Eddic to English

OLIVE BRAY, 1908

The Elder or Poetic Edda
Titus Wilson
327 pages

This translation is in the public domain:
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Translated poems (15):

Codex Regius (11):
Vǫluspá, Hávamál, Vafþrúðnismál, Grímnismál, Skírnismál, Hárbarðsljóð, Hymiskviða, Lokasenna, Þrymskviða, Vǫlundarkviða, Alvíssmál

Non-Codex Regius (4):
Svipdagsmál, Baldrs draumar, Rígsþula, Hyndluljóð

Other notable contents: In addition to the above-listed poems, Bray also provides English translations for an assortment of fragments found in the Prose Edda (p. 270).
Introduction page length: 80. Bray's edition contains a single, combined introduction that includes introductions to every poem she translates.
Note format: Footnotes
Dual Edition? Yes. Notably, Bray's translation features two separate indexes: one for the provided normalized Old Norse and another for Bray's English translation.
Rendering: jǫtunn = “Jötun” (cf. p. 9, but inconsistent, cf. p. 115 “giant”), þurs = “giant” (cf. p. 149)
Censorship: Mixed (cf. p. 257 and p. 259)
Original illustrations? Yes, edition features numerous unique illustrations by W. G. Collingwood (readers can find many, if not all, of these images on Wikimedia Commons here).

 

I. TRANSLATION SAMPLES

a.) Vǫluspá (p. 283):

An ash I know standing, ‘tis called Yggdrasil,
a high tree sprinkled with shining drops ;
comes dew therefrom which falls in the dales ;
it stands ever green o’er the well of Weird.

b.) Helgakviða Hundingsbana II not included in translation (see "Observations" below).

c.) Rígsþula (p. 215):

Then he strove in runes with Rig, the Earl,
craft wiles he used and won,
so gained his heritage, held the right thus
Rig to be called and runes to know.

 

II. Reviews

  • Major, Albany F. 1908. Review. Folk-lore. Vol. XIX, p. 493-496.

Excerpt:

Though on some points we may be disposed to differ from Miss Bray, her sketch of the mythology, taken as a whole, is both complete and accurate. It is most picturesquely written, and fully worthy of the rest of this admirable book.

  • Rankin, J. W. 1909. Review. The Journal of American Folk-Lore, vol. 22, no. 83 (January–March 1909), p. 96-98.

Excerpt:

The translator’s chief aim, then, was to introduce the uninitiated to the mysteries of the Northern mythology and to the beauties of the Eddic poems. One may say that on the whole this object has been attained, and, further- more, that not only for the general reader, but also for the student of Old Norse, the work is of positive value. It is to be hoped that the translator will proceed in the same manner with the heroic poems of the Edda.

  • Hollander, Lee M. 1919. “Concerning a Proposed Translation of the Edda” in Scandinavian Studies and Notes, vol. V, p. 197-201.

Excerpt:

Lastly, there is Olive Bray’s pedestrian translation (1908), of the mythological poems of the Edda published in Transactions of the Viking Club. As no more has appeared, these ten years, it is safe to say that the undertaking has, for the time being, been abandoned.

Excerpt:

THERE is scarcely any literary work of great importance which has been less readily available for the general reader, or even for the serious student of literature, than the Poetic Edda. Translations have been far from numerous, and only in Germany has the complete work of translation been done in the full light of recent scholarship. In English the only versions were long the conspicuously inadequate one made by Thorpe, and published about half a century ago, and the unsatisfactory prose translations in Vigfusson and Powell's Corpus Poeticum Boreale, reprinted in the Norrœna collection. An excellent translation of the poems dealing with the gods, in verse and with critical and explanatory notes, made by Olive Bray, was, however, published by the Viking Club of London in 1908.

 

III. OBSERVATIONs

In the corpus of English translations of the Poetic Edda, Olive Bray's edition is something of an enigma. Not only is Bray's translation extensively and lushly illustrated by W. G. Collingwood (no other English edition is comparatively illuminated) but Bray chose to produce a dual edition (only Guðbrandur and York Powell (1883) and Dronke (1969, 1997, & 2011) have produced dual edition English translations).

While Bray deems the edition "Part 1 - THE MYTHOLOGICAL POEMS", no second edition would ever see publication. This second edition would have presumably featured the so-called heroic eddic corpus, consisting of poems focused on legendary figures (or "heroes"). Adding further to the mystery surrounding this translation, the present study’s author has to date located no biographical data regarding Olive Bray (but the hunt continues).

Collingwood's illustrations deserve particular mention. The artist draws from a variety of sources in his pieces, including hogback monuments (p. 276-277). This topic is further discussed in Major's 1908 review above.

Finally, Bray’s translation is unique among English language translations of the Poetic Edda in that it includes a section dedicated to six “fragments” of eddic material that appear in the Prose Edda (Bray 1908: 270-275). This section follows an earlier treatment of some of this material by Guðbrandur and Powell (1883: 125-127, 489). Unfortunately, it appears that no subsequent English translation contains a similar section. (The author of the present survey has prepared a study of these eddic “fragments” and their reception for future publication.)