Bibliography
Texts
The following books are translations that I have read. If you are interested in reading this literature, then I would highly recommend that you read these books. These books are the main sources of information for Timeless Myths.
Most of these books are actually books that I have bought over the years. A few books listed here were books I either borrowed or read in the library.
Unknown
The Poetic Edda
translated by Larrington, Carolyne
World's Classics, 1996
Highly Recommended
The Poetic Edda also known as the Elder Edda. The Edda contains 35 poems. The poems were preserved in the Codex Regis, in c. 1270, but the original composition of the poems was much older. The authors of these poems are unknown, and they were composed over a period between 800 and 1100 AD. The Poetic Edda can be divided into mythological lays and heroic lays. The mythological section deals with tales about the gods. The heroic poems, except the Völundarkvida (the "Lay of Volund"), were poems forming the Nibelungen cycle. There are too many poems to list here (35).
See Norse Sagas for a selection of tales found in Timeless Myths.
Snorri Sturluson
Edda
translated by Anthony Faulkes
Everyman, 1987 (1995).
Highly Recommended
This is normally called the Prose Edda or the Younger Edda. The Prose Edda was like a handbook on Norse/Germanic myths, was divided into two sections: Gylfaginning and Skaldskaparmal. Both sections included many stories of the Aesir deities.
Heimskringla or The Lives of the Norse Kings
translated by A. H. Smith
edited by Erling Monsen
Dover, 1990
Originally, I wasn't going to buy this, but now I have. This includes a mythological section or chapter known as the Ynglinga Saga, which is really what I'm interested in. A different translation is available on the net for free at OMACL site; see below.
Heimskringla
translated by Samuel Laing (London, 1844)
Online Medieval and Classical Library (OMACL), 1996.
The Heimskringla (The Chronicle of the Kings of Norway) is available online, and is actually an older translation by Samuel Laing.
Unknown
The Saga of the Volsungs
translated by Jesse L. Byock
Penguin Classics, 1990
Highly Recommended
(An Icelandic (Norse) version of the Nibelungen cycle, the Volsunga Saga (c. 1270) included the stories of Sigmund and Sigurd and the Giukings or Niflungs.)
The Story of the Volsungs
translated by William Morris and Eirikr Magnusson
Walter Scott Press, 1888
Berkeley Digital Library SunSite
This is a electronic version of the Volsunga Saga from Online Medieval and Classical Library (OMCL). This also comes with excerpts from the Poetic Edda. The first time I wrote about this saga, I used this as my source.
Unknown
The Nibelungenlied
translated by A. T. Hatto,
Penguin Classics, 1965
Highly Recommended
A German version of the Nibelungen cycle. Here, the hero was named Siegfried.
Unknown
The Saga of Thidrek of Bern
translated by Edward R. Haymes
Garland, 1988
Highly Recommended
The Norwegian version of the saga of the Nibelungen Cycle and the hero Thidrek, known as Dietrich to the Germans. It is often called Thidreks Saga or Thidrekssaga and it was written about the same time as the German Nibelungenlied (c. 1200). I found this book in the State Library.
Unknown
Hildebrandslied
translated by D. L. Ashliman
http://www.pitt.edu/~dash/hildebrand.html from Folklore and Mythology Electronic Texts
This was the only translation I could find of the Hildebrandslied.
Unknown
Svipdagsmal (The Lay Of Svipdag)
Skergard temple of Skertru
The Svipdagsmal is actually comprised of two poems - Gróugaldr and Fjölsvinnsmál. Both poems are about the hero Svipdag, son of the sibyl Groa, and his adventures to woo Menglöd.
Svipdagsmal
Skergard temple of Skertru
Unknown
The Saga of King Hrolf Kraki
translated by Jesse L. Byock
Penguin Classics, 1985.
Hrolfs saga kraka was one of the fornaldarsogur (or fornaldar sagas, meaning "sagas of ancient times", another word for Icelandic heroic sagas), written in the 14th century. It is notable because it is filled with adventures about berserkers, witches, elves and ghosts.
Unknown
Seven Viking Romances
translated by Hermann Palsson and Paul Edwards
Penguin Classics, 1985.
Here are seven sagas, of which only Gautreks saga (c. 15th century) is of interest to me, because it tells of the strange hero Starkad as well as the strange customs of not just human sacrifice, but that of Ætternisstapi - a form of euthanasia by throwing oneself off of a cliff.
Arrow-Odd
King Gautrek
Halfdan Eysteinsson
Bosi and Herraud
Egil and Asmund
Thorstein Mansion-Might
Helgi Thorisson
Unknown
Sagas of Warrior-Poets
translated by Diana Whaley
Penguin Classics, 2002
A collection of Icelandic sagas: Kormak's Saga, The Saga of Hallfred Troublesome-poet, The Saga of Gunnlaug Serpent-tongue, The Saga of Bjorn, Champion of the Hitardal People, Viglund's Saga.
Unknown
Njal's Saga
translated by Robert Cook
Penguin Classics, 1997
Haven't read this book yet, even though I got a copy of it.
The Story of Burnt Njal (known as Njal's Saga)
translated by Sir George W. DaSent (London, 1861)
The Story of Burnt Njal
Online Medieval and Classical Library (OMACL)
Something I haven't read yet. The above is an electronic copy at OMACL website.
