Grumpy Lokean Elder

I see people asking quite often which Edda translations are the best. To that end, I’ve compiled my reviews on various translations. I’m limiting my review to English translations. (Apologies to my multilingual followers - English is my first language, so I’m far more familiar with the available English translations.)




The Poetic Edda:

The best translation:

Dronke, Ursula. The Poetic Edda. (3 vol.) - Do whatever you can to get your hands on these. They were limited runs and are obscenely expensive, so you’ll probably have to do what I did and read them via interlibrary loan through a university. The Old Norse is presented alongside an extremely accurate English translation with extensive footnotes and translations notes. Commentary is included that provides valuable historical and cultural context, explains difficult terms, discusses religious and social pressures that may have influenced the texts… just amazing. Mrs. Dronke unfortunately passed away before the fourth volume was complete, but I’m still crossing my fingers that it will be released. A read through Dronke’s translations and essays will do wonders for your comprehension of the Poetic Edda.

More Modern Translations:

Larrington, Carolyne. (Trans.). (1996). The Poetic Edda.- Larrington is a good substitute if you cannot get your hands on Dronke’s Eddas, as Larrington was her student. This translation can be purchased very cheaply, especially if you buy used. Downside: there’s not a lot of commentary (which is really necessary to get a good understanding of the historical and cultural context) and she inaccurately glosses terms a lot. Relatively easy to read, but I’d recommend reading it side by side with another translation that includes some commentary and doesn’t gloss over and oversimplify terms to the point of inaccuracy.

Hollander, Lee M. (Trans.) (1962). The Poetic Edda: Translated with an Introduction and Explanatory Notes. - A lot of people like this text. It’s very pretty, but Hollander sacrificed accuracy for aesthetics. He also uses archaic terms, which will confuse a lot of people and make this text difficult to read, and he outright omits pieces of the Edda. The most glaring example of this is in Völundarkviða . When I was teaching an Edda class, some of the students had this text, and it became obvious that Hollander omitted and obfuscated chunks (including no footnotes) to the point that the students with this text had no real idea of what happened other than “Volundr got some sort of revenge and then escaped somehow”. While I appreciate that bits of the Eddas and Sagas have material that will make modern readers uncomfortable, I find it inexcusable to try to sweep those bits under the rug and pretend that they don’t exist. I’d get this translation as an artistic copy, but its usefulness for study is severely limited.

Chisholm, James Allen. The Eddas - The Keys to the Mysteries of the North.  (Free, available here.) - Helpful in that the Old Norse is included along with the English Translation. Some poems are not included, and the second portion of the text includes some mysticism (and I’m rather dubious about what’s stated). It’s helpful to know that Chisholm was one of the founding members of The Troth and, like Edred Thorsson/Stephan Flowers, embroiled in some controversy because they were also involved with the Temple of Set. From what I can discern, they got pushed out because their dual membership was interpreted as  "Satanist infiltration".

W.H. Auden and Paul B. Taylor. Norse Poems. - I cannot comment on this edition because I have not obtained a copy. I am told that it contained previously unpublished Norse poetry, but I am unable to locate a table of contents to verify this.

Terry, Patricia. (Trans.) (1990). Poems of the Elder Edda. - Terry’s translation is very blunt, so don’t expect the verses to flow like the original poetry. It’s an easier read, but she also chopped pieces out of the text whenever she felt a part was added in or changed by Christian transcribers, and she doesn’t make notes of where she did this. Thus, this is an incomplete translation and I found it less than helpful.


Older Translations:

These are free, but all contain outdated scholarship and disproven interpretations. Free sources are great to start out with when you’re new and on a tight budget, but take everything with a good dose of salt and invest in a modern translation when you can. If you only rely on older works in the public domain, some of your information is going to be inaccurate.

Gudbrand Vigfússon & Powell, F. York. Corpus Poeticum Boreale: The Poetry of the Old Northern Tongue. (2 vols.) (Free, available here. Both volumes are in one file.) - the scholarship is, obviously out of date (it was published in 1883), but there are lots of valuable historical notes and explanations, and some interesting biographical information. Wonderful because it contains both the Old Norse and the English translation, much like Dronke’s works. The second volume contains court poems, which after often overlooked. 

