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Title Page for The Elder or Poetic Edda, Commonly Known as Sæmund's Edda

Title Page for The Elder or Poetic Edda, Commonly Known as Sæmund's Edda
  • Creator: W. G. Collingwood August 6, 1854 - 1932
  • Description: This illustration by W.G. Collingwood is from Olive Bray's translation of the Poetic Edda that was published in a dual language edition in 1908 as The Elder or Poetic Edda: Commonly Known As Sæmund's Edda. The illustration depicts mythical ash tree Yggdrasill and the creatures that inhabit it, i.e., the hawk Veðrfölnir who sits between the eyes of the unnamed eagle at the top of the tree; the four stags Dáinn, Dvalinn, Duneyrr and Duraþrór who eat its leaves; and the squirrel Ratatoskr who carries messages between Veðrfölnir and the dragon Niðhöggr, who gnaws at its roots.
  • Source: The Elder or Poetic Edda: Commonly Known As Sæmund's Edda
  • Folio or Page: 1
  • Medium: Wood Engraving
  • Date: 1908
  • Dimensions (mm): 120 x 125
  • Provenance:
    This illustration is from The Elder or Poetic Edda: Commonly Known As Sæmund's Edda from the collection of P. A. Baer.
  • Rights:
    This illustration from The Elder or Poetic Edda: Commonly Known As Sæmund's Edda is in the public domain.
  • Research notes, early print reviews, etc.:
    1. Excerpt from an early print book review (1908): "Each poem is prefaced by two designs by Professor Collingwood. These at their best leave little to be desired. Several of them e.g. Graybeard and Thor, are altogether admirable. Others are valuable both from the artistic and the antiquarian standpoint, as the artist has woven into them motives from Pre-Norman crosses or hogbacks illustrating Eddaic subjects...." pg. 494. Full text of the review. Folklore Vol. 19, No. 4 (Dec. 30, 1908), pp. 493-496.
    2. Excerpt from an early print book review (1909): "The text is accompanied by thirty-three excellent illustrations, which have the comparatively rare merit of really helping the reader to vizualize [sic]the action and of suggesting the atmosphere of the poems." pg 97. Full text of the review. The Journal of American Folklore Vol. 22, No. 83 (Jan. - Mar., 1909), pp. 96-98.
  • Bibliography:

    Editions

    Elder or Poetic Edda: Commonly Known As Sæmund's Edda. Translated by Olive Bray . London: Viking Club, 1908.

    Secondary Sources

    Cleasby, Richard and Vigfússon Guðbrandur . An Icelandic-English Dictionary. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1957.
    Major, Albany F. Review of The Elder or Poetic Edda: Commonly Known As Sæmund's Edda, translated by Olive Bray. Folklore, vol. 19, no. 4, 30 Dec. 1908: 493-496. Web. August 2,2021.
    Rankin, J. W.. Review of Elder or Poetic Edda: Commonly Known As Sæmund's Edda, translated by Olive Bray. The Journal of American Folklore, vol. 22, no. 83, Jan. - Mar. 1909: 96-98. Web. 26 July 2021.
  • Identity Number: EldEdd-1908-001-TtPg
  • Download size: 5 MB
  • Source code of this document: [XML]
Bray, Olive   Collingwood, W. G.   Elder or Poetic Edda   Edwardian   Yggdrasill, Yggdrasil   Níðhöggr, Nidhoggr   dreki, dragon  

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Linked items

The MyNDIR Team

Laliberte, Camille (en.) b. 19th December 1998
Occupation: Research Assistant

Creatures: animals, birds, monsters etc.

Níðhöggr (non.) Nidhoggr (en.) A being which appears in both the Poetic and the Prose Edda where it gnaws on the roots of Yggdrasil and causes dissent in its interaction with the eagle who sits at the top of Yggdrasil. Níðhöggr also appears at the end of Völuspá where it gnaws on the corpses of the dead in a hall called Náströnd. Níðhöggr is referred to as a snake in the Prose Edda and Grímnismál but in Vóluspá it is also referred to as a dragon.

Plants

Yggdrasill (non.) Yggdrasil (en.) The ash tree at the centre of Norse cosmology that unites the nine realms.

Nouns

Edwardian (en.)The Edwardian era began with the reign of King Edward VII, 1901 to 1910 (January 22, 1901 - 28 July, 1914). However, the era's end date is sometimes extended to the beginning of World War 1 (28 July 1914).
dreki (non.) dragon (en.)

Source Materials:

Elder or Poetic Edda (en.)A dual language editon of the Poetic Edda with illustrations by W. G. Collingwood.

Source Persons

Bray, Olive (en.) b. June 17, 1878
d. November 15, 1909
Nationality: English
Occupation: scholar, translator and editior
Residence: 17 The Boltons Kensington, London, England
Bray was one of the daughters of the high court judge Sir Reginald More Bray (1842-1923) and the novelist Emily Octavia Bray, of Shere Manor near Guildford. Little is known about Olive. She joined the Viking Society for Northern Research in 1902 and was a Vice-President in 1909. At the time of her death, she was living in the family home at 17 The Boltons Kensington. Her grave is in the Shere churchyard.
Collingwood, W. G. (en.) b. 6th August 1854
d. 1st October 1932
Nationality: English
Collingwood was an author, artist, and a professor at University College Reading.