The Story of Sigurd the Volsung

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About this book

The Story of Sigurd the Volsung is written in verse by William Morris, with portions condensed into prose by Winifred Turner and Helen Scott. A biographical introduction by J. W. Mackail calls William Morris one of the most eminent imaginative writers of the Victorian age. The text describes a people who had great stature and strength of body, joined to such fierceness and delight in war that they held a man disgraced if he died peacefully at home.

The text says courage, not only to fight but also to bear suffering without impatience or complaint, and the virtue of faithfulness were the qualities that people most honoured. The verse has the Son of Sigmund standing on the torn and furrowed desert by the pool of Fafnir's blood, with the Serpent lying before him, dead, chilly, dull, and grey. A glossary explains old words such as Erne, an eagle, and Eyen, eyes, an old plural of eye.

About the author

William Morris

William Morris (1834-1896) was an English poet, designer, and socialist whose wallpapers and textiles helped define the Arts and Crafts movement. Late in life he turned to prose romances set in imagined lands, and those books are now regarded as foundations of modern fantasy literature.