Two Sagas of Mythical Heroes: Hervor and Heidrek and Hrólf Kraki and His Champions

Jackson Crawford has a rare gift for distilling an ocean of scholarship into something drinkable and delicious. The two sagas here are exceptionally readable for people today, with occasional inserted comments at just the right places.A "cast of characters, family tree, and synopsis" is included for each saga. They were wonderfully informative, preparing the reader for an unfamiliar tale that does not move along like a modern story. Those old Norse skalds did not have the continuity editors that keep the Marvel Cinematic Universe consistent. Being aware of the style of flow, in advance, plus anticipating discontinuities, made reading much easier and enjoyable.I particularly appreciated Dr. Crawford's insights into Christian influences on pre-Christian stories, and how the role of women was reflected, influenced, and constrained thereby. Cultural influences are all around us, yet many of them are sufficiently pre-modern to embody beliefs that differ from ours today. The divergence can be stunning, yet that is what we learned as we read things in school, or absorbed thoughts from books, movies, dramas, and our ubiquitous, oft-repeated music. That lifetime of information has a lot of old influences. Some of those patterns are illustrated in these sagas.The family trees were too tiny to read on a Kindle paperwhite screen, which does not provide easy magnification, but in other formats should be helpful.The table of contents is too lean, making navigation on a Kindle slow. The seven top level items in the TOC have just one line for each of the two sagas. Thus, jumping within a saga is cumbersome. Each saga is divided into chapters, with chapters collected in "parts." The TOC needs to at least drill down to the parts, if not the many chapters. The Front Matter and the Introduction both have submenus, which I found helpful. Perhaps a revised version will improve this technical shortcoming.There are two ways to read this book: either dive straight into one of the sagas, or work through all the introductory material. Hey, that's your call. I will say the introductory material is quite generous in length and insight. I found that reading all of it was time well spent -- both for better appreciating each saga, and for learning about a long-gone culture that is still surprisingly present today.Each saga has its own glossary. These are useful!No doubt about it: FIVE stars.I hope these thoughts are helpful. Best wishes for happy reading. Be well.

This book brings two somewhat lesser known Norse sagas to a modern audience. The translations are clear and highly readable, and reflect the straightforward prose of the originals. The introductory material gives us the benefit of Dr. Crawford's expertise in the world of medieval Scandinavian literature. The family trees and glossaries (which include the names of all but the most minor characters) are helpful since it can be hard for the modern reader to keep everyone straight. The family trees show up quite well in the paperback edition. (Per another reviewer, apparently they are hard to read on Kindle.)

Whether you are already an avid fan of the sagas, or a first-time reader, "Two Sagas of Mythical Heroes: Hervor and Heidrek and Hrólf Kraki and His Champions," translated by Jackson Crawford, will appeal to anyone with an appreciation for a well-told adventure tale. As with his translations of the "Poetic Edda" and the "Saga of the Volsungs," Dr. Crawford offers here a fresh and highly readable translation of two action-packed and compelling Old Norse narratives. With caustic wit, wry humor, pointed sarcasm and raw grit, the heroes and heroines of these sagas enact the family dramas, betrayals, and dauntless heroism that typify the genre and make for engaging and entertaining reading. Warrior maidens and witch queens, unlikely heroes and oath-swearers, trolls of various shapes, swords of dubious reputation, and the timely interventions and clever subterfuges of the One-Eyed One himself, "Two Sagas of Mythical Heroes" features all that is best in saga narratives. Wrought in accessible modern English that conveys the economy of language, terseness, and often laconic tone that characterizes Old Norse literature, "Two Sagas of Mythical Heroes" also successfully captures the poetry and alliteration of verse that denotes the careful crafting, and Dr. Crawford’s attentive translation, of these works. It’s a fast-paced and satisfying read, and I highly recommend it.

If you are into actual Viking lives, this is a book you will want in your collection. Two stories from Old Norse translated by a great scholar.

Jackson crawford has a gift for translation and does it in a way that makes these sagas easily readable. The sagas here are both interesting and fun to read. The explanations in the introduction also do well in helping the reader to understand background and other important info related to the sagas.

Highly recommend this book. A wonderful telling of two very important sagas