Book –The legend of Sigurd and Gudrún

Book –The legend of Sigurd and Gudrún

Author :  JRR Tolkien, edited by Christopher Tolkien

With Illustrations by Bill Sanderson 

Score: 10/10

Year: 2009

Publisher: HarperCollins 

ISBN 978-0-00-731724-0

Pages  377

Language: English (a bit of Old English, Norse) 

Two disctinct and complimentary lays, retelling the great legends of Northern antiquity. Chrisotopher Tolkien is once again present with commentaries about his fathers work, even when they aren't purely Middle-Earth based as seen in the various History of Middle-Earth volumes. 


However, these lays show JRR's inspirations, down names he used in said universe. However, the book doesn't aim at all explaining these material sources, but rather the process of elimination he used to filter out contradictory elements in the Edda and other forms for the legends, and showcases the resulting lays. 

The first, and longest, is the Lay of the Völsungs, in which the ancestry of Sigurd, the dragon-slayer is told. It also tells how he took the dragon's treasure for his own, how he woke a Valkyrie cursed by Odin, their marriage, life and battles that ensued - a story which finishes in the second and shorter Lay of Gudrún. 

In these lays, we see some important elements that influenced Tolkien's writings, his interest about passions, jealousy, strife and tragic characters ; we see also dragon-slayers, and the damage that jealous envy of gold and hoarding of goods may cause.

The first lay is divided into 9 sections, each into stanzas of uneven numbers, ranging from pages 57 to 180. It it preceded by a Forward (p.1) , Introduction (11), the 'Elder Edda' by J.R.R. Tolkien (16) & Introductory notes (32). It is followed by a very long commentary, first general and then details the standzas either individually or in groups (pages 181-249).

The second lay has no sections ; it is comprised of 166 stanzas. It ranges pages 253-308 and followed by commentaries in the same fashion as the first lay (ie generalizations and then stanza content). 

Christopher Tolkien offers us not only his own commentaries but also his father's own words, taken from his essay On Fairy-Stories, as well as various lectures he gave at Oxfford. Here, we learn about the process of elimination, finding a continuous storyline to tell. 

Through C.Tolkien's comments, we learn that his father blended the various sources, and chose elements from either Norse origins, or from Germanic ones, to present the final forms to the lays.

There are just a few illustations, but not by Alan Lee (present in all Middle-Earth books) ; instead, these black and white illustrations here are those of Bill Sanderson. 

After both lays and their commentaries, the book ends with 3 appendices: 
A) A short accout of the origins of the legend (p.337) in which we learn of Attila & Gundahari, of Sigmund, Sigurd and the Nibelungs, and how can see how some of the historical elements and characters became legends, and lost in history to become the various fictional elements of the Eddas, and how, in the end, some of these, became Tolkien's retelling presented in this book. 
B) discusses the Prophecy of the Sibyl  (p.364) and 
C) Fragments of a heroic Poem of Attila in Old English (p. 368-377) - including commentaries. 

The lays are presented in English, but use the metric norms of Norse poetry, and blend many elements. I was glad that JRR ommited most of the more graphic and gruesom elements told in other sources for these legends. I can understand some of his choices, but have no real comparison to draw upon, aside for what his comments or his son's explanations about the various differences to these other Eddaic legends, because I never read those. I can only surmize that his attempt to find a mostly linear and logical sequence of events in the lays is rather succesful, but do find the reading a bit tedious in its metric form, simply because I'm not used to it. 

On the other hand, I'm sure that its litterary quality fulfils the norms perfectly, because I can tell how important the project was to JRR, and am also quite happy to see his inspirations of Middle-Earth. 

Despite a dry read, it's an absolute read, especially for the Tolkien-scholars! I will say, however, that there are just a few gory portions, so I'd avoid giving this to young  or extremely sensitive people.