The Northmen Talk: A Choice of Tales from Iceland

328 Pages·1965·15.368 MB·English

by  Jacqueline Simpson (transl.)

THE NORTHM EN TALK

The Northmen Talk
A CHOICE OF TALES FROM ICELAND
Translated
and with introduction by
JACQUELINE SIMPSON
Foreword by
ERIC LINKLATER
1965
LONDON: PHOENIX HOUSE
MADISON: THE UNIVERSITY OF WISCONSIN PRESS
© J. M. Dent & Sons Ltd, 1965
All rights reserved
Made in Great Britain
at the
Aldine Press • Letchworth • Herts
for
J. M. DENT & SONS LTD
Aldine House • Bedford Street • London
A Galley Press publication
in association with Phoenix House
First published 1965
Published in the United States of America by
The University of Wisconsin Press
Mailing address: P.O. Box 1379, Madison, Wisconsin 53701
Contents
Foreword vii
Introduction xv
Note on the Translation xxix
Icelandic Entertainers
Sturla and King Magnus 1
An Icelandic Story-Teller 6
Ottar’s Head-Ransom 8
Lays of Gods and Legendary Heroes
Thor’s Hammer 11
The Prophecy of the Wise-Woman 16
Helgi and Sigrun 22
Volund the Smith 29
Sigurd’s First Exploits 37
Sigurd and the Sons of Gjuki 45
The Death of Sigurd 47
Gudrun’s Lament 50
The Lay of Atli 55
Biography, Chronicle, and Semi-
Historical Narrative
Bishop Jon Ogmundarson 65
Church and Chieftain 77
Bishop Pal Jonsson 84
Episodes in a Blood-Feud 87
The Battles of 1066 101
Realistic Tales
Hreidar the Halfwit 119
Hromund the Lame 132
v
CONTENTS
Fantastic Tales
The Scoffing Verses 141
The Howls of the Damned 152
The Misers 156
The Price of an Ox 163
Helgi and the Women of the Otherworld 175
A Visit to the Otherworld 180
The Story of Orm Storolfsson 197
The Story of Thorstein Oxleg 212
The Blood-Brothers’ Pact 231
A Giant Outwitted 234
Odd Among the Giants 237
The Breaking of a Burial Mound 244
Ballads
Hildibrand 253
Tristran 257
Olaf and the Elf-Maid 261
Iceling 263
Ebbi’s Daughters 266
The Harp Song 272
Lord Ribbald 274
Logi of Vallarahlid 277
The She-Troll 284
The Goodman and the Goodwife 288
VI