I did read T today, but I wanted to mention two other books I'm really enjoying, too. While I'm reading Tolkien's poem from a "real" book, I'm reading The Eyre Affair, by Jasper Fforde, via Kindle on my laptop; since Jane Eyre is my favorite book of all time, I was a bit apprehensive about reading a book like this--I didn't have a clue what he'd do with the original text. But I'm really enjoying it, except that at times the names of some of the characters bug me--they can be pretty strange (A detective named Braxton Hicks is one that comes to mind--if you've ever given birth you probably recognize this one.) But I like the basic plot, and it's a really quick read. It's interesting to think of books like Jane having different--and quite unsatisfactory--endings; I don't know yet how the LiteraTec agents manage to change things so the book has the ending WE expect. I've just read the chapter where a person from the narrative present manages to enter the narrative of Jane just as she is discovering the fire in Mr. Rochester's bedroom--and we all remember how romantic that scene was! But it becomes quite hilarious when a modern man appears in the room and enters the conversation. I won't tell you what happens--in case you want to read it--but what actually does happen is not hilarious in the least. Does make you think about how readers respond to fictitious characters and form attachments to them.
The other book I'm "reading" is David Copperfield, by Charles Dickens; its full title is: David Copperfield or The Personal History, Adventures, Experience and Observation of David Copperfield the Younger of Blunderstone Rookery (which he never meant to publish on any account). Since I teach Victorian Lit and British Novel, I've set myself the task of reading all of Dickens' novels. But I'm doing this by listening to them on my iPod. I really like this way of getting to know the books. I'm reading them chronologically, so this is the 9th one (the Christmas stories all together count as one). So far my favorite character, besides young David, is Aunt Betsey Trotwood--what a "character"! Dickens was an amazing observer of people's characteristic behaviors and speech. I've enjoyed all these novels so far, except perhaps Barbaby Rudge, which was a bit too much of an industrial and political novel for my taste--but maybe someday I'll give it a second chance.
So if you're looking for a good read--without having to think too deeply--you might try either (or both) of these. I think someone should write a novel with Miss Betsey Trotwood as the central character!
Back to T tomorrow . . .
Thursday, January 7, 2010
Wednesday, January 6, 2010
The Death of Sinfjotla . . .
The poetry in Section 3, "The Death of Sinfjotla," is more in line with that in the Introductory Section; it's evocative of Norse or Anglo-Saxon war culture. Sigmund, with his son, Sinfjotla, as a second in command, rules his people through war and peace. There are fine depictions of Norse ships and armor, as well as feasting in the hall. Though, unfortunately for Sinfjotla, his father's wife, the queen, is out for revenge because Sinfjotla had killed her father--apparently during battle. She seems to have been taken by Sigmund as a spoil of war. At any rate, she manages to poison Sinfjotla during a banquet in the hall. This bit is very well told by T; it is formulaic, building suspense--though the original hearers of the tale would have known the outcome beforehand. This kind of telling allows for a satisfying sort of relish, watching the story unfold, all the while knowing what's to come. In the end, Sinfjotla dies, and (C T tells us in the notes) the queen is banished and Sigmund takes a new, young, wife. Sigmund sends his son's body on a ship to Valhalla, where Volsung welcomes him but reminds us that they still await the "World's Chosen" (91).
Quite a pleasant read--now we'll have to see what Sigmund's new marriage will add to the story.
Quite a pleasant read--now we'll have to see what Sigmund's new marriage will add to the story.
Tuesday, January 5, 2010
Interview with Christopher Tolkien & video promo of book
Thought you might be interested in this Guardian interview with Christopher Tolkien about Sigurd and Gudrun and numerous other things . . . and a video promo by HM . . .
Monday, January 4, 2010
Andvara-Gull and Signy . . .
I’m making progress, having read sections 1 and 2. I didn’t really enjoy section 1, "Andvara-Gull" (Andvari’s Gold); I read it through and didn’t find it as musical as the introductory section, and I really couldn’t even figure out the story. Even after I read the notes and understood the story, when I re-read the section, I didn’t find it as engaging as the "Beginning." Several of the 8-line stanzas had alliteration that was too monotonous; six of the fifteen stanzas have at least four lines alliterating on the same sound. It seems heavy handed at times. And the story is so truncated that it hardly flows.
