William Morris, Sigurd the Volsung

Robert Boenig (Texas A&M University)

The Literary Encyclopedia. Volume 1.2.1.07: English Writing and Culture of the Victorian Period, 1837-1901.
Vol. editors: Gillian Fenwick (University of Toronto), Grace Moore (University of Otago)

Dates

First circulation or publication 1876

Places

England (Country of Origin)

Genres and Modes

Poetry (any)

Resources

In August 1868 William Morris met the Icelandic scholar and writer Eirikr Magnusson, who first inspired Morris's enthusiasm for Old Norse literature. The medieval Icelanders, descended from Norwegians who had fled their homeland in the ninth century unwilling to accept the growing power of an expanding Norwegian monarchy, left a large and impressive body of literature on a variety of subjects — history, family feuds, and pagan Germanic mythology. Already a devotee of medieval literature in general, Morris delighted in this new branch. He convinced a willing Magnusson to tutor him in the Icelandic dialect of Old Norse, and the two soon became collaborators in translating a number of medieval Icelandic works into English. Their method …

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2666 words

Citation: Boenig, Robert. "Sigurd the Volsung". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 02 July 2007 [https://staging.litencyc.com/php/sworks.php?rec=true&UID=2084, accessed 22 November 2024.]

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