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Title: Saga of the Jom'svikings by Lee M. Hollander ISBN: 0-292-77623-3 Publisher: Univ of Texas Press Pub. Date: 1988 Format: Paperback Volumes: 1 List Price(USD): $12.95 |
Average Customer Rating: 5 (4 reviews)
Rating: 5
Summary: A tale of great courage.
Comment: This was only my second saga so I can't really compare it to many others. Having said that, this is a great saga to start out with. As expressed in previous reviews, "The Testing of the Jom'svikings" (chapter 23) is a great example of courage; men are able to face death completely void of all apparent fear, without so much as flinching at the blow of the sword. The excitement level is kept up very well throughout the story, especially for a tale which jumps around from different generations and countries as much as this. I never felt bored or that the book was slow moving. In other words, there was no constant strain for action. While it may be hard for the novice of the saga to get used to the long range of generations throughout the story, once you become used to it it becomes natural and easlily comprehensible.
Although many have expressed in previous reviews that the introduction was boring, I found it not too different from many other critical introductions I have read before. The introduction does what it needs to do, gives the reader an insight and an overview of the material that is to be read.
Rating: 5
Summary: A tale of high adventure...
Comment: ...And I'm not kidding.
The Saga of the Jomsvikings is just about the best of the sagas (with the exception of, perhaps, the Laxdale Saga). The action is almost non-stop (once you get through the ponderous, but still interesting, introduction) and gives you a good idea about what the 12th-14th century poets/historians thought 9th-10th century exploits.
The most compelling chapter is chapter 23 where, as stated in the introduction, the author shows us the face of "...Men who know how to die." There is no hyperbole in this statement, and has, I'm sure, been the impetus for more than one writer/screenwriter (insert sly sidewise look toward Michael Crighton here).
Rating: 5
Summary: Skip the Intro
Comment: This was the first of the Viking sagas I read and I almost didn't make it to the saga part of the book. The introduction reads as a very scholarly, ponderous doctoral thesis (which I think it was). Not knowing what to expect from a Viking saga, wading through this over-written deconstruction was not a promising start. I had visions of the saga itself being much the same--a chore to read rather than a pleasure.
Fortunately I skipped ahead to the actual saga. The translation was bright and crisp, very well done, very readable. The story was excellent. This turned out to be a splendid Viking story that led me into all the others (the Paulson and Magnussen translations are equally good). The Saga of the Jomsvikings was exciting as an adventure story and fascinating as a look at the culture and thought processes of these people at this time (the beheading scene is particularly noteworthy).
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Title: The Saga of the Volsungs: The Norse Epic of Sigurd the Dragon Slayer (Penguin Classics) by Jesse L. Byock ISBN: 0140447385 Publisher: Penguin USA (Paper) Pub. Date: January, 2000 List Price(USD): $13.00 |
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Title: Edda (Everyman Paperback Classics) by Snorri Sturluson, Anthony Faulkes ISBN: 0460876163 Publisher: Everymans Library List Price(USD): $9.95 |
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Title: The Sagas of the Icelanders: A Selection by Robert Kellogg, Robert Kellogg, Jane Smiley ISBN: 0141000031 Publisher: Penguin USA (Paper) Pub. Date: 27 February, 2001 List Price(USD): $20.00 |
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Title: The Poetic Edda : Second Edition, Revised by Lee M. Hollander ISBN: 0292764995 Publisher: Univ of Texas Press Pub. Date: 1986 List Price(USD): $13.45 |
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Title: The Saga of King Hrolf Kraki (Penguin Classics) by Jesse L. Byock ISBN: 014043593X Publisher: Penguin USA (Paper) Pub. Date: February, 1999 List Price(USD): $11.95 |
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