26,99 €
inkl. MwSt.
Versandkostenfrei*
Versandfertig in über 4 Wochen
  • Gebundenes Buch

The Story of the Volsungs is an epic work by William Morris, numbering over 10,000 lines and notable for inspiring the high fantasy literature of J. R. R. Tolkien and other famous authors. In his lifetime, Morris was praised by contemporaries for this poem, inspired by the existing legends of Nibelungenlied and the Volsungs, dating to the Middle Ages. The warrior society these tales depict are thought to have a reasonable measure of grounding in the reality of Nordic life as it was during antiquity; a martial culture, where strength and iron playing their pivotal part. We are introduced to the…mehr

Produktbeschreibung
The Story of the Volsungs is an epic work by William Morris, numbering over 10,000 lines and notable for inspiring the high fantasy literature of J. R. R. Tolkien and other famous authors. In his lifetime, Morris was praised by contemporaries for this poem, inspired by the existing legends of Nibelungenlied and the Volsungs, dating to the Middle Ages. The warrior society these tales depict are thought to have a reasonable measure of grounding in the reality of Nordic life as it was during antiquity; a martial culture, where strength and iron playing their pivotal part. We are introduced to the legend with a wedding; King Volsung's daughter Signy marries Siggeir, king of the Goths. However the God Odin, disguised as an elderly man of benign appearance, enters the ceremony and drives a blade into a tree trunk. Inviting everyone in the room to draw their swords in response, it is to the shock of those attending the ceremony that only Sigmund, a young and otherwise undistinguished man, is able to do so.
Autorenporträt
William Morris was born in 1834 in Walthamstow, England. He was one of the great all-rounders, such as a poet, painter, author, translator, political scholar, social reformer, designer, and publisher. The organisations and movements he established ranged from the Arts and Crafts Movement to the Socialist Federation to the Society for the Protection of Ancient Buildings. He started his writing career at Oxford University, where he contributed to and funded the Oxford and Cambridge Magazine. After the Socialist League moved too far from Morris's brand of freedom socialism for him to stay a part of it, he dedicated himself to writing. Initially, these were stories of ancient Germanic legends, and then "Here Be Dragons" became a series of completely fantasy novels, beginning with The Wood Beyond the World and also The Well at the World's End.