Bray, Olive. The Elder or Poetic Edda: Commonly known as Saemund’s Edda. (Free, available here.) - wonderful because it contains both the Old Norse and the English translation, much like Dronke’s works. This was printed in 1908, so keep in mind that it will have older, disproven theories and interpretations in the text. Somewhat lacking in helpful footnotes. I like that each poem isn’t put in “the usual order”, as people tend to not realize that the Poetic Edda didn’t have a particular order or linear timeline. People later tried to arrange the poems to give a (false) sense of cause and effect, or linear timeline.

Bellows, Henry Adams. (Trans.). (1923). The Poetic Edda: Translated from the Icelandic with an Introduction and Notes. (Free, available here.) - some people don’t like Bellows because his translations feel very “blocky”, stilted, and characterless. His translations aren’t very artistic and smooth-flowing, but he does a good job of getting the basic meanings across. He’s also relatively easy to read. His footnotes are sometimes unhelpful or inaccurate, and as with other older translations, there are outdated interpretations and scholarship.

Thorpe, Benjamin. (Trans.). (1866). Edda Sæmundar Hinns Froða: The Edda Of Sæmund The Learned. (Free, available here.) -Thorpe is an easier read, although overly simplistic. He avoids glossing over particular words that aren’t really accurate translations (like pegging the Norns as “Fates”), but he also includes no footnotes or commentary, which is less helpful for the beginner to get a good grasp on the historical and cultural contexts of what they’re reading.

Cottle, A. S. Icelandic Poetry or the Edda of Saemund. (Free, available here.) - This book was published in 1797 and is possibly the oldest English translation you can get ahold of. Because of this fact, you’ll find it to be very, very dated. Look at this translation for historical interest more than anything else.

Faraday, Winifred. The Edda. (Free, you can get Vol 1 here and Vol 2 here.) - these are more commentaries on the stories and themes, not the actual poems and prose. May be a valuable companion while reading the actual Eddas, but keep in mind it was written in 1902.


Prose Edda:


More Modern Translations:

Faulkes, Anthony. Edda. - a more complete translation than Byock’s. This is great for me (I don’t want pieces cut out of my books), but it also means that this translation doesn’t just “skip to the bits that most people find interesting”. Some readers will, thus, find it dry and a struggle to get through. The translations are very literal and accurate, but are not very “pretty” and smooth-flowing.

Byock, Jesse (Trans.) (2006). The Prose Edda. - only contains about ¼ of the Prose Edda. Byock chopped the source material down to the bits he thought people would be interested in, and thus hardly any of Skáldskaparmál and Háttatal are included. This book would be useful for those who want an easier-to-read “sparknotes” sort of version.


Older Translations:

Young, Jean I. The Prose Edda. (Free, available here.) - incomplete translation. Like Byock, Young has chopped pieces out of the text. Háttatal is not included at all and only pieces of Skáldskaparmál are included. It’s a bit difficult to read at times. Published in 1954.

Dasent, George Webbe. The Prose or Younger Edda.(Free, available here.) - This is from 1842. Archaic and difficult to read at times, no real footnotes or commentary. Not particularly helpful.

Blackwell, I.A. Younger Eddas of Snorre Sturleson.(Free, available here.) - an easier read (Blackwell was contemporary with Benjamin Thorpe and has a similar translation style) but this is also not complete. It’s just what Blackwell thought were “the interesting bits”. Published in 1906.

Anderson, Rasmus B. The Younger Edda.(Free, available here.) - incomplete, Háttatal is not included at all and only pieces of Skáldskaparmál are included. Anderson was part of the Norraena Society, which isn’t particularly known for its accuracy. (Please see: my utter loathing of Viktor Rydberg.)

Brodeur, Arthur Gilchrist. The Prose Edda. (Free, available here.) - Háttatal is not included at all and only pieces of Skáldskaparmál are included. That said, in my opinion this is the best of the older, free translations if you had to pick one.


Remember - there are a lot more “basics” to read than just the Prose and Poetic Eddas. The Sagas, Skaldic Poetry, Tacitus, the Gesta Danorum, Bede… there’s a lot more to read if you want a good handle on the lore, culture, and worldview.