying of the dragon Fafnir, are a very pleasing addition to the text. The Legend of Sigurd and Gudrun will never rival The Lord of the Rings in either sales or reader appeal, but those who have come to love Tolkien's writings dearly will appreciate this glimpse of his scholarly work and how it influenced his legendarium.