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European Poetry:
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The John Ciardi one.
It keeps the original rhyming structure, which must have been really hard to do when translating from Italian to English. It isn't really rigid English like some of the other translations that can make your brain get tired after reading for a while. And most importantly it has notes for each chapter. Dante himself is the main character, and he writes in a bunch of actual people from in and around Italy during his lifetime, so reading the notes really helps understand a lot of the references to people/places/things in the book. I just read the notes before I read each chapter so I knew as I read it what was going on.
First off, look up the podcast Sweetbitter, because if you're interested in a book of her poetry you'd definitely be interested in a fantastic Sappho podcast.
Second, this is the copy I've had my eyes on for months. I love Anne Carson's translations, and I think there's just something significant about reading a translation done by a woman.
Viking Language 1 and 2 by Jesse L. Byock. Here's the first one:
https://www.amazon.com/Viking-Language-Learn-Norse-Icelandic/dp/1480216445
You can get audio recordings for the lessons on Amazon or iTunes as well.
The courses are by far the most modernized, user-friendly courses available. A close second would be 'A New Introduction to Old Norse,' which can be purchased here:
https://acmrs.org/publications/catalog/new-introduction-old-norse-part-i-ii-and-iii-discount-set
The quality varies a lot, some of them (like for example Egil's Saga or Njal's Saga) are nothing short of masterpieces of medieval literature. Others are quite forgettable. If you are interested but don't feel like spending the 300$ price of the full package, a good chunk of it (I'd say roughly 20%) is included in this collection. The translators are the same as in the complete collection, and IMO it's an overall well done volume, especially for its price.
There's a really good translation available on Amazon that I read once in a library. It has the original text alongside the English translation, with extensive notes on the context of the poem and why the translator chose to translate the text the way he did.
I'm not sure if it always rhymes the same, since different translators can make different choices about how best to honor the original prose while staying true to the meaning of the text, but there are parts that do rhyme in it.
The version I'm reading now reads like the King James Bible and is hard follow at times, but it was free for my Kindle sooooo -_- So far, the poem's got a lot more depth to it than the video game did.
To me, this looks more like a phrase book than anything else. Which could certainly supplement your other studies, but I don’t love phrase books myself.
I took a crack at old Norse a while ago (I only stupore because I lost my study buddy) and I liked this
https://www.amazon.com/Viking-Language-Learn-Norse-Icelandic/dp/1480216445
Yeah, thankfully the version I have is full of annotations explaining the symbolism and references.
I think this is the one I have (from Amazon). ISBN 978-0-451-20863-7
I honestly think I enjoyed Purgatorio more than Inferno, probably mostly because I love the idea of redemption and purification and the imagery of angels.
I use memrise as an instrument to build some vocab. When I have collected enough pretty words I'll raid this guy's book for me grammars:
http://www.amazon.com/Viking-Language-Learn-Norse-Icelandic/dp/1480216445/ref=asap_bc?ie=UTF8
Yes, the Prose Edda translated by Anthony Faulkes and Volsunga Saga translated by Finch are the main supplemental primary readings I would recommend.
As to secondary sources, some good books are Turville-Petre's "Myth and Religion of the North" (super-expensive but a good library should have it), and anything by Margaret Clunies-Ross, Tom Dubois, or Rudy Simek.
Havamal is my favorite. It reminds me so much of the advice my grandfather gave me (and indeed part of my book is the Cowboy Havamal.
I think the translation of the Prose Edda by Anthony Faulkes is really good. So I don't think there's the same hole to fill there, since my issue with the other translations of the Poetic Edda was their readability and that's not a problem with Faulkes' Prose Edda.
If this isn’t creepy enough, then del Toro should tackle the stories in Struwwelpeter next. My parents were German, and I actually had this book as a child - it’s full of gruesome stories with horrific outcomes for children who don’t do as they’re told.
https://www.amazon.ca/Struwwelpeter-English-Translation-Heinrich-Hoffmann/dp/0486284697/ref=nodl_?dplnkId=7410dad7-40d6-4a92-adb2-318be0ad1940
How about
Really bizarre and quite frankly racist childrens book.
or could try The Night Dad Went to Jail: What to Expect When Someone You Love Goes to Jail (Life's Challenges)
C'était souvent, d'après les sagas, des « nobles », mais toujours les deuxièmes, ceux qui n'héritait pas du domaine familial, ou qui s'en trouvent écarté parce que c'est des troudfions (typiquement ils butent un autre noblion, ou un employé, ou...), ou quelque chose dans le genre, et souvent le roi du Danemark est un antagoniste dans l'histoire. Les « vrais » nobles consolidaient leurs avoir avec des fermes et des terres agricoles.
Si ça t'intéresse Penguin ont une édition commentée des sagas, qui n'est pas trop dispendieux. Il y en a aussi un certain nombre dans Folio 2€, mais c'est des livres de ~100 pages max avec une seule saga.
My favorite book is If Not, Winter: Fragments of Sappho which is a collection of Sappho poems translated by Anne Carson! For anyone who is interested, Anne Carson translates Sappho beautifully Amazon Link Goodreads Link.
