The Saga of the Volsungs/Source

Everything About Fiction You Never Wanted to Know.


THE STORY OF THE VOLSUNGS
(VOLSUNGA SAGA)
with Excerpts from the Poetic Edda
Author unknown, translated by William Morris and Eirikr Magnusson (1888), edited by Douglas B. Killings (1997)
Introduction by H. HALLIDAY SPARLiNG
Online Medieval and Classical Library Release #29


Originally written in Icelandic (Old Norse) in the thirteenth century A.D., by an unknown hand. However, most of the material is based substantially on previous works, some centuries older. A few of these works have been preserved in the collection of Norse poetry known as the "Poetic Edda".

The text of this edition is based on that published as "The Story of the Volsungs", translated by William Morris and Eirikr Magnusson (Walter Scott Press, London, 1888). This edition is in the PUBLIC DOMAIN in the United States.

This electronic edition was edited, proofed, and prepared by Douglas B. Killings (DeTroyes@EnterAct.COM), May 1997.

Contents

APPENDIX: Excerpts from the Poetic Edda

Selected Bibliography

Recommended Reading

  • Anonymous: "Kudrun", Translated by Marion E. Gibbs & Sidney Johnson (Garland Pub., New York, 1992).
  • Anonymous: "Nibelungenlied", Translated by A.T. Hatto (Penguin Classics, London, 1962).
  • Saxo Grammaticus: "The First Nine Books of the Danish History", Translated by Oliver Elton (London, 1894; Reissued by the Online Medieval and Classical Library as E-Text OMACL #28, 1997).