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The Legend of Sigurd and Gudrun

The Legend of Sigurd and Gudrun
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Publisher: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
Written By: J.R.R. Tolkien
Average Reader Rating: Average rating of 4.0/5Average rating of 4.0/5Average rating of 4.0/5Average rating of 4.0/5Average rating of 4.0/5

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Binding: Hardcover
Brand: Houghton Mifflin
Dewey Decimal Number: 821.912
EAN: 9780547273426
Feature: ISBN13: 9780547273426
ISBN: 0547273428
Label: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
Manufacturer: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
Number Of Items: 1
Number Of Pages: 384
Publication Date: 2009-05-05
Publisher: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
Release Date: 2009-05-05
Studio: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
Features
ISBN13: 9780547273426
Condition: New
Notes: BUY WITH CONFIDENCE, Over one million books sold! 98% Positive feedback. Compare our books, prices and service to the competition. 100% Satisfaction Guaranteed
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Editorial Review:

The Legend of Sigurd and Gudrún is a previously unpublished work by J.R.R. Tolkien, written while Tolkien was Professor of Anglo-Saxon at Oxford during the 1920s and ‘30s, before he wrote The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings. It makes available for the first time Tolkien’s extensive retelling in English narrative verse of the epic Norse tales of Sigurd the Völsung and The Fall of the Niflungs. It includes an introduction by J.R.R. Tolkien, drawn from one of his own lectures on Norse literature, with commentary and notes on the poems by Christopher Tolkien.
Reader Reviews for The Legend of Sigurd and Gudrun:
Customer Rating: Average rating of 3/5Average rating of 3/5Average rating of 3/5Average rating of 3/5Average rating of 3/5
Summary: Mixed
Comment: This is very much a mixed bag.

Besides the scholarly apparatus, which isn't especially well-done or clear to anyone who hasn't (like, fortunately, I did) read the Elder Edda and Nibelungenlied several times through, the choice to format each half-line on a full line is really painful to the eyes and bloats up the book considerably.

Further, it makes the lines seem even more absurdly elliptical and gnomic and twisted.

The poetry itself sometimes is really good (I think one of the best passages is in the last section, starting 'In they hacked them, / out they hurled them'; the early description of Otr eating salmon isn't bad either), but mostly is a drag.
Customer Rating: Average rating of 5/5Average rating of 5/5Average rating of 5/5Average rating of 5/5Average rating of 5/5
Summary: I only wish I could give more stars
Comment: I got the Legend of Sigurd and Gudrun last year when it came out, and it sat on the shelf for almost a year. Then, on a whim I decided to read it.

I knew this would be a different experience and a peak into Tolkien's professional work and interests. But this book encompasses so much more. The way Tolkien describes it in the beginning in a lecture he had prepared on the subject has stuck with me. He states that with certain works of literature/poetry it takes study and work to find meaning and grow to love them; and for others you either are caught by them immediately or not at all.

I had never heard the story of Sigurd or Sigfried or whatever you want to call him based on the many languages and translations. And boy was I hooked! It has everything anyone interested in fantasy could ever want in a tale. And it has such staying power, like a burning ember caught in the heart and mind. In some ways it comes to hold you in thrall. Since reading Tolkien's retelling of the tale, I have gone on to research and read many versions of the edda...such is the power of the story.

It is easy to see after reading this book how this could have such a profound effect on Tolkien, really forming a key foundation in his thought regarding mythology and tale-telling. And anyone familiar with his works in Middle Earth will find echoes in every word.

But there is more. Not only has Tolkien made a great piece of literary history available and approachable, he has managed to give it the same epic sound and rhythms of its original. I really recommend reading as much as you can or all of his epic poems aloud. It is amazing.

There is a lot of supplementary commentary and exposition in the book as well, which is sometimes interesting and helpful. To tell the truth, though, I skipped most of it besides the introductions. Really the true gem are the poems, both for Tolkien's masterful use of the English language and for the astonishing epic they tell.
Customer Rating: Average rating of 5/5Average rating of 5/5Average rating of 5/5Average rating of 5/5Average rating of 5/5
Summary: Norse Mythology at its best
Comment: John R. R. Tolkien stood as a proponent of the phonological belief that morphemes (individual units of meaning) should be put together in such a way as to express the meaning of the phrase or sentence not only in read words by phonologically (with the sound itself). Tolkien's translation of Beowulf gives much the same feel as Tolkien creates a sense of tension in some moments and joy in others, while still triumph in others simply by the words chosen for his translation.
Tolkien's translation of this ancient Norse text does not fail to delight either. Tolkien uses such a choice of words as to allow the reader to experience the hardships and wonder of the players or to see the attempted schemes and react to them as one might if being told the story by an animated friend. This story has every element of an epic and Tolkien's excellent use of phonology to make it a book worth reading.
Customer Rating: Average rating of 4/5Average rating of 4/5Average rating of 4/5Average rating of 4/5Average rating of 4/5
Summary: Good, but...
Comment: While JRR Tolkien's work was impeccable, his son's commentary was annoying. Worse, while discussing historical mythology, he mentions his father's Lord of the Rings stories and characters. That undermined the legitimacy of JRR Tolkien's original work.

Regardless, I loved what the Mr. Tolkien did for this tale.
Customer Rating: Average rating of 1/5Average rating of 1/5Average rating of 1/5Average rating of 1/5Average rating of 1/5
Summary: Not Lord of the Rings
Comment: When I ordered thids book I was expecting something like "The Lord of the Rings" or "The Hobbit". Iwas disappointed to find that it was nothing of the sort. It is Tolkien's re-write of old Norse poetry with many pages of analysis by his son Christopher. My disppointment is my own fault since I neglected to previously investigate the contents. It does give one an education in the Edda from ancient Norway.


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