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After the Battle of Ragnarök

After the Battle of Ragnarök
  • Creator: W. G. Collingwood August 6, 1854 - 1932
  • 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. This scene is from the poem Völuspá. W. G. Collingwood's illustration depicts the restoration of the world after the Battle of Ragnarök and the Mighty Ruler whose coming is prophescised in verse 65. 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: 277
  • Medium: Wood Engraving
  • Date: 1908
  • 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.:
    1. 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.
    2. 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.
    3. 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.
  • Identity Number: EldEdd-1908-277-01
  • Download size: 2.2 MB
  • Source code of this document: [XML]
Bray, Olive   Collingwood, W. G.   Elder or Poetic Edda   Edwardian   Völuspá, Prophecy of the Seeress   Ragnarök, Ragnarok   The Battle of Ragnarök  

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Linked items

The MyNDIR Team

Dunn-Krahn, Sage (en.) b. 13th July 1999
Occupation: Research Assistant

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.