The Saga Of The Volsungs By Penguin Books Ltd (Paperback, 2013)

Product Description

Part of a new series Legends from the Ancient North The Saga of the Volsungs is one of the classic books that influenced JRR Tolkien's The Hobbit & The Lord of the Rings' They summoned their friends readiedtheir horses & prepared their helmetsshields swords coats of mail' JRR Tolkien spent much of his life studying translating & teaching the great epic stories of northern Europe filled with heroes dragons trolls dwarves & magic He was hugely influential for his advocacy of Beowulf as a great work of literature & even if he had never written The Hobbit & The Lord of the Rings would be recognised today as a significant figure in the rediscovery of these extraordinary tales Legends from the Ancient North brings together from Penguin Classics five of the key works behind Tolkien's fiction They are startling brutal strange pieces of writing with an elemental power brilliantly preserved in these translations They plunge the reader into a world of treachery quests chivalry trials of strength They are the most ancient narratives that exist from northern Europe & bring us as near as we will ever get to the origins of the magical landscape of Middle-earth (Midgard) which Tolkien remade in the 20th century