Poetry in fornaldarsogur

This volume contains all the anonymous poetry from medieval Icelandic mythical-heroic sagas (fornaldarsogur), such as Heidreks saga, Gautreks saga, and other sagas set in prehistoric Scandinavia and more exotic locations. This diverse body of poetry is treated here for the first time as significant in its own right rather than as an appendage to the Poetic Edda. It also contains a new edition with extensive notes of Gunnlaugr Leifsson's Merlinuspa, based on Geoffrey of Monmouth's Prophecies of Merlin, as well as the little-known but entertaining Skaufhala balkr by Svartr a Hofstodum, a mock-heroic poem about a fox.