story about love, betrayal, death amp sorrow, Written in verse in two parts,
The Lay Of Sigurd and The Lay Of Gudrun,
The lays written by J, R. R. Tolkien and after each Lay a commentary from his son Christopher Tolkien, Written similar to a psychology paper, explaining each stanza and referencing where it came from,
Tolkien based most of his work off Norse Mythology and he based most of his life's work off of it, From this he created Middle Earth,
I know some people are not a fan of his work as it can be a bit dry and he heavily detailed his work in old English but Lord Of The Rings amp The Hobbit when compared to Norse Mythology and where it all came from is quite interesting.
This story itself reminded me of a darker, grim version of Tristan amp Isolde, The world first publication of a previously unknown work by J, R. R. Tolkien, which tells the epic story of the Norse hero, Sigurd, the dragonslayer, the revenge of his wife, Gudrun, and the Fall of the Nibelungs, "Many years ago, J. R. R. Tolkien composed his own version, now published for the first time, of the great legend of Northern antiquity, in two closely related poems to which he gave the titles The New Lay of the Volsungs and The New Lay of Gudrun.
In the Lay of the Volsungs is told the ancestry of the great hero Sigurd, the slayer of Fafnir most celebrated of dragons, whose treasure he took for his own of his awakening of the Valkyrie Brynhild who slept surrounded by a wall of fire, and of their betrothal and of his coming to the court of the great princes who were named the Niflungs or Nibelungs, with whom he entered into bloodbrotherhood.
In that court there sprang great love but also great hate, brought about by the power of the enchantress, mother of the Niflungs, skilled in the arts of magic, of shapechanging and potions of forgetfulness.
In scenes of dramatic intensity, of confusion of identity, thwarted passion, jealousy and bitter strife, the tragedy of Sigurd and Brynhild, of Gunnar the Niflung and Gudrun his sister, mounts to its end in the murder of Sigurd at the hands of his bloodbrothers, the suicide of Brynhild, and the despair of Gudrun.
In the Lay of Gudrun her fate after the death of Sigurd is told, her marriage against her will to the mighty Atli, ruler of the Huns the Attila of history, his murder of her brothers the Niflung lords, and her hideous revenge.
Deriving his version primarily from his close study of the ancient poetry of Norway and Iceland known as the Poetic Edda and where no old poetry exists, from the later prose work the Volsunga Saga, J.
R. R. Tolkien employed a verseform of short stanzas whose lines embody in English the exacting alliterative rhythms and the concentrated energy of the poems of the Edda, " Christopher Tolkien The Legend of Sigurd and Gudrun showcases two fantastic epic poems infused with tragedy and blood, They are both powerful and full of gutwrenching sorrow,
These are Tolkiens versions of the legends written with his own masterful penmanship and attention to detail, He has translated ancient poetry into English, making it feel modern and slick yet, he captures all the history and lore that come with such historical tales, Its a real feat of writing, Of all of Tolkiens poetical works, I think this is the most accomplished because of how polished it is, There are so many poems he started and never finished, This one is the real deal, grand and shining like the scales of Fáfnir,
I loved the way Tolkien described the battle between dragon and man, between hero and beast, as their rivalry dominated a large section of the poem:
"Black flowed the blood,
belching drenched him
in the hollow hiding
hard grew Sigurd.
Swift now sprang he
sword withdrawing
there each saw each other
with eyes of hate, "
The full section was so intense, Its obvious how it was all going to end, but nevertheless the action was crafted expertly to capture the drama and the sheer epic nature of the situation.
The last time I read
poetry that glorified battle in such a way was when I read Beowulf last year, Theres just something magnificent about these kinds of conflicts, something grand and celebrated, and Tolkien exploits them perfectly for much dramatic effect,
After reading this, I can really see how much influence Tolkien took from ancient myths and legends when he wrote The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings.
He adapted such stories and twisted them to fit his own fantasy world, Dragons and men and ancient battles slotted perfectly into his vast world of middleearth, He really was widely read, vastly widely read I should say, and all these elements he was working on came together to form something quite grand in his fiction.
And it works so beautifully,
So, this is a fantastic bit of writing, The poetry just flows from line to line, stanza to stanza, Its eloquently written and completely accessible, I really do recommend it to all Tolkien fans, I would not venture to say that you must have much experience with poetry to read and enjoy this, The two poems here are very plot driven and exciting, easy reading for sure, One of the bestknown heroes in Norse mythology, Sigurd is better known as Siegfried from German versions of the legends, and his exploits and interactions from killing a dragon and reforging a mighty sword, say, to his relationships with his wife Gudrún, with warrior princess Brynhild and with a host of other personages characterise him as much as they echo the exploits and interactions of other heroes in other times and cultures.
Here Tolkien attempts a harmonisation of the various early tales, particularly those in the Poetic Edda, and versifies them in English as 'The New Lay of the Völsungs' in ten parts and 'The New Lay of Gudrún', using forms and alliteration modelled on those early originals.
This posthumous publication ought by rights to appeal to a wide range of readers, from hobbitfanciers to Wagnerites, from poets to psychologists, and from medieval literature specialists to mythologists, but I suspect it will end up satisfying only those whose interests overlap a number of these categories for any single one of those categories of readers it may well end up a disappointment.
Many fantasy fans may well come with false expectations of more Middle Earth action or a tale compatible with the Ring Cycle or they may vainly hope for more than just a pastiche of medieval poetry, however erudite, or a deeper psychological study of the motivations of the main characters and knowledgeable scholars may like to be told more than they already know from Christopher Tolkien's otherwise praiseworthy notes and editing.
However, for those like me who just have a fascination with that certain mix of medieval legend, fantasy, character motivation and mythic resonance The Legend of Sigurd and Gudrún, complete with introductions and notes, supplies an extra dimension all that is lacking is a selection of annotated colour plates of the medieval wooden carvings hinted at on the The Legend of Sigurd Gudrún's cover and inside line illustrations.
Anyway, this reviewer enjoyed it, even if he did have to use two bookmarks to go from text to notes and back again, However, this method rather defeats Tolkien's intention of letting a good story stand on its own feet, and in all fairness I should have read the poems straight though, aloud for preference, to judge its merits.
Actually, mostly what it encourages me to do is to go back to the originals or related works such as The Saga of the Volsungs or The Nibelungenlied, albeit in translation.
Tolkien worked on The Legend in thes ands before abandoning it for original creations like The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings perhaps the majority of readers will principally judge this as preparation for the literary legacy he is best known for.
sitelink me/soNjsigurd,