by Anonymous
First published 1270
Thor swings his hammer against towering giants while mortal heroes face doom across these mythological verses from medieval Iceland. The Völsung family carries a curse through generations of betrayal and bloodshed. Brynhild rides toward the realm of the dead. Atli the Hun unleashes his cruelty upon those who cross him. Gods and mortals clash in a world where fate rules supreme and death stalks every hero. An anonymous Icelandic scribe gathered these fragments around 1270, drawing from sources that stretch back centuries into the Viking past. The poems arrive incomplete and scattered, yet they burn with stark power. They reveal the beliefs and hopes of a warrior culture that valued courage above survival. Andy Orchard translates the spare verses into English that preserves their unadorned strength. These ancient voices speak of a cosmos where giants threaten the gods, heroes choose honor over life, and even the mightiest must face their destined end.
Genres: mythology, fantasy, ancient, epic
Vibes: dark, emotional, lyrical
Tropes: chosen-one, epic-quest, found-family
Setting: Iceland, Realm of the Dead, Viking
Period: 1270, Medieval, Viking
432 pages · Paperback · Penguin Classics