Sigurd the Volsung

The Story of Sigurd the Volsung and the Fall of the Nibelungs by William Morris, 345 pages

Now famed more for his contribution to the visual arts than for his poetry, among the notable literary works of William Morris is this adaption of the Volsunga saga into English verse.  Morris was fascinated by Norse myth and legend and had already completed translations of a number of Icelandic sagas before beginning this work, which was contemporaneous with but independent of Wagner's operas.

The poetry is deliberately archaic, not only in language, but in rhyme and meter - it is often easy to forget that it is an original work based on classical sources, and not a direct attempt at translation.  The obvious comparison is with Tennyson's Idylls of the King, and the fact that Morris' work can hold up to that comparison is testament to its quality and power.

     Ye have heard of Sigurd aforetime, how the foes of God he slew;

     How forth from the darksome desert the Gold of the Waters he drew;

     How he wakened Love on the Mountain, and wakened Brynhild the Bright;

     And dwelt upon Earth for a season, and shone in all men's sight.

     Ye have heard of the Cloudy People, and the dimming of the day,

     And the latter world's confusion, and Sigurd gone away;

     Now ye know of the Need of the Niblungs and the end of broken troth,

     All the death of kings and of kindreds and the sorrow of Odin the Goth.