Thankfully section 2, "Signy" was a much more pleasant read—-though the story is pretty gruesome. Volsung has 11 children: twins Sigmund and his sister Signy, and 9 other sons. Signy is given in marriage, as a peace-bride, to Siggeir, king of Gautland (the land of the Geats in Beowulf), but she doesn’t love him—and he is power-hungry. So all ends badly: the 9 brothers are killed, Signy orchestrates the deaths of her children by Siggeir, and she bears a child of her brother Sigmund. She visits him in disguise in his hidden cave; the narrator asks:
Answer, earth-dweller [Sigmund],
In thy arms who lies,
Chill, enchanted,
Changed, elfshapen? (83)
What will become of this unnatural child, Sinfjotli? We’ll have to wait and see if he appears in later sections.
This section seems to be more well-crafted; it reads much more effortlessly than section 1. So I’m looking forward to more like this. It is dramatic and easy on the ear. While “Advari’s Gold” showed the Norse and Anglo-Saxon concept of “were-geld,” gold given in recompense for a person’s death, the “person” who died was the son of a god, and the story was riddled with lacunae. In “Signy” the concept of the Peace-Bride is explored in a story that leads to tragedy and the death of the groom, his children, and, finally, the bride herself. The element of “Doom” is clearly depicted here, but I’m not sure if balance has been reestablished.
Thankfully section 2, "Signy" was a much more pleasant read—-though the story is pretty gruesome. Volsung has 11 children: twins Sigmund and his sister Signy, and 9 other sons. Signy is given in marriage, as a peace-bride, to Siggeir, king of Gautland (the land of the Geats in Beowulf), but she doesn’t love him—and he is power-hungry. So all ends badly: the 9 brothers are killed, Signy orchestrates the deaths of her children by Siggeir, and she bears a child of her brother Sigmund. She visits him in disguise in his hidden cave; the narrator asks:
Answer, earth-dweller [Sigmund],
In thy arms who lies,
Chill, enchanted,
Changed, elfshapen? (83)
What will become of this unnatural child, Sinfjotli? We’ll have to wait and see if he appears in later sections.
This section seems to be more well-crafted; it reads much more effortlessly than section 1. So I’m looking forward to more like this. It is dramatic and easy on the ear. While “Advari’s Gold” showed the Norse and Anglo-Saxon concept of “were-geld,” gold given in recompense for a person’s death, the “person” who died was the son of a god, and the story was riddled with lacunae. In “Signy” the concept of the Peace-Bride is explored in a story that leads to tragedy and the death of the groom, his children, and, finally, the bride herself. The element of “Doom” is clearly depicted here, but I’m not sure if balance has been reestablished.
Saturday, January 2, 2010
Upphaf . . .
What a delightful first read! The “UPPHAF” (Beginning) of the poem, the first 8-line stanza:
Of old was an age
when was emptiness,
there was sand nor sea
nor surging waves;
unwrought was Earth,
unroofed was Heaven—
an abyss yawning,
and no blade of grass.
The alliterative stresses are on vowels in the line pairs or on repeated consonants. So you don’t read it like English poetry with iambs or whatever; instead you stress the alliterated sounds, which really adds a great deal of meaning. I read the first section of Volsungakvida en nyja, “Upphaf,” aloud and enjoyed it a great deal. The dog thought I’d lost it.
It’s the beginning, in case you didn’t get that yet, of the tale of the Volsungs. The gods build the earth and all is well until the Giants attack . In response the gods create Thor’s Hammer, with which he scatters the Giants. Then the wise woman prophesies, a rather enigmatic foretelling of Sigurd’s appearing:
If in day of Doom
one deathless stands,
who death hath tasted
and dies no more,
the serpent-slayer,
seed of Odin,
then all shall not end,
nor earth perish. (63)
The section ends with the gods feasting, rather uneasily awaiting the “World’s chosen” (65).
