THE SAGA OF KING HEIDREK THE WISE Paperback Edition Coming

 




Christopher Tolkien's translation of The Saga of King Heidrek the Wise is coming to paperback, in continued celebration of his centenary.

It will be published May 8 by HarperCollins, with the ISBN of 9780008767631 . The description follows:


Christopher Tolkien’s masterly translation of the Icelandic Heidrek’s Saga, including the dramatic Battle of the Goths and the Huns, the lyrical Waking of Angantyr, and the unique riddle-contest between King Heidrek and the god Odin.

Heidrek’s Saga is a medieval entertainment – a ‘romance’, but a romance that derives little of its matter from the literature of France or Germany. It is an example of a kind of story-telling that was flourishing in Iceland by the beginning of the twelfth century, and which (in contrast to the more celebrated ‘Sagas of the Icelanders’) told of legendary figures whose origins lie far back in time beyond the settlement of the country.

The elements of the story, diverse in age and atmosphere, are unified in the theme of a possession bearing an ancestral curse, as it passes down the generations; but the saga’s peculiar value lies in the older poems which the unknown author set into the framework of his narrative, including The Battle of the Goths and the Huns, perhaps the oldest of all the Northern heroic lays, The Waking of Angantyr, source of many eighteenth-century ‘Gothic Odes’, and the unique riddle-contest between King Heidrek and the god Odin in disguise.

Translated from the Icelandic with Introduction, Notes and Appendices by Christopher Tolkien, then Lecturer in Old English at New College, Oxford, The Saga of King Heidrek the Wise was first published in 1960 in Nelson’s Icelandic Texts series. Marking Christopher Tolkien's centenary, this first ever paperback edition also includes his original essay 'The Battle of the Goths and the Huns' as a bonus chapter.


I'll very likely skip this - due to me owning the 2010 On-Demand Facsimile Edition, which was published in honor of it's 50th Anniversary. 

It's great this title will be back in print, and it's neat that they're adding an essay 'The Battle of the Goths and the Huns' as a bonus. This title will appeal to anyone interested in mythology, Icelandic myths, and certain titles by J.R.R. Tolkien, such as The Legend of Sigurd and Gudrun, The Fall of Arthur and The Battle of Maldon.  

This was initially published as part of Nelson's Icelandic Texts, which also includes:

~ The Saga of King Heidrek the Wise edited by Christopher Tolkien
~ The Saga of Gunnlaug Serpent-Tongue edited by P.G. Foote, translated by R. Quirk
~ The Saga of the Jomsvikings edited by N.F. Blake
~ The Saga of the Volsungs edited by R.G. Finch

It would be neat to see (if they have the rights) HarperCollins publish the other two in the 'series.' Obtaining the other titles could very well be its own quest!  

For further interest, a bunch of content can be accessed here for free - and legally: http://vsnrweb-publications.org.uk/ .

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