This new edition of mythological poems from the Poetic Edda takes the reader deep into the imagination of the Viking poets (c.1000 AD). Text and translation are set side by side. The poetry is interpreted and its qualities discussed in full introductions and commentaries for each of the poems.

This volume presents four of the most intricate and fascinating mythological poems of the Poetic Edda, with parallel translations and individual introductions and commentaries. 'Havamal', notable for its unforgettable flashes of beauty and despair, explores the nature of human knowledge. 'Hymiskvita' is the boisterous tale of the giant Hymir. 'Grimnismal', the lay of Grimnir, the Visored God, is a dramatic monologue spoken by Otin. The final poem, 'Grottasongr', is the song of two girls kept as slaves by King Froti to work at his magic grindstone. Ursula Dronke provides new and illuminating textual readings of these celebrated works.

The first group of essays in this volume explores the links between early Norse literature, from the 9th to the 13th century, and the learned world of medieval Europe. In the second group the focus is upon the range of theme and style in Norse mythological poetry. Some of the key texts are considered in relation to Anglo-Saxon poetry as well as to the wider and more archaic Indo-European cultural inheritance. The third group offers detailed analyses of early Norse heroic poetry, of the formatic role of verse in the Icelandic sagas and of the final perfecting of prose as the ultimate saga medium. The 16 essays, taken together, are essential reading for all scholars, critics and historians who seek to understand the development of one of the world's most unusual and sophisticated literatures.