Unknown
Eyrbyggja Saga
translated by Hermann Palsson and Paul Edwards
Penguin Classics, 1972.
Eyrbyggja Saga was written in the mid-13th century, about the feud between Snorri and family of Thorolf Twist-foot. Of particular interest to me are the details about witchcraft and sorcery, the temple and of haunting (ie draugar).
The Story of the Ere-Dwellers
translated by William Morris & Eirikr Magnusson, 1892
Online Medieval and Classical Library (OMACL)
This is an older translation of the Eyrbyggja Saga, in HTML format.
Unknown
Viga Glum's Saga
transcribed by Beau Salsman
Northvegr
An Icelandic saga of Viga Glum, written in the 13th century.
Unknown
The Saga of Hogni and Hedinn
transcribed by Loptsson
Northvegr
An Icelandic saga, sometimes known as Sorla Páttr.
Saxo Grammaticus
The Danish History ("Gesta Danorum")
translated by Oliver Elton, 1905
Online Medieval and Classical Library (OMACL)
Saxo Grammaticus was a Danish historian who lived around 13th century. This work is supposed to contain a list of Danish kings, but has also some myths and legend. I could not find an English copy in Australia.
Unknown
The Wayland-Dietrich Saga
by Katherine Margaret Buck
9 volumes (incomplete series)
Alfred H. Mayhew (London, 1924)
9 volumes found in the State Library have been dedicated to the "Song of Wayland". Unfortunately, the series is not complete. So there are some more volumes. At this time, I have only managed to read part of Volume 1, concerning Hjordis and Sigurd.
This includes a different variation of Sigmund and Hjordis (Sieglind), and Sigurd up to the slaying of Fafnir. And there are also different accounts of Wayland in Britain, where the legend is mixed up with Hengist, Vortigern, Merlin and Maximus.
Unknown
Gudrun: Done Into English
translated by Margaret Armour
J. M. Dent and Sons, 1928
Another book found in the State Library. This is an independent tale that has nothing to with Gudrun/Kriemhild in the Volsunga Saga or the Nibelungenlied. This Gudrun belonged to a different family and there's no treasure to be found.
Unknown
Beowulf
translated by Kevin Crossley-Holland and Heather O'Donoghue
World's Classics, 1999
Highly Recommended
An Anglo-Saxon poem of Danish hero, Beowulf. The poem is dated around AD 800.
Julius Caesar
The Conquest of Gaul
translated by S. A. Handford and Jane Gardner.
Penguin Classics, 1951.
Highly Recommended
Julius Caesar wrote his memoir of his campaigns in Gaul. It also contains some descriptions of the German tribes who lived on both sides of the Rhine.
The Civil War
translated by Jane Gardner.
Penguin Classics, 1967.
Julius Caesar wrote his memoir of the civil war. This had nothing of value on myths or legends, but I thought I should list this book, anyway.
Tacitus
The Agricola and Germania
translated by H. Mattingly and S. A. Handford
Penguin Classics, 1948.
Highly Recommended
Cornelius Tacitus (AD 56-120) was a Roman historian who wrote about the governorship of his father-in-law in Britain, and the German tribes who lived on the Rhine frontier during the time of Imperial Rome. Contains some information about the German religion.
An electronic copy of Germania can be found at Medieval SourceBook. This version was translated by J. Church and W. J. Brodribb
Jordanes
The Origin and Deeds of the Goths
written in the mid-6th century.
translated by Charles C. Mierow
http://www.ucalgary.ca/~vandersp/Courses/texts/jordgeti.html
This was also called Getica (or De origine actibusque Getarum). Extremely useful history and legends of Attila the Hun and the Goths. Could not find a copy here in Australia. However, I did come across an electronic text, translated by Charles Mierow. Medieval Sourcebook redirected me to the above site.
Other Texts
The following works are translations that I have not yet read, but I do suggest that you give these a try.... Well, if you can find them.
There are several reasons why I haven't read these works yet.
There is no English translation available yet.
The original is either fragmented or damaged, and probably not yet published.
It's out of publication (OUT OF PRINT).
I couldn't afford it (please, donate?).
It was available but I did not want to buy it.
However, if you do happen to find English translations of any of these works (preferably in paperback) that are affordable, please e-mail me the details (title, author, name of the translator, ISBN, and the publisher, etc).
Unknown
The Laxdaela Saga
translated by Muriel Press, 1899
Online Medieval and Classical Library (OMACL)
The Laxdaela Saga
Another one I haven't read yet. This is an old translation found at OMACL website. There is another translation of this tale available at Penguin Classics, but I don't have this title (Laxdaela Saga).
Procopius
De bellis ("Wars")
Procopius was a Byzantine historian (6th century AD) who wrote about the invasion and migration of the Goths into the Roman Empire.
The Secret History
translated by Richard Atwater
Medieval Sourcebook
I didn't find any use for this, but I thought I should list this anyway, in case you are interested.
References
The following books I have read and used for my research and for general reference. These works are dictionaries, encyclopedias, critical essays or analyses on myths, etc.
Some of these books provide history and background to the myths and legends.
The Vikings
Johannes Brondsted
Pelican, 1960
History of the Vikings. Excellent background material about the Norsemen.
Dictionary of Archaeology
edited by Paul Bahn
Collins, 1992
Useful information on archaeology.
By Jimmy Joe
