William Morris, Sigurd the Volsung

Robert Boenig (Texas A&M University)
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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 involved Magnusson providing Morris with a literal…

2666 words

Citation: Boenig, Robert. "Sigurd the Volsung". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 02 July 2007 [https://www.litencyc.com/php/sworks.php?rec=true&UID=2084, accessed 19 March 2024.]

2084 Sigurd the Volsung 3 Historical context notes are intended to give basic and preliminary information on a topic. In some cases they will be expanded into longer entries as the Literary Encyclopedia evolves.

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