I posted my tattoo that includes Taylor Swift lyrics on here a few weeks back. My other tattoo, which you can't see in that photo, is a fragment of a Sappho poem! You can imagine how excited I am to see this post - two of of my favorite things colliding!!! lol
Thank you for the thoughtful comparison!
IMO the best Prose Edda you can buy is also available for free here: http://vsnrweb-publications.org.uk/EDDArestr.pdf
It's the Faulkes translation from 1995. If you want to buy a hard copy, you can do that here: https://www.amazon.com/Edda-Everymans-Library-Snorri-Sturluson/dp/0460876163
The poet/Classicist Anne Carson did a translation with facing Greek text:
https://www.amazon.com/If-Not-Winter-Fragments-Sappho/dp/0375724516
If I recall correctly, it's not a scholarly text (i.e., there's no app crit, and it's cleaned up a bit). I don't know if that matters to you.
This doesn't have the "Brothers Poem" from P.Obbink (but that may be a forgery anyhow).
The translation by Professor Crawford is very readable. I also recommend professor Crawford’s you tube channel.
May The Gods Be With You.
Al
In the UK, Penguin Classics do a good compilation called Sagas of the Icelanders
It includes some of the most important ones, like Egil’s saga and the Laxdaela saga, as well as the two that cover Greenland & Vinland.
The Icelandic sagas specifically are fascinating, as they cover disputes with landowners & farmers etc. It’s not just about royal families like most surviving literature from that era
I am currently reading aversion translated by John Ciardi, and it’s easier to understand than I expected. There are some phrases that are more flowery or oblique, but I just read them carefully.
The start of every Canto has a summary of what you’re about to read, the text of the Canto, then footnotes that explain references in the text or idioms of the region & time. I haven’t even needed to read the summaries because the translation is easy enough to understand. I’m barely into the Inferno, but if you’re looking for accessible, I can recommend this one.
I had a copy of it growing up (Dad is German) and in 2008 while in Germany I bought a copy for my kids to enjoy. And today you can just buy it on Amazon.
Its fine, tho Anthony Faulkes' Prose Edda is a more complete edition by including Háttatal.
Carolyne Larrington's translation of the Poetic Edda, the 2nd edition, is a solid translation with notes.
For the sake of writing poetry, introducing yourself to its various forms (classical and more contemporary), and finding excellent examples of those forms, I highly encourage this particular Norton text edited Mark Strand.
I was absolutely NOT a poetry person until my creative writing professor who taught poetry writing introduced our class to this book. I have since begun incorporating it into my own creative writing curriculum as a high school teacher. It works wonders with my young writers, and I’ve seen many of them flourish with it.
The Making of a Poem: A Norton Anthology of Poetic Forms https://www.amazon.com/dp/0393321789/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_glt_fabc_D0CW5F5X9A4R07YRS72C
You need this book immediately! When I was earning my BfA in CW, poetry was a significant weakness for me, too. I had a professor teach us forms. We read analyzed and discussed even more contemporary examples of the forms covered by this book. That was super helpful to me.
Now, I’m a HS teacher of English and Creative Writing, and I use this book when I teach poetry units. I even once used it to help this young hip hop artist in one of my classes discover some new structures for lyrical expression that he later applied in his music writing, and he remains of the few kids I’ve ever seen pull off a successful sestina.
And if you are taking a college poetry workshop class, I’d be less concerned about the writing and more concerned about the workshop portion. Any good workshop teacher is grading you not on your initial draft. They are grading you on the progress you make incorporating feedback into your revisions, and on the quality of the feedback you are giving your peers on their manuscripts and in the workshop.
Keep pushing, and read more examples of you need to.
Oh! And the second link is to Poetry Foundation in case you haven’t been to it before. You can used the advanced search to search for specific themes or forms in poetry.
The Making of a Poem: Norton Anthology of Poetic FormThe Making of A Poem: Norton’s Anthology of A Poem
Poetry Foundation poetry foundation
Out of curiosity, are you aware of a good resource for Icelandic pronunciation? I like reading translations of the sagas once in a while (and recently picked up a copy of 'Sagas of the Icelanders' so I'm currently working through that - damn thing is bigger than a bible) and I'm fairly sure that I butcher people and place names far more than Chris Hemsworth ever did.
For Runes I used Viking Language 1: Learn Old Norse, Runes, and Icelandic Sagas
And I recommend Njal’s Saga, Egil’s Saga, or The Saga of the Volsungs as places to start.
Also be sure to check out Dr. Jackson Crawford’s YouTube channel for discussions on both topics.
Jackson Crawford is always good.
For further reading Asatru for Beginners by Dr Mathias Nordvig is great. He's got a PHD in Norse Mythology and he's native Danish. He was actually raised Heathen. Very good book.
Jackson Crawford's translations are pretty well regarded and generally considered one of the go-tos
https://www.amazon.com/dp/1624663567/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_i_suksFb1FY2CC5
Also go and check out r/heathenry for some good resources as well!
The prose edda is pretty good, penguin has a print of it you can get off of amazon for pretty cheap. https://www.amazon.com/Prose-Edda-Mythology-Penguin-Classics/dp/0140447555
The Making of a Poem: The Norton anthology of Poetic Forms is an invaluable read.
Otherwise, read poetry; writers read several times more than they write.
The Poetry Foundation website is a great place to start.