So far Tolkien has captured the Northern “feel” of the tale, and he’s gotten in a lot of the Norse mythology—really packed into the 8-line stanzas: Heimdal, the Sentinel of the gods; the rainbow bridge connecting Asgard and Midgard (Middle-earth); Yggdrasill, the World Tree; Fenrir, the wolf—foe of Odin; Surt, the fire-demon; and the Serpent of Midgard. So the stage is set, Now we await our hero.
Of old was an age
when was emptiness,
there was sand nor sea
nor surging waves;
unwrought was Earth,
unroofed was Heaven—
an abyss yawning,
and no blade of grass.
The alliterative stresses are on vowels in the line pairs or on repeated consonants. So you don’t read it like English poetry with iambs or whatever; instead you stress the alliterated sounds, which really adds a great deal of meaning. I read the first section of Volsungakvida en nyja, “Upphaf,” aloud and enjoyed it a great deal. The dog thought I’d lost it.
It’s the beginning, in case you didn’t get that yet, of the tale of the Volsungs. The gods build the earth and all is well until the Giants attack . In response the gods create Thor’s Hammer, with which he scatters the Giants. Then the wise woman prophesies, a rather enigmatic foretelling of Sigurd’s appearing:
If in day of Doom
one deathless stands,
who death hath tasted
and dies no more,
the serpent-slayer,
seed of Odin,
then all shall not end,
nor earth perish. (63)
The section ends with the gods feasting, rather uneasily awaiting the “World’s chosen” (65).
So far Tolkien has captured the Northern “feel” of the tale, and he’s gotten in a lot of the Norse mythology—really packed into the 8-line stanzas: Heimdal, the Sentinel of the gods; the rainbow bridge connecting Asgard and Midgard (Middle-earth); Yggdrasill, the World Tree; Fenrir, the wolf—foe of Odin; Surt, the fire-demon; and the Serpent of Midgard. So the stage is set, Now we await our hero.
Friday, January 1, 2010
Intro to Sigurd and Gudrun
Tolkien’s Sigurd and Gudrun consists of two long poems: Volsungakvida en nyja, the “New Lay of the Volsungs, and Gudrunarkvida en nyja, the “New Lay of Gudrun.” They are not translations of Old Norse poems or sagas but a re-working of the ancient Norse myths. They are in his words, from a letter to W H Auden, something he did “many years ago when trying to learn the art of writing alliterative poetry: an attempt to unify the lays about the Volsungs from the Elder Edda” (6). They are written in modern English but using the Old Norse alliterative 8-line stanza, a form called “fornyrdislag” (This “d” as those in the titles, ought to be the ON or OE “eth” but I haven’t figured out how to do that in this program yet.) J R R T mentions that he read in William Morris (another of my favorites) that these Northern myths ought to be to the British “what the tale of Troy was to the Greeks” (13). So even here we see T’s interest in providing a myth for his homeland, something some readers believe he attempted in The Lord of the Rings.
This book is edited by T’s son, Christopher Tolkien, who has included several helpful sections that will be of use to readers not familiar with Old Norse poetry. One especially nice surprise is a lecture given by his father on the subject; it is delightful to hear the topic treated in T’s own voice. There is also a substantial commentary on each poem, which I haven’t delved into yet, but these are presented as endnotes, so they don’t interfere with the reading of the poems; however, I’m sure I’ll be using them throughout my reading.
Looking forward to actually getting to the poems now but am thankful for the preparation afforded by the (rather long) Intro.
This book is edited by T’s son, Christopher Tolkien, who has included several helpful sections that will be of use to readers not familiar with Old Norse poetry. One especially nice surprise is a lecture given by his father on the subject; it is delightful to hear the topic treated in T’s own voice. There is also a substantial commentary on each poem, which I haven’t delved into yet, but these are presented as endnotes, so they don’t interfere with the reading of the poems; however, I’m sure I’ll be using them throughout my reading.
Looking forward to actually getting to the poems now but am thankful for the preparation afforded by the (rather long) Intro.
Happy New Year!
Well, I actually did read the Intro to Sigurd and Gudrun, but since it's already tomorrow, I'll wait to write my entry re: that till this evening. Just watched the Times Square Ball drop--Hooray for a new decade!
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