Description: This illustration by W.G. Collingwood is from Olive Bray's
translation of the Poetic Edda that was published in a dual
language edition in 1908 as The
Elder or Poetic Edda: Commonly Known As Sæmund's
Edda. W. G. Collingwood's illustration depicts the
Battle of Ragnarök. Collingwood placed his illustration within
the framework of the Haysham Hogback.
Source: The Elder or Poetic Edda: Commonly Known As
Sæmund's Edda
Folio or Page: 276
Medium: Wood Engraving
Date:
Dimensions (mm): 130 x 50
Provenance:
This illustration is from The Elder or
Poetic Edda: Commonly Known As Sæmund's Edda from the
collection of P. A. Baer.
Rights:
This illustration from The Elder or Poetic
Edda: Commonly Known As Sæmund's Edda is in the public
domain.
Research notes, early print reviews, etc.:
Excerpt from an early print book review (1908): "Each poem is prefaced
by two designs by Professor Collingwood. These at their best leave little to be
desired. Several of them e.g. Graybeard and Thor, are altogether admirable.
Others are valuable both from the artistic and the antiquarian standpoint, as
the artist has woven into them motives from Pre-Norman crosses or hogbacks
illustrating Eddaic subjects...." pg. 494. Full text of the
review. Folklore Vol. 19, No. 4 (Dec. 30, 1908), pp. 493-496.
Excerpt from an early print book review (1909): "The text is accompanied
by thirty-three excellent illustrations, which have the comparatively rare merit
of really helping the reader to vizualize [sic]the action and of suggesting the
atmosphere of the poems." pg 97. Full text of the review.The Journal of American Folklore Vol. 22, No. 83 (Jan.
- Mar., 1909), pp. 96-98.
Haysham Hogback. “The highlight of St Peter's is a remarkably
well-preserved Viking hogback stone dating to the 10th century - probably
sometime around AD 950. The stone is shaped like a house with a tiled roof,
supported by four small human figures and held together by figures of bears at
each end…One side tells the legend of Sigmund, while the other side shows
Sigurd, who famously slew the dragon Fafnir. You can make out the figure of
Fafnir, looking rather like a sea monster, whose tail disappears under the
stone, wraps around, and reappears by Fafnir's mouth…"
Bibliography:
Editions
Elder or Poetic Edda: Commonly Known As Sæmund's
Edda.
Translated by
Olive
Bray
. London: Viking
Club, 1908.
Secondary Sources
Major, Albany
F. Review of The Elder or
Poetic Edda: Commonly Known As Sæmund's Edda, translated by
Olive
Bray. Folklore,
vol. 19, no. 4, 30 Dec. 1908:
493-496. Web. August 2,2021.
Rankin, J.
W.. Review of Elder
or Poetic Edda: Commonly Known As Sæmund's Edda, translated by
Olive
Bray. The Journal of American
Folklore, vol. 22, no. 83, Jan. -
Mar. 1909: 96-98. Web. 26 July
2021.
Loki is counted among the gods but is a giant by birth.
Creatures: animals, birds, monsters etc.
Fenrir (non.)
One of the names for the monstrous wolf who is one of the three
monstrous offspring of Loki and the giantess Angrboða.
Miðgarðsormr (non.)
Midgard
Serpent (en.)
A monstrous serpent who is the progeny of Loki and the giantess
Angrboða. This serpent is also known as Jörmungandr and in English as
the Midgard Serpent.
Giants and Giantesses
Surtr (non.)
Giant with a bright or flaming sword who guards the boundaries of
Muspell and leads the sons of Muspell at Ragnarok. He kills Freyr in the
battle and is responsible for the fire that burns the world
afterwards.
Gods and Goddesses
Freyr (non.)
A fertility god and one of the Vanir. He is the son of Njörðr and the
twin brother of Freyja.
Týr (non.)
Tyr (en.)
The god who put his hand in the mouth of the wolf Fenrir as pledge
that the gods were not really trying to bind the wolf but were only
testing his strength. Fenrir bit off Týr's hand when they succeeded in
binding him.
Óðinn (non.)
Odin (en.)
The chief god of the Æsir in The Prose Edda.
However, in Heimskringla he was a mortal who
tricks the King of Sweden into believing that he was a god.
Þórr (non.)
Thor (en.)
In the Prose Edda, Þórr is the son of Óðinn
and the giantess Jörð. However, in Heimskringla, he is a mortal.
Myths
The Battle of
RagnarökThe myth concerning the final great battle between
the gods and the giants.
Mythological Events
Ragnarök (non.)
Ragnarok (en.)
The final great battle between the gods and the giants.
Nouns
Edwardian (en.)The
Edwardian era began with the reign of King Edward VII, 1901 to 1910
(January 22, 1901 - 28 July, 1914). However, the era's end date is
sometimes extended to the beginning of World War 1 (28 July
1914).
Source Materials:
Elder or
Poetic Edda (en.)A dual language editon of the Poetic Edda with
illustrations by W. G. Collingwood.
Völuspá (non.)
Prophecy of the Seeress (en.)
One of the mythological poems in the Poetic Edda. A Völva, or seeress,
recites the history of the world to Óðinn. She then goes on to
prophesize the destruction of the world at the Battle of Ragnarok and
its rebirth after the battle. Völuspá is preserved in the late
thirteenth-century Codex Regius manuscript, a.k.a. GKS 2365 4º, and in
the fourteenth-century Hauksbók manuscripts, i.e., AM 371 4to, AM 544
4to and AM 675 4to.
Source Persons
Bray,
Olive (en.)
b. June 17, 1878
d. November 15, 1909
Nationality: English
Occupation: scholar, translator and editior
Residence: 17 The Boltons Kensington, London, England
Bray was one of the daughters of the high court judge Sir Reginald
More Bray (1842-1923) and the novelist Emily Octavia Bray, of Shere
Manor near Guildford. Little is known about Olive. She joined the Viking
Society for Northern Research in 1902 and was a Vice-President in 1909.
At the time of her death, she was living in the family home at 17 The
Boltons Kensington. Her grave is in the Shere churchyard.
Collingwood,
W.
G. (en.)
b. 6th August 1854
d. 1st October 1932
Nationality: English
Collingwood was an author, artist, and a professor at University
College